Controversy-plagued Lahore Capital City Police Officer Umar Sheikh was finally shown the door last week. Many are amazed he even lasted this long, given the impact of his victim-blaming in the wake of the motorway gangrape case. Why he was removed, however, remains up for debate. The government has not provided a reason for his removal, and in the last week alone, he has provided plenty of possible reasons. For one, he got an earful from LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan. After Sheikh complained that police officials are ‘disheartened’ when courts release suspects, the honourable judge reminded that courts grant bail under the law, and that suspects get this because the police fail to provide the evidence required for bail to be denied. The judge also noted a rise in crime since Sheikh took charge.
This happened just a few days after Sheikh apparently complained about the make-up of the Central Selection Board, which will consider or — as it previously did — ignore him for promotion. Earlier this month, Sheikh also reportedly forced out some senior cops over personal differences, though some reports said the differences were mostly professional. Unfortunately, the latter case is hard to make when we recall that Sheikh’s appointment led to his boss, the inspector general of Punjab Police, leaving his job over apprehensions he had with Sheikh’s qualifications.
Sheikh’s replacement, Ghulam Mehmood Dogar, has previously served in Lahore as DIG operations and chief traffic officer. He also carries none of Sheikh’s baggage, with other cops describing him as professional and capable, terms that were not used for Sheikh at the time of his appointment. Dogar will have hopefully learned from his predecessor’s tenure and focus on making the impossible possible — improving the image, and indeed the workings, of Lahore police force. In the meantime, Sheikh will be moving to Farooqabad as DIG of the Punjab Constabulary, where he will have far fewer opportunities to embarrass the force before the media or judges.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2021.
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