Punjab police justified the existing brutal methods of investigation while Balochistan was ready to adopt new methods.
ISLAMABAD: Last week, I was part of a round-table discussion on torture in Lahore. Police officers, lawyers, politicians, civil society workers and people from different walks of life were part of this discussion. The aim was to discuss ways to reduce torture practiced by state agencies including the police. Sadly, representatives of police from Punjab were not in favour of adopting new ways of investigation and were justifying the existing — brutal — methods of investigation. However, police officers representing Balochistan were ready to adopt new methods and showed their agreement.
After attending the three-day discussions, I came to the conclusion that a sense of deprivation caused the police officers of Balochistan to long for a better work environment. But those from Punjab were reluctant to adopt better ways of policing because they didn’t see anything wrong with what they were doing.
Why are we so afraid of changing our ways? Sometimes, good can from these changes.
Zulfiqar Haider
Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2011.
