Event Summary
On 14th July 2025, the Government of Pakistan announced the creation of a new nationwide Federal Constabulary, evolving from the historic Frontier Constabulary (FC) under amendments to the 1915 Act. This newly structured force will operate under federal control with the mandate to carry out internal security, riot control, disaster response, and counter-terrorism duties across all provinces and regions, including Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Officers from the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) will command the force, and recruitment will occur at a national scale. The legal basis for this transformation is being enacted through a presidential ordinance, bypassing broader parliamentary scrutiny.
The official justification for this restructuring is the need for a rapid, centralized response force to manage diverse emergencies such as civil unrest, natural disasters, and terrorism. However, the announcement has raised serious concerns among civil society, opposition leaders, and rights groups, especially given the timing just weeks before mass protests planned by the opposition PTI on August 5, 2025. Although the Federal Constabulary was eventually not deployed during the August 5 protests, the concentration of force at the federal level raises fears of bypassing provincial autonomy and increasing militarized responses to civilian protests.
Human rights defenders have also flagged risks related to accountability, oversight, and transparency. With paramilitary forces historically associated with abuses in restive regions like Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the expansion of their jurisdiction without public consultation or parliamentary debate is seen as a dangerous precedent. Civil liberties advocates warn that in the absence of independent oversight, the Federal Constabulary could function as a centralized political police, undermining Pakistan’s constitutional protections related to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and provincial governance.
While the government frames the new force as a pragmatic solution to complex national threats, its creation reflects a deeper shift toward centralized, militarized governance in Pakistan. The bypassing of democratic processes and the potential misuse of this force in quelling dissent raise alarming questions about the future of civil liberties, provincial autonomy, and democratic accountability in the country. The move is not only a legal and administrative change, it is a stark signal of the government’s intent to restructure security architecture in ways that may erode the already fragile space for democratic dissent.