Daily Times

It is done. They did it. Just as we had wished, although not as we had suggested. Changes in the police and policing. One signature. Overnight. Instantly the very compelling reasons of it being complicated, requiring financial resources, overcoming administrative challenges, restructuring issues, federal-provincial complications, etc, vanished. During the last five years of working with the police for democratic, citizen-centric policing, advocating to citizens, lobbying with parliamentarians across Pakistan for police reforms, we were given the above listed reasons for why change is not possible. Why it cannot happen. The list disappeared. The deed was done. End of story. Change in policing delivered in a package to you at your doorstep before the milkman.

The democratic, people-centric government of Sindh has replaced the Police Order 2002 with the Police Act of 1861. The Police Order 2002 was promulgated by a military dictator. The Police Act of 1861 was introduced in the subcontinent by the British along the lines of the Irish policing system, designed to subjugate, coerce and control. The Police Order 2002, at least on paper, structured the police to be serving the citizens rather than subjugating them. The progressive, pro-people government of Sindh has put an end to it and are also hailing this as a pro-people step. Almost daily, half-page newspaper advertisements are being placed in the English newspapers by the Sindh Information Minister thanking Mr Asif Zardari for this “revolutionary” step along with reverting to the commissionerate system.

The Police Order 2002 was never implemented in its full spirit. Hardly any public safety commissions were functional. Apart from two complaints cell established all over the country, the performance there was dismal too. In fact, according to one analyst, “The Police Order 2002 can be compared to a child who immediately after birth is handicapped by the parents themselves.” Conversations with police personnel revealed that the benefits and rewards envisioned under the new system were never implemented but the punishments were introduced the very next day. In a nutshell, there was room for improvements in the Police Order theoretically as well as in its implementation. However, in its most rudimentary form, it was better than the 1861 Police Act.

Experienced colleagues who have devoted their energies to effective policing in the country are furious. Some have talked about suing the government, others are roping in constitutional experts taking the plea that it is federal jurisdiction. I leave this discussion to the experts. My plea is neither in favour of the Police Order 2002 nor against it. My plea is based on suggestions collected from citizens from all over the country during the past five years. These suggestions are:

The police needs to work as a service for citizens and not as a force to control them. It should be recognised that citizens are their paymasters. There should be realisation that the police need to be professional, service-oriented and accountable to the sovereign citizens of Pakistan. I deliberately use the word “sovereign” here because on March 23, 1956, we became sovereign. In other words, March 23 needs to be marked as Republic Day, which tragically it is not and hardly anyone is aware of the significance of this date with reference to our sovereignty.

Other suggestions put forth by Pakistani citizens are:

n The police needs to be respected as a service.

n Have equity within the ranks.

n Have an efficient public complaint handling system.

n To address public complaints, a police ombudsman should be appointed.

n Police reforms should be done without any political interference.

n Salaries and benefits to the police personnel should be increased to improve efficiency and should be the same all over the country.

n Police should be in the government pool for accommodation

n Expenses incurred by the police personnel during investigation should be reimbursed to the investigation officers.

n All officers at region/range and district level should be organised according to the ground needs

n All over the country, the question of Annual Confidential Report (ACR) is problematic as officers leave their postings before filling out ACRs of their subordinates. This needs to be better handled.

n Traffic police needs to be restructured along the lines of the Motorway Police.

n Continuous police training programmes should be organised aiming at developing the professional capacities of the police.

n There should not be a ban on police recruitments as it affects the training schedules and careers of the police.

n The police budget should be reviewed.

n The number of female police stations and cells for women detainees in regular police stations should be increased.

n Women police officers should be authorised to register and investigate cases.

n Training standards for all police personnel need to be improved with a particular focus on human rights training, which should be an integral part of the training.

We need to be mindful that community policing is better policing. Citizens, particularly females, should be involved not just in community policing but their opinion should be sought for police reforms.

The legislatures, through engaging with citizens, need to develop consensus on how to make the police efficient, modern, non-partisan, service-oriented and transparent and take appropriate steps in this direction.

These were the demands that were collected from the citizens. After five years of running from one office to another, from one media house to another, from one assembly to another has not yielded a single result. With one stroke of the pen, the little progress that Pakistanis had made in the form of the Police Order 2002 was also reversed.

Pakistanis! Do not pass go. Do not collect 200. In this game of monopoly, you are no longer of any consideration.

The writer is an Islamabad-based development consultant. She can be reached at coordinator@individualland.com