Daily Times

Poor Accountability: Whereas there was no penalty for official duties discharged in good faith and the force was given full protection, there was speedy and stringent accountability for any misdemeanour established. This was possible because every officer knew his subordinates and there was tremendous peer pressure for good and efficient work. Due to these factors, black sheep were easily identified. Over and above all, this was the fact the IG (Motorway) was the final authority.

Rule of Law

It is generally perceived, and not too mistakenly, that in our part of the world, it is neither possible to establish a Rule of Law nor have a public office free of nepotism, corruption and apathy. Probably for the first time in the history of this country, these “accepted” norms were blasted and laws were applied to all equally. When the public saw generals, inspectors-general, ministers and all high and mighty being prosecuted without exception, they were wonderstruck and started voluntarily abiding by the law and rules. Motorway Police Officers were summoned by the courts and senior officers faced contempt notices. I, for one, was summoned by NA Speaker, Supreme Court Judge, Provincial Chief Ministry and many more. We did not budge and the results are before you.

Political Will

It may be recognised that one fundamental factor, which made this dream a reality, was political will. If the government and bureaucracy are on the same page, anything is possible, provided honest and professional leadership is given the task. It was the will of the then prime minister and his unflinching faith in me, which checkmated the negativity of the bureaucracy, particularly of the finance ministry. Positivity permeated all levels of decision-making.

If the government and bureaucracy are on the same page, anything is possible, provided honest and professional leadership is given the task.

Leading from the front

Similar to political will, leadership is the other key to this success story. In the ministry, one of my predecessors had advised the Govt in writing that in the obtaining environment of Pakistan, such a force is simply a utopia. Everyone was resigned to that and it was a catch-22 situation for me. Many a well-wisher tried to bail me out by offering me safe havens for reporting sick or feigning nervous breakdown. I was tempted but didn’t succumb to these offers. Had sleepless nights but in the end, decided to run the gauntlet. In a matter of weeks, when all violators were even-handedly booked without any discrimination and all commuters were helped in every possible way by Motorway Police Officers, an insignia of leadership was imprinted all around. Total Delegation, Total Trust, Total Support and Leading from the Front were the cornerstones.

Way Forward

How unwanted serving policemen became honest, efficient and polite is mind-boggling. The debate can go on and on and yet the answer would allude to us because we have a fixed mindset and pedestrian approach.

If the minds and souls of human beings could be transformed by excellent paper plans/ proposals/laws, training/recruitment and better pay, the Establishment Division could transform the entire bureaucracy overnight. The question deserves a sober and deeper appraisal because, for over 60 years, every successive government has failed to reform the bureaucracy and police despite very earnest efforts undertaken by extremely competent people.

All key issues have been flagged, almost all of which are operational; entailing insignificant funds. It is only a question of how, when and where these will be addressed. The only thing one needs to guard against is tinkering with police in isolation from the criminal justice system. Preferably, a small district may be taken up for creating this model. It is agonizingly frustrating that this lone success story, having no parallel around the globe, was never seriously replicated; except as a half-hearted endeavour in Islamabad.

Epilogue

Painfully, the apathy seems to be a manipulation of sorts by the department itself. With a firm unconscious false belief that police can’t be reformed, we have started shouting even more vociferously about the peripheral issues; forgetting the real issues, and openly alluding that traffic management is a completely different ball game as opposed to terrorism and crime. The lessons learnt during raising the Motorway Police are considered irrelevant. It is a gross fallacy to say that the critical key issues of all disciplines of policing are different. The fact is they are the same, but they vary in degree. Also, the mode of resolving them or finding appropriate solutions may differ from case to case and place to place but the parameters are the same.

It has been established without any shadow of a doubt that the core issues for reforming all policing disciplines are: Leadership, Rapport with Society, Political Will, Unity of Command and Management Skills. If these few fall in line, the cumulative impact will be that all issues of police will start resolving automatically. No commission or committee is required for this because already we are flooded with laws/plans. The need is a simple implementation and a good leader backed by the political leadership.

Police should not be reformed in isolation from the criminal justice system, which is also in shambles. A holistic and panoramic approach is, therefore, required to achieve the desired results.

(Concluded)

The writer is a PSP ex-officer who has served as federal secretary for communication, IG police and chairman PEMRA. He can be reached at: iftirashid@yahoo.com.