Too much change

In less than 18 months, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has received its fourth inspector general of police, Sanaullah Abbasi. He replaces Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan who was a Grade-22 officer with an outstanding track record of serving in various provinces of Pakistan. According to reports, he was trying to assert his authority to make the KP Police a professional force independent of political interference. He was also working on the introduction of a regular police force in the newly merged Fata districts into KP. His impartial and independent approach to law enforcement was apparently disliked, and he was removed. Almost the same circumstances had befallen the earlier two inspectors general, who were removed after only five and three months in office respectively. The situation in Punjab is also no different.

In the past year and a half, Punjab has seen five inspectors general of police. This is being done by a government that came to power on the promise of making the police force independent of political interference. Ideally, all inspectors general should complete their three-year term in office without political pressure and without the threat of being replaced within months, as has been happening in KP and Punjab. The police force is primarily responsible for all law and order in provinces; and they need some stable leadership that can plan and execute strategic decisions. When the government appoints a new police chief, the entire provincial police machinery looks up to him/her for guidance and implementation. But before the new IGP is able to fully comprehend the challenges of the new province, the incumbent is removed and send to another province or made an officer on special duty (OSD).

These frequent changes should immediately stop so that the police force can perform its duties properly and in a well-planned manner. Security of tenure is a fundamental requirement of both civil and military bureaucracies and the government must respect it. For an officer, it is a matter of utmost disrespect when the government does not consider them fit to continue in a particular position and removes them within months. This is essentially a failure of the executive branch of government. Appropriate legislation is the need of the hour so that it is not that simple to just remove officers for no apparent reason.