NAP misses important police department

ISLAMABAD: Despite heroic sacrifices of policemen, the police department continues to be run on whims and wishes of political masters.

The National Action Plan is considered a sacrosanct document, and it simply ignores the police department which is the most relevant state institution to counter terrorism and check serious crimes.

Police department direly needs reforms and depoliticisation but there is no attention paid to improve the policing despite the fact that the department even in its present shape is giving unprecedented sacrifices to safeguard the life and property of the people. 

Questions are generally raised by politicians and media on the implementation of the NAP and it is believed that once the plan is enforced completely, the menace of terrorism will be eliminated. However, hardly anyone pointed it out that the National Action Plan does not have any mention of the police department.

Police, whose total strength all over Pakistan is over 410,000 with almost 1,400 police stations, is the most suitable force to focus on to counter terrorism because of its presence in every nook and corner of the country. In US, Europe and other countries, the main responsibility of counter-terrorism remains with police.

Sacrifices of policemen in their fight against terror have been phenomenal during the last many years but it is believed that because of politicization and lack of reforms including training the police is doing far less than what it can deliver to check terrorism and other serious crimes.

Nearly 4,000 police personnel have lost their lives since 2002 across the country while securing and safeguarding the lives of citizens. Almost 1,500 police personnel have been killed in Sindh in terrorist attacks and target killing; 1,457 martyred in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; 450 in Balochistan,; 370 in Punjab and many others in FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The number of police casualties speaks itself for the relevance of the police department to check terrorism. However, the NAP speaks of “establishing and deploying a dedicated counter-terrorism force” and “revamping and reforming’ of the criminal justice system but does not mention police or police reforms at all.

Senior police officials insist that depoliticisation, empowerment and capacity building of the police department could do miracles to check terrorism because of the presence of police and its special branch in all different parts of the country.

It is said that if the police chief is given free hand and there is no outside interference in police service matters and its working, the performance and output of the department would increase manifold. 

Discipline, training and internal autonomy are considered must for effectiveness of the police department but except in the case of KPK, the external interferences in police matters including posting, transfer and promotions have ruined the department.

In the case of police, it is said, the police officials because of politicization are compelled to follow the dictates of rulers, politicians and other influential people to get their choice postings, promotion etc which render the unity of command as totally ineffective.

So far KPK police is the only pleasant exception where the provincial IG Police has been given free hand to do the policing job and no one is allowed to interfere in police matters. Of late, the provincial government has also introduced a legislation to run the police as an independent and neutral body -- free from any external pressure.