Sadly, our police have no mechanisms in place to protect ordinary policemen or citizens
KARACHI: At approximately 5:30PM, on Saturday, the 2nd of March, at the Gizri Boulevard and Gizri Avenue intersection, a maroon Suzuki car that had jumped the red light was asked by an on-duty policeman to pull over. The driver deceptively slowed down but then accelerated, as he figured out the visible helplessness of the lone police constable. By this time this conscientious constable was in front of the car, hoping that it would force the driver to stop. The driver however kept moving for about 10 feet with the policeman dangerously clinging to the bonnet. As the car accelerated, the policeman was dislodged and fell down, fortunately without any serious injury.
In the process of saving his life, the policeman could not note down the car number. However, a citizen watching this entire event chased the runaway vehicle, noted down its registration number and passed it on to the duty constable (still recovering from the trauma) as well as to senior police officials. The information should have been sufficient for the police to take action against the runaway vehicle in a matter of a few hours. Sadly, our police, designed solely to serve the political elite, have no mechanisms in place to protect ordinary policemen or citizens.
This small incident is a classic representation of the helplessness, vulnerability and cruelty to which our policemen have been exposed, while performing their duties at the traffic signals. Almost two years ago, an MPA in Balochistan ran over and seriously injured a traffic policeman on duty, who later succumbed to his injuries. Meanwhile, Karachi has lost scores of policemen every year to crime and violence.
A weak, helpless and scared police force reflects negatively on the police leadership. The inability of the police to stop even a Suzuki, without the fear of being trampled by our violent citizens, appears to have taken away all respect and self-esteem of our policemen. The IG of the province must immediately intervene to provide the training, equipment, systems, communication, transport and support needed to enable the policemen to perform their basic job effectively, without fear and with dignity.
Naeem Sadiq
Published in The Express Tribune, March 6th, 2019.
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