Daily Times

While almost every aspect of life has been hit hard over the past year or so, there is still some hope, and plenty of light at the end of the tunnel.

According to international rankings, Islamabad has been declared the safest city in the country. It is safer than the Indian capital and even some European capitals. In the last year, the city reported 19 murder cases as per official data. It had only one case of kidnapping for ransom and 67 cases of kidnapping of minors. The official record shows that almost all kidnapped children have been returned to their families. Islamabad has never been safer. The city is spreading fast and its demography is diverse, making it prone to crimes. And ever since Aamir Zulfiqar has taken charge of the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), things have further improved. The peaceful conduct of the last year’s JUI-F dharna was proof of the city administration’s ability. Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz has been another big thing to handle. He would gather his army of female Jamia Hafsa students every other day for one reason or the other. But he was handled properly.

It is not an easy task to stand up and police the town in the face of so much political intervention. But Mr Zulfiqar deserves the credit to stand his ground. His efforts have now been acknowledged internationally. Against this backdrop, it is desirable that he teaches police bosses in other major cities how to control crime. Before taking charge of the IGP office, he had brought about a revolution in the Motorway Police. Officers like him must be valued for their work and put in leadership roles for the betterment of society. We in this space recommend that other officers should learn from him how to put their houses in order so that people of Pakistan could sleep without fear in their homes. *