Grand police dinner: The actor behind the blue uniform

Grand dinner by police officials boasted of laughter, songs and a lot more.

ISLAMABAD:

The ‘Bara Khana’ (Grand Dinner) on Monday was hosted at Police Lines Headquarters to honour the achievements and sacrifices made by police officials in the line of duty.

Surprisingly, it was the policemen who took part in skits, singing competition and dances at the event. The naturally talented cops were nothing less than professionals in their show. When it came to singing, the audiences were given the taste of every language, including Pashto and Punjabi.

“The police officials compiled, rehearsed and performed the whole show themselves. They had their own orchestra,” said Zubair Hashmi, Senior Superintendent of Police SSP Headquarters. It appeared strange for people to see people in blue uniform at work on tablas, harmonium and flute.

All operations, logistics and traffic divisions of police had their participation.

The audience comprising junior rank officials of police, high rank officers, diplomats and retired bureaucrats were equally enthralled with the performances. The skits performed by almost all departments of police were good, but the ones performed by operations division stole the show.

They staged a scene of a police station and did not shy away from showing the typical Thana  (police station) culture. Showcasing exceptional talents of acting and an above average sense for situational comedy writing, the play could have made the harshest of police critics laugh their hearts out.

The scene revolved around a moharar (registrar) of a police station and his two subordinates who deal with pressure from their seniors on a suspect they arrested for alleged fraud. The suspect was given respect on the directions of a senior. The next moment he was thrown to ground when instructed by another officer.

And this went on for some time, before the suspect was finally released on the orders of their most senior officer. It ended with police’s most favourite song ‘Munni Badnaam Hui’  where police constables did their best to match Salman Khan in dance.

The over half-an-hour long play won the rightly deserved first prize for best acting, direction and script. Before going for the grand dinner, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) while speaking at the occasion said police had rendered sacrifices in the war on terror and will continue to serve for peoples’ safety.

He also distributed cash awards among the winners of song and drama competition. After a glimpse into the full “human side of police”, the grand get-together culminated after dinner.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2011.