he provincial police do not seem interested in following the orders of the former IG, Aamir Zulfiqar, regarding the mandatory appointment of at least one woman police officer as station house officer in every district of the Punjab. As a result, the issue is hanging in the balance.

It is pertinent to note that shortly after the orders were issued, a woman officer, Jayyaba Mansoor, was appointed SHO at the Sarwar Road police station in Lahore. However, the minute the then IG (Aamir Zulfiqar) was removed, following the dissolution of the provincial assembly, she was transferred to the sole all-women police station in the city, the Race Course police station. Thus, the new initiative appears to have died in its infancy.

Zulfiqar had directed the additional IG in charge of training to ensure the appointment of women SHOs and submit a report in due time. He had also instructed the Lahore police chief to make the necessary provisions at the Ladies’ Police Hostel in Qila Gujjar Singh Police Lines.

While the initiative has not been welcomed by the police force in general, the Punjab Police bosses believe that it has the potential to address the gender disparity in the ranks.

It may be mentioned here that in the past similar initiatives taken by the high-ups in the Operations Wing of the Lahore police have failed. Several reasons are cited for this failure. Most male colleagues of female officers think that being in charge of a police station or an investigation circle is a demanding job. They say a lady SHO cannot perform operational duties as effectively as her male counterparts.

There are other reasons as well. Many encounters with the criminals occur during police raids. These could put the officers at risk. Eventually, these officers need to be accompanied by male colleagues. Some male police officers insist that the job often requires the kind of corporal strength their female colleagues can’t be expected to have.

This translates into numbers. Of the 205,000 Punjab Police personnel, the number of women police officers is a measly 4,500. This means that there is only one woman police officer per 12,200 women in the province. In this year so far, the number of cases lodged at the police stations in 36 districts of the province has been around 400,000. An estimated 55 percent of these cases involve at least one female suspect. The number of women police officers is just too small to carry out investigations in all these cases and apprehend the suspects.

Though the new initiative has not been welcomed by the police force in general, the Punjab Police bosses believe that it has the potential to address the gender disparity in the ranks.

peaking to TNS, DIG Waqas Nazir, the Operations in charge, says: “Frankly speaking, the future of the appointment of lady SHOs in the Punjab hinges on their performance. We are closely monitoring this aspect.”

So far, around 40 lady police officers have been posted in various districts of the province, he says. Only a districts or two are left.

Replying to a query, the DIG says, “There is not much difference between the male and female officers as far as professionalism is concerned. In fact, some of the female police officers have proved themselves as good investigators. In several cases, they were found to be far ahead of their male colleagues in terms of performance and skills.”

About the security of female officers, he says that their male counterparts face similar threats in the line of duty. “Often during the course of an operation against criminals, the male police officers are found to be quite vulnerable. For this reason, their colleagues have to jump in and help them,” he adds.

Model Town division SP, Ammara Sherazi, says the initiative was a significant one: “This not only meant that more women are inducted in the Police Department, but also that their chances of becoming SHOs or IOs increase.

“The strength of the female police officers currently stands at around 2 percent of the total police force in the Punjab,” she adds. “This ratio should be increased to 40 percent at least.”

Sherazi says the women join the police force after fighting off a number of societal pressures and taboos. “So, if a female officer can be a DIG, a DPO, an SP or an ASP in Pakistan, then why can’t they be SHOs or investigation officers”?

The SP further says that in this field the women work with their male colleagues as a team. Female officers are considered equal to their male counterparts. When they have to conduct a raid, they are well-armed.”

However, she agrees that they are accompanied by male colleagues, so that “security is no issue.”

Sherazi believes that the so-called thana culture has a bad name. She says it is very important to induct more women in various cadres of the police force so that the general perception about the police force improves.

Civil Lines SP Sarfraz Virk is of the view that the women police officers are doing a great job. In some cases, he says, they have performed better than their male colleagues. “Promoting women police officers is a good policy. I see no issue with it.”

Citing his own experience with the lady police officers in Karachi and Hyderabad, Virk says he found them “focused and passionate about their work.”

The writer is a senior journalist and can be reached at ahsanzia155@gmail.com