‘Sindh police was the best law enforcement agency in 19th century’

Former provincial police chief Saud Mirza inaugurates Sindh’s first police museum at Central Police Office

The Sindh police has a glorious history and during the 1850s it was declared the best police force in the Subcontinent, said former IGP Saud Mirza on Tuesday.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the province’s first police museum at the Central Police Office Karachi, Mirza said the Sindh police had registered significant development between 1843 and 1848.

He said the provincial police force was a modern organisation at the time of its constitution, adding that the problems in the present Sindh police were non-existent in the 19th century.

Shedding light on the police force’s history, he informed the people present on the occasion that Charles Napier set up the Sindh police on May 1, 1843 in British India. He said the force was divided into three districts: Karachi, Hyderabad and Shikarpur.

“According to available data, 151 criminal cases were registered during 1843 and 1848, and the Sindh police had the strength of 2,400 personnel to man the three districts.”

The force comprised three branches: mounted police, city police and rural police, adding that the Sindh police was supposed to be an independent body governed by its own officers.

Sindh Police Museum

Regarding the police museum, the former police chief said that it was something he had wanted to establish for years and now his dream had come true.

“We want children and young people to know the history of the Sindh police and there is a need to present a softer image of the police.”

Mirza, the chief conservator of the facility, said the building that housed the Sindh Police Museum was built in 1870 and the structure was declared heritage that needed to be protected.

The museum holds a treasure of police record, photographs, weaponry and medals, besides clippings of newspapers carrying reports related to the provincial police force since the late 19th century, he added.

He said the governing body of the museum included the current Sindh police chief as its patron, adding that the home secretary, along with serving and retired officers, were its members. The governing body also includes former police chiefs Aftab Nabi, Asad Jahangir Khan and Dr Aslam Ibrahim, as well as former antiquities secretary Kaleemullah Lashari, the Addl Sindh IGP, the antiquities secretary and the SP headquarters (Garden).

Khowaja lauds Mirza

Inaugurating the photo gallery at the police museum, Sindh IGP AD Khowaja appreciated Mirza’s efforts to save the history of the force and congratulated him for the outstanding job.

Lauding Mirza for establishing the Sindh Police Museum along modern lines, Khowaja said it would be a catalyst in digitisation of all the relevant records of the department since its inception.

“Availability of the relevant records is always beneficial in tracing the trend and attitudes in terms of criminality over the years and enhancing professional capacities of the police personnel in assessing any emerging situation.”

He said the museum was also important for conserving the history of the police department, as well as for spreading awareness in the present and future generations regarding the achievements of the force. “I am confident that the facility would open fresh vistas for researchers.”