Islamabad: Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal has said that economic development is directly linked with peace in society and police played a crucial role in making Pakistan a safe and strong country.
He stated this while addressing the National Police Summit and Expo in Islamabad on Wednesday. He congratulated Islamabad Police, Higher Education Commission and National Police Bureau for arranging this event and said it is the unique conference as police leadership of four provinces, Giglit-Baltistan and heads of law enforcement agencies were in attendance of the expo.
Minister for Interior said that no development is possible without peace in the society and also called for strong relationship between police and academia to tackle the modern day challenges.
Terming the police martyrs as national martyrs, Ahsan Iqbal paid respect and said that the nation is proud of them. The minister also paid rich tributes to police martyrs who sacrificed their lives for maintaining law and order in the country.
He said that police officials from foreign countries would be invited in the next conference. The role of police department is very crucial for maintaining peace, ensure protection to the lives and property of citizens and elimination of crime, he added.
The minister said that economic development is linked with peace in society and police force has the major responsibility to ensure it. He said that Pakistan has rendered great sacrifices for victory in war against terrorism and whole nation is proud of gallant police personnel who embraced martyrdom to root out this menace.
He said there have been several challenges to the law enforcers in this era of modern technology. Police and other law enforcement agencies would have to equip themselves with these modern techniques and also to ensure public cooperation to curb crimes.
The minister said that police should take advantage of the research being made in the fields of Criminology, Technology and Sociology and other departments. He termed the youth as real asset of the country and said that they should come forward to assist police in curbing crime and raise awareness about responsibilities of police in society. “We will have to make our youth safe and protected”, he added.
Ahsan Iqbal said that violation of law should not be tolerated by police and there should be policy of zero tolerance in this regard. He termed the public cooperation crucial for successful policing and asked policemen to maintain close coordination with them. “Police needs to develop strong relationship with the community to win their confidence,” he maintained.
He said that a proper mechanism should be made to settle the disputes of petty nature. The minister said the databank having record of criminals and terrorists would be prepared. The conference was attended by IGP Islamabad, IG Motorway Police, high officials of police from four provinces, Frontier Constabulary and other law enforcement agencies.
The minister also awarded prizes and certificates to students of Bahria University, Riphah University and Institute of Space Technology for presenting various projects related to law enforcement activities.
The IGP Islamabad Dr. Sultan Azam Temuri also stressed for community policing and thanked the Minister for Interior over support to Islamabad police for effective policing. The representatives from provincial police departments and others also spoke on the occasion and gave their suggestions to improve policing system.
Ammar Jaffery and Dr. Zafar highlighted the importance of using modern technology in policing affairs to curb criminal activities. Police uniforms, security vehicles, firearms, crime scene aids, pursuit vehicles, motorbikes and other security equipment were also placed at the Expo. Thousands of persons visited the Expo and lauded the skills and efforts of police and other law enforcement agencies in maintaining peace.
