At times we fear that a suicide bomber would come and blow himself in public and we would also be one of the victims, or we fear that there would start a gunfire between terrorists and security forces and we would also get stuck in between them and keep hiding in a building until the gunshots become silent and area is cleared by the security forces, but such fears are very rare especially due to the decreasing number of terror attacks in the country. But many years before, I felt the same fear by Iraqi people.

Those days were the most disturbed days in the history of Iraq and more than hundreds of civilians and government personnel were killed every day in a number of suicide attacks. The condition had made Iraqi security forces and allied forces totally helpless and all their efforts went in vain as stopping a suicide bomber was almost impossible. Innocent civilians were dying every day and there was immense public pressure on the government and security forces of Iraq to stop these terrorists.

Then a strategy was adopted which was dangerous but it seemed as the final option in tackling this situation. Every town or village was given funds to make their own army and safeguard their own towns and villages. With this, an alternate private army came into existence and every town and village of Iraq presented the picture of a mini military camp. The area was cordoned off and there were checkpoints on every entry to a town or village.

This solution temporarily solved the problem but then it was feared that what would happen if this private army got out of control and acted like a terrorist group because fighting such a big establishment would also be very difficult for the security forces of the country. People who feared terrorists now got into another fear when they moved from town to town or village to village and it was the fear of this private army. Experts said that this arrangement had divided the people into innumerable groups who were suspicious about each other and had jeopardized the general unity and solidarity among the public.

There are also present some places in Afghanistan where the typical establishment of army and security forces was not much successful. Terrorists were from the common public who used to work in their farms in day while in the darkness of night; they would carry up their guns and turned into terrorists. This problem was confusing and then we heard about a new term ‘arbaki’ that came into existence as a result of necessity. In every village and town of such disturbed areas, people were taken from the same village or town and a private army was formed and named, ‘arbaki’. They were provided with all the facilities like guns, vehicles and some monthly salary and given the responsibility to safeguard their own area. In order to win the public support for them, a large-scale media campaign was launched in which they were shown to be helping the people and controlling the order in the area in a perfect manner.

This is a very good picture in which everything seems to be working perfectly but now time has come to assess the performance of this private militia and see how much they have attained the objectives that they were made for. But before doing so, it would be appropriate to discuss some of the issues related to them.

This private militia or ‘arbaki’ includes of those who want to take extreme risk on a very nominal pay and of course, it would be very comical if we claim that they are doing so for the sake of country or humanity or with a desire to protect their fellow citizens because expecting such high thoughts from such people would be very unfair. Unfortunately, numerous factors have come together to make a society in which we can find a lot of criminals, thieves and other people who would like to earn their livelihood, either from legal or illegal sources. After the collapse of Mujahidin, there were so many people who had fought for almost two decades and their only skill was to fight and thus they were not able and ready to do any other work to earn their livelihood.

They were ready to fight for anyone who would give them some money. Secondly, due to absence of any job opportunities, a lot of people turned into criminals who were ready to take any kind of risk if it helped them in earning their livelihood, so almost all the members of this private army or ‘arbaki’ included such people and we can also include some other categories in this like thieves, drug addicts and others and it would be irrational if we expect much from them.

Second factor in this regard is the role of chief of the area. This private army or ‘arbaki’ has been formed in remote areas where every town or village is under the strong influence of a very powerful person or tribal chief. The responsibility of recruitment of such people was given to these elders and they got a golden opportunity to oil their bellies. The more one agreed to give the share of his salary to the chief, the more he got the chances of getting better position in this army and thus entire building was based on corruption and malpractices.

Then, they were not given due training and in fact, they never needed any training because they were already expert in using guns and looting the houses. They faced only one problem and it was to control themselves when they noticed a good opportunity to loot someone and they were stopped by their elders as now they were no more bandits and part of a ‘pious’ army.

Till now, they have not shown much impressive performance and the condition of security remains almost the same. However, it is a different reality that they have earned wide public criticism for their inappropriate conduct and behavior. People are of the view that they have not succeeded in getting rid of their old habits and behaviors and thus they are still as dangerous to the general public and order as they were before joining the army.

Some experts raise another grave concern about the future of this private militia because if they slipped out of the hands of authorities and came under a single umbrella, it would be very challenging for our national security forces to combat them. Another serious issue also puts a question mark that which kind resistance would be shown by them if government decided to dissolve this army and how would government tackle the situation then.

With all these bad points, it is also necessary to mention some good points about them and most important one is the providence of job for such a large number of people. We all know that our country has no factories or other means of job for illiterate and increasing joblessness poses many serious threats on our existence but with this establishment, at least some people have got jobs and have lifted up some pressure from this side.

Time will decide about the positive and negative outcomes of this army but till then, it would also be better if we make preparations to avert any serious problem in this regard.