The debate on whether the police agency is meant to serve the citizens or are a force against them has once again become the talk of the town. The recent murder of George Floyd in the US and the Tehkal incident in Peshawar reflects the fact that police cruelty is not just a national issue but a global one.
As illegitimate “use of physical force” by the police comes to the forefront, analysts are now introducing new definitions to explain police brutality that rests on the use of unjustified interrogations. There is no denying the fact that it is the duty of the police to enforce law and order during a state of chaos, however, in doing so they should not cross the fine dividing line between proper and illegitimate use of force. The relationship between citizens and the police in Pakistan appears to be miserable primarily because the two parties always have a face-off at the backdrop of worsening situations. In this regard, calling the whole police service bad and incompetent might be too simple-minded or overstated. However, when cases such as the Tehkal incident emerge, it is necessary to find out the reason why the police behave so brutally. Discussed under the lieu of sociological and psychological theories, it can be deduced that the police act in such a manner because of the overall culture of violent and desensitisation. Although the police reforms through the 2017 Police Act were enforced in K-P, such reforms appear to be workable only on paper. Therefore, resting upon the “watchman-style”, the autonomy and power the service exerts remains unbridled and chances of corruption within the police department manifolds.
The best way forward in this regard is that the policymakers and concerned authorities work towards making the police department a service-oriented entity on which people can have trust and faith on rather than be afraid by it.
Hadia Mukhtar
Karachi
