Protect citizens from excesses of police

Islamabad: The situation of common people may be confronting while dealing with the police all over the country, may not be very pleasant but the people of Pakistan are the worst sufferers.

That is because of the political intervention, traditional influence of rich and powerful, low level of literacy, unawareness about their rights, lack of knowledge about the laws and on top of all that the fear of police uniform.

The evil and frightening ‘Thana Culture’, which has become the ‘law’ itself, has made the Punjab Police so powerful that it has become an incontrollable monster. Instead of serving as an institution that may invoke feelings of protection, safety and security, it instantly triggers fear in the minds of people in the Punjab.

One really wonders if it is true but once a police told this scribe that there are at least 8 laws in the book under which the police can detain and can register a case against any person standing straight, absolutely still and doing nothing at all.

We believe the Punjab Police, from the sepoy to the Inspector-General of Police are specifically taught those 8 particular laws. Police in the KP stands reformed and has become almost a model institution. Now people talk about the KP police like once they used to talk about and appreciate the Motorway Police. In Balochistan police was always docile against the strong Sardars’ power and tribal influence. In Sindh, particularly in the rural areas those have always been the ‘Waderas’ and ‘Sain’ who commanded the police while in urban areas the ethnic groups enjoy the control.

But in Punjab, it is the police that have been in total control that is because of the ruthless use or abuse of power. In the province of Punjab if one is roped in by the police, be one guilty or innocent, the first thing one loses is the self-respect, then the human rights and then access to any means of justice!

The highly abusive ‘thana culture’ is so cruel that even if a person is proved innocent immediately, his or her release from the clutches is not possible unless proper palm greasing is done. And even as the man in uniform will stash the money in his pocket, inside the police station, he will make the ‘innocent’ person realize that he was doing him a big favour. He would also make sure for the person being released on being proven innocent after the person has bribed him that the money he is not going to pocket the whole amount but has to share with everybody in the system, right up to the District Police Officer.

Needless to say that by the time the person is released he has already lost his self-respect, his reputation smeared, had undergone physical and mental torture and his heart and mind is filled to the brim with rage, hatred and vengeance against police and the system.

The first advice a complainant approaching the police in the police stations in Punjab received for free is: Why you want to register the FIR? Just file a ‘Report’ and we will investigate the matter’.

If one insists for filing an FIR the next advice, again free, will be: ‘you know the other party is very strong and influential. You will never be able to prove anything against them and on the other side you will make them your enemies.’

Still if the complainant will stick with his stance, the police officer will tell him to sit in a corner and wait till the time he is free to file the FIR in his case. And the wait lingers on from morning till evening.

And once the case is registered, the complainant immediately realizes his mistake as he finds the police turning hostile towards him. He has to bear all the cost of police investigations,starting from buying a ream of paper and a good pen to write the report, pay for the tea, cold drinks, snacks, and cigarettes. And a never ending ordeal for the complainant starts. He/she could be called to the police station at odd hours as part of investigation and there are numerous cases where the complainant eventually agrees to take back his complaint and give it in writing to the police to wrap up the case.

Yet another most popular technique employed by the Punjab Police to catch an absconder is to detain his family members, father, mother, brothers and even sisters in the police station. The technique is highly successful because the absconder will surrender to save his family.

The use of third degree torture to draw confession from the alleged criminals and the inhuman treatment meted out to them in the police stations has become an accepted norm in the Punjab Police Stations. In face of all these facts if Prime Minister Imran Khan, who also holds the portfolio of the Federal Interior Minister, talks about introducing police reforms in the Punjab, one can’t help but be sceptical.