Law and Order Situation

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947. Pakistan has a strategic location in South Asia, surrounded by India, China, Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistan has a total area of 803,940 sq. km and an estimated population of 170 million. Pakistan is a federation, with four federating units, called Provinces, namely, Punjab, Sindh, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Baluchistan. The capital is Islamabad, and the tribal belt adjoining the NWFP is managed by the Federal Government and is know as FATA i.e; Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas have their own political system, yet certain of their subjects are taken care of by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas. The Provinces are further divided into Divisions and Districts. The basic administrative unit is a district, being governed by the District Nazim, popularly elected, who is supported by a senior civil officer called District Coordination Officer (DCO) and the District Police Officer (DPO) in the smooth running of the local government, rather a new system introduced by the President Pervez Musharraf regime in 2000 and 2002.

Pakistan has a parliamentary form of government, and the Parliament consists of two Houses, i.e; the Senate (Upper House), giving equal representation to all Provinces, and the national Assembly (Lower House), representing the nation on population and direct adult voting system. The Senate is a permanent legislative body and consists of 100 members. The National Assembly has a total of 342 elected members (272 general seats, 60 women seats and 10 non-muslims (minority) seats). The President is the Head of State and the Prime Minister is the Head of Government. The Provinces have their own Provincial Assemblies, the Chief Minister, and a Governor, who is a nominee of the Federal Government through the President of Pakistan.

Pakistan has enormous importance due to her strategic location;