“Written laws are like spiders’ webs, and will like them only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful will easily break through them” — Anacharsis to Solon.
Gone are the days when the police had officials like Rao Abdur Rashid Khan or Abbas Khan. These officers had the capacity to turn down any and all illegal requests that were thrown at them by the political leadership of the country. Rao Rashid was credited with the registration of a murder case against the sitting chief minister of the province where he was serving as inspector general of police. Abbas Khan refused to listen to the governor of the province who wanted a favour in an inquiry that was constituted by then Prime Minister Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. Today, the entire department is the lapdog of the political leadership and there are only a few exceptions in the police hierarchy. One can count upright and bright police officials on the fingers of one hand.
It is, therefore, no surprise that figures released by different provinces about the crime situation in the country have shown an alarming rise even in heinous crimes. The situation in Karachi is so alarming that even units of the paramilitary force of rangers have failed to curb what is now commonly known as targeted killings, which are continuing with no end in sight. While the police may not be trained to combat acts of terrorism, yet there is no doubt that the personnel deployed across the country are, at best, decadent. The story of gloom and doom is repeated every day and it now seems that the citizens of this country have been left at the mercy of different criminal gangs and mafias who roam freely in nearly all the urban centres of Pakistan. For example in Punjab there has been a surge of crime by 57 percent since the democratically elected government of Mian Shahbaz Sharif took over the province. Similarly, the statistical data available for other provinces is alarming in spite of the fact that the government has been pumping in billions of rupees of taxpayers’ money in the police department by providing decent pay scales and modern equipment to the police personnel across the country.
It is very unfortunate that there are at least more than a dozen no-go areas after sunset in the province of Punjab and the government is fully aware of this situation but seems helpless. Similarly, a vast area of the Punjab bordering Sindh is so notorious for kidnapping for ransom that even the inspector general of police has admitted his helplessness to curb this menace anytime soon. Many times questions have been raised where lies the defect and after careful consideration, analysts, who include respectable retired police officials, have drawn the same conclusion: political interference in the working of the police department.
If we take the example of Lahore, being the capital of Punjab it is a show window of the government and therefore it must represent the best picture of the police department. Unfortunately, the criteria followed for posting by the provincial government is not on merit of their performance but how much political pull each official has at his command. Therefore, even if a few bright people manage to obtain postings at important positions, all their good work is negated by the sea of decadence that surrounds them. In Lahore, the DIG Operations Ghulam Mahmood Dogar is known for his integrity and knowledge about police work but the official has been unable to perform to his full potential because some of his superiors were appointed for political considerations and are busy pleasing the representatives of the ruling party, thereby defeating the norms of merit and fair play. This does not mean that these officials do not want to put merit in place but indeed it means that they have become captives of the system and just to survive they make compromises that jeopardise their basic work, i.e. to provide protection to the common people.
It would be pertinent to mention that a very important politician has been promoting his son in the political arena. This young man has the reputation of ruthlessly using the Punjab police as an instrument of political advancement. One can find his letters of recommendation in nearly each and every district of the province where station house officers are appointed after his approval. Therefore, one can easily judge why the police has failed to perform its duties satisfactorily. The same is true in other provinces.
The question arises whether the political leadership of the country, especially at the provincial level, is aware of the damage being done to this vital force. And that in case remedial steps were not put in place it will not only mean wastage of resources but also the creation of vigilante groups. Once this happens the institution of democracy would face grave peril, leading the extra-constitutional forces to intervene.
The politicians are once again trying to gang up with the ulterior motive of capturing power. One hopes that the politicians will also pay due attention to the real issues that are faced by the country and try to cure the sickness that is fast spreading amongst various institutions, more notably amongst the police force of this country. Therefore, the politicians would do a great service to this country if they tried to clean up the mess that is visible in different institutions rather than forming alliances and grand alliances against one another. It would be extremely beneficial for the police department if postings and transfers are made on merit and the system of tenure postings is reintroduced so that a proper accountability process is also put in place in the department. In case remedial measures are not adopted, the citizens of Pakistan will never be provided the protection of life and property, nor the rule of law will be implemented.
The writer is a freelance journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]