Seminar speakers calls for democratic culture in police

TIMERGARA: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday said that true aspirations of democracy in police department in Pakistan were need of the hour as it was necessary for police performance and their accountability.

The Association for Behaviour & Knowledge Transformation (ABKT), a nongovernmental organization, arranged the seminar at a local hotel in Talash in collaboration with the Pakistan Forum for Democratic Policing (PFDP), a civil society network working to support improved policing in the country.

People from different walks of life including lawyers, journalists, teachers, social and political activists and area elders attended the seminar. Former tehsil nazim advocate Riaz Muhammad, ABKT programme manager Shad Muhammad, former district councilor Malik Barkat Khan, station house officer Talash Tauheed Khan, and Talash Dushkhel Qaumi Jirga members spoke on the occasion.

The speakers were of the view that undue political interference in police department was adversely affecting police performance. They demanded immediate elimination of political interference in the police force. The speakers also suggested the establishment of an independent commission at district and union council levels to hold police accountable. They said that transparency in police recruitment, promotion and posting had been followed to a great extent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The speakers also asked the government to increase financial, human and technical resources of police in all districts. They said that the number of lady police constables and female officers should be increased in all police stations in order to eliminate gender inequality.

The speakers also agreed to a specific tenure of police officers at police stations and district level. They also suggested provision of medical, educational and other facilities to families of police officials.

The speakers said that citizens often felt reluctance to visit police stations and meet the officials as the current policing was not meeting their expectations. They said that police personnel in the West did not have guns in their hands but the public respected them and obeyed the law happily. The stressed the need that police should bring positive changes in their behaviour and public dealing. They said that reforms in policing would enhance their performance in the eyes of general public.