Impartial police

This letter refers to the editorial, ‘Too Much Change’ (January 5, 2020). The editorial criticized the frequent changes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab’s IGPs. This criticism can be justified through the fact that these IGPs will continue to succumb to any type of pressure from various government functionaries. The prime minister has been promising to free our police force of political interference, but these have proven to be empty promises. Furthermore, the recurring replacement of top officials in the force without allowing them to complete their tenure is a big security risk. Not only does doing so threaten our safety, but it can also shatter the confidence of those officials and demoralize the entire police force. This lack of continuity due to such sudden transfers of senior police officers results in a collapse of the administration and a loss of effectiveness.

It is time for the government to fulfill its commitment of freeing the Pakistani police force of political interference. This can only be done by allowing senior officials to complete their tenure and therefore avoid pre mature transfers. It is crucial that we eradicate the impression that the PTI is the same as the previous corrupt governments by bettering our police force.

Mukhtar Ahmed

Karachi