Karachi: Police in a mess

EDITORIAL:Daily Times

That the Karachi police lacks motivation to work hard should not have been starling information for the Supreme Court hearing the case of no-go areas in Karachi. The court has been informed on more dreary facts about the police in other cases. Such as 400 police officers in Karachi running personal crime wings; police hand-in-glove with the criminals to advance the latter’s objectives; out of turn and lateral promotions infesting police with non-professional and political recruits, etc. Police being one of the crucial bodies to maipntain law and order, cannot be left to fester in multiple moral and professional hazards. The implications of this negligence is apparent in Karachi, where police itself has become a governance issue. Every law and order situation of Karachi ends at the doorstep of police. It cannot be anywhere else that one would strive to find the solution to restlessness that has ravaged the economic hub of the country. Myriad issues and circumstances have turned the police into pawns at the hands of politicians. The system itself through which this important civilian commanding body runs, is anomalous. Way back in 1992 and 1996 when police operations were conducted in Karachi against the criminal elements, it was the police that had to pay with their lives for showing the will to follow the dictates of their duty. Most of the officers involved in these operations were either killed or abducted, never to be seen again. To date mystery surrounds their killing and abduction, in the sense that no one has been arrested. Whether the police had been unable or disinterested to arrest those who killed their colleagues is yet to be determined. It is this inability and disinterest that to date is affecting the professional capability of the police officers. They have rather changed their position to become obedient servants of those who define the rules of the game. On the other hand situations where the police could have performed were missed for the lack of professional training and modern investigation and policing equipment. Unless the police operates as an autonomous body, and follows its own rules and regulations independent of every political pressure, it would remain tied to the apron strings of the power lords for its own safety. Hence the demotivation to combat crime and restore law and order. There is an immediate need to redefine the functioning of the police. Brutality being the hallmark of the police and the very reason for the trust deficit between the force and the citizens, needs to be replaced with proper attitudes. Transcending police’s role from being a force to a service can do the needful. After all policing by its very nature is all about security and welfare of the citizens. Building capacity and character are important but more urgent is the need to bring about a change in the attitude of the first respondent (Station House Officer). Without this prerequisite, any police reform would remain mere lip service. It would be instructive to revisit the Police Ordinance 2002 for important amendments. It has been alleged that the ordinance has greatly improved the career prospects of the senior police officers (federal level), while intensifying politicisation and impeding the career prospects of the police ranks (provincial level). Any police reform that fails to take the proper route would just end up being a pretentious attempt. Pakistan is faced by multiple security threats, terrorism being number one. Under such circumstances police reforms take precedence over any other government’s priority. The first wisdom required of this awakening should be: let the force be reorganised to serve the law and nothing else.