Reverse psychology: Taliban beheadings spur on cop to fight

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Inspector and six men under his command successfully resist Taliban attempts to overrun police station in Swat

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: While the fear of being beheaded by the Taliban forced several policemen to abandon the force, it also injected a spirit of resistance among others such as Hussain Badshah – an officer who resisted Taliban attempts to overrun Rahimabad police station for four days and came out victorious.

“I had realised the Taliban would behead me if I surrendered … I decided to fight,” 48-year-old Hussain from Karak told Daily Times on Wednesday, after he was honoured for “an exceptional act of valour” against in Swat.

It is for the first time in the history of frontier police that two Pakistan Army major generals – Maj Gen Ijaz Awan and Maj Gen Athar Abbas – pinned badges to a policeman’s shoulders for an act of bravery. Hussain, previously an inspector, was also promoted to the rank of DSP.

Such valour in Swat does not go unnoticed, as most policemen have deserted the force out of fear of the Taliban – who have killed and beheaded around 100 policemen in the district since mid 2007.

A group of 40 policemen under Hussain’s command was guarding the Rahimabad police station, which is surrounded by the Taliban strongholds of Rehmanabad, Amankot, Belogram and Qambar.

“Our police station was attacked on May 2 from all sides with heavy weapons ... the Taliban were demanding that we surrender. Those with Swat domiciles in the group began deserting the force one by one, leaving the police station in civil dress,” said Hussain, adding he observed the situation with two things in mind: “fight, and I could survive … surrender, and I might be beheaded”. He went for the first option – a decision that brought him rare honour.

Husaain said following the peace deal with the Taliban, he group began inviting people for jihadi training. “We were realising the arrangement wasn’t going to last long and mentally preparing ourselves for another round of battle sooner than later. Left with just six of my men, I began getting worried about the weapons and ammunition in the station, as it was not possible to guard the police station with such small number of people. I thought of the weapons, and told myself that if they fell into the hands of the Taliban, they would be used against the army … that I did not want,” he said.

“So, after facing a barrage of rockets and bullets for three days and as many nights, I finally decided on May 4 to leave the police station and join paramilitary soldiers at a grid station nearby, mainly because I wanted to keep the weapons – SMGs, G3 rifles and LMGs – out of Taliban hands.”

Hussain loaded all the weapons into a vehicle and sped towards the grid station, which was being guarded by the Frontier Corps (FC). “I was relieved when we were with the FC, the weapons and ammunition secure.”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_21