‘Mighty tehsildar’ of Islamabad

Shakeel Anjum

During last ten years, around half-a-dozen prime ministers have come and gone, and so did as many interior ministers. Still a higher number of chief commissioners, deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners and magistrates had joined the Islamabad administration and left in a decade. However the mighty ‘tehsildar’ of Islamabad remains at his post.
The ‘tehsildar’ in Islamabad, as other parts of the country, is the custodian of the land record. The land in Islamabad is most expensive in the country. Even a small piece of land in the metropolis is worth millions of rupees.

The post of the ‘tehsildar’ in the capital becomes even more important in view of the fact that while it has two additional deputy commissioners, four assistant commissioners, around half-a-dozen magistrates, but there is only one ‘tehsildar’ for maintaining the land record.

Imtiaz Janjua’s stint in power can be attributed to a number of factors — most important of which remains the one stated above. Being the custodian of the land record, he is in a position to benefit those who matter in the corridors of power. And how shrewdly he has been doing it can be judged from the fact that every successive government preferred to keep the same ‘tehsildar’ in place.

Another reason behind the prolonged stay of Imtiaz Janjua as a ‘tehsildar’ is the shrine of Barri Imam. His uncle, Raja Akram, was the custodian of the shrine and had a large following. After his murder about three years back, Raja Akram’s nephew and real brother of the ‘tehsildar’ became the custodian of the shrine. Even though unlike his uncle he has no personal qualities but the shrine he is associated with has such a large following in the Potohar region that he enjoys immense influence in the ‘right quarters’.

On the occasion of annual ‘urs’ of Barri Imam, a large number of ‘elites’ visit the Janjuas. There have been instances in which even prime ministers were seen visiting the shrine to pay homage to the saint. Imtiaz Janjua has manipulated these connections well and managed to stay in power.

As per service rules with regard to field postings, a government employee can remain at one place for three years at the maximum. It is believed that in three years an officer develops acquaintance with a good number of people in the area and therefore becomes incapable of performing his duties fairly and impartially anymore and hence needs to be transferred.

Only a few days back, the ‘tehsildar’ got orders of his transfer cancelled within a few hours of their issuance. It has also been learnt that the ‘tehsildar’ now has an ‘exit strategy’ at hand. If someone tries to dislocate him, he would immediately avail promotion and become a magistrate in Islamabad — an opportunity he had not been availing deliberately for years for obvious reasons.

The ‘tehsildar’ has so much influence in police that he can use it in whatever way he deems appropriate.

Federal Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah assured reshuffling of officers keeping ‘lucrative posts’ for a long time. “Directives have been issued to heads of departments working under the Ministry of Interior to change officers holding a post for more than three years,” he told ‘The News.’ “So the ‘tehsildar’ would accordingly be transferred.” Syed Kamal Shah said that he could not observe irregularities so deeply, adding that it was the responsibility of the head of the department to maintain check and balance system.

Chief Commissioner (Islamabad) Hamed Ali Khan told ‘The News’ that the officers inducted in the ICT administration on the specific post could keep the seat for an unlimited period.

He, however, said that following directives of the Ministry of Interior, he wrote to the deputy commissioner for providing details of officers keeping their posts for more than three years.

However the chief commissioner doesn’t think that the same rule can be put into practice on Rana Akbar Hayat (ADC-G), Malik Afsar and Farasat Ali Khan, who were inducted in the ICT administration as magistrates and served on various assignments in the same grade.

Imtiaz Janjua, the ‘tehsildar,’ could not be contacted despite repeated attempts on his mobile phone.

Source: The News, 31/5/2008