Salahuddin needs to stop humiliation
of innocent people at checkpoints, during operations
PESHAWAR: The new inspector general of police (IGP) Salahuddin Khan Mehsud is facing a tough challenge to continue reforms in the force and go after criminals and terrorists all over the province.
He took over the command of the force last month a couple of weeks after he was promoted to grade-21. He became one of the youngest police chiefs in the country at the age of 52. Salahuddin Mehsud was heading the Special Branch as well as the Counter-Terrorism Department of the KP Police as additional inspector general for the last almost two years. He remained the district and divisional head of the force in KP before he left for an assignment abroad and on return served on key positions.
Speaking at his maiden press conference a few days back, Salahuddin Mehsud
hinted at continuing the policies of the former IGP Nasir Khan Durrani that earned a lot of praise for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, especially on the social media.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters and many youth termed the KP Police well ahead of other forces because of zero political interference and the reforms introduced by Nasir Durrani that helped the commoners to get better treatment at police stations and at checkpoints.
The major challenge that Salahuddin Mehsud is going to face is to reduce the number of unnecessary search and strike operations, especially those carried out door-to-door in specific areas that only bother the general public.
Most of the search and strike operations, particularly those carried out door-to-door, resulted in humiliation of respectable and innocent people. The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa never allow anyone to enter their bedrooms and search their belongings.
The better option is to carry out intelligence-based operations in specific localities and against specific outlaws after seeking help from local elders to secretly identify innocent and respectable families so they are not bothered.
There is no system to stop or take action against the junior officers and low-ranking policemen who humiliate respectable citizens during these operations due to their incompetence or while taking advantage of their powers given to them after the war against terrorists.
Another challenge that the new IGP is facing is to continue and improve the dispute resolution councils (DRCs), the police access service (PAS) and the police assistance lines (PAL).
The DRCs have been doing a good job by delivering speedy justice through alternate dispute resolution process. These bodies need to be extended to the police station level to end thousands of blood feuds.
There are some reservations about the performance of the PAS and PAL that need to be improved. The performance and the function of the police reporting rooms and the model police stations also need to be reviewed and improved wherever needed. The same needs to be done in case of the training of policemen at the recruiting centers and the specialized schools.
Many also want the new IGP to work out the case of student Mashal Khan's lynching and take action if the police was found negligent. Many 'corrupt' policemen were happy when Nasir Khan Durrani retired from service on March 16. However, so far the action taken by the incumbent IGP against those who are not performing well or those who misused their powers has once again discouraged the 'corrupt' officials.
Many consider the appointment of a clean and competent officer as IGP a continuation of the policies of Nasir Khan Durrani, who helped improve the image of the KP Police with a number of measures, some of which were termed mere cosmetic by the bureaucracy as well as his rivals.
With a young and energetic team and still having almost eight years of service left, many have pinned high hopes on Salahuddin Mehsud that he will not only introduce reforms in the force that will help the general public, but also work to restore peace in the province by going after terrorists and criminals.
