The premature transfer of the seventh Punjab inspector general of police (IGP) in three years by the government, that too without giving forth any reason, has jolted the provincial police department.
In a state of uncertainty, they have started packing their bags at the places of their posting amid anticipations of another major reshuffle as has been in the case of transfer of the commander; a reshuffle that swept throughout the province starting from topmost officers to penetrating at grassroots level.
The transfers of former IGPs Kaleem Imam, Muhammad Tahir, Amjad Javed Saleemi, Arif Nawaz, Shoib Dastagir and Inam Ghani were followed by massive transfers of police officers including additional IGs, RPOs, DPOs and SHOs.
The cops were irked with the transfers at such a fast pace. Speaking to The Express Tribune, a police officer said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) coming into power with the promises of visible change in 90 days only was now being criticised for poor performance. “The PTI always argue that it takes time for the initiatives, policies and projects to bring results. When it comes to the question of PTI’s delivery, they will seek more time for delivery.”
Another police officer said that earlier last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan had claimed regarding government’s progress in two and a half years’ time that it took his government three months just to understand the country’s issues.
“The PM had asked for the previous leaderships to provide briefings to the incumbent government at the time of transfer of power. He had also made claims that his government remained busy in learning for one and half year because the figures from one ministry were different from another ministry, leaving his cabinet perplexed,” the officer stated.
Reportedly, such arguments and decisions which proved unrealistic for the police department led to the sudden transfer of top cops. These policies also led to major reshuffles that created problems for police officers across Punjab.
The same was the case with the political and democratic parties as a whole. They would pose an argument that political parties could not deliver in the country because they were not given sufficient time.
However, on the other hand, no prime minister could complete a term of five years.
Prime ministers and chief ministers need time to understand intricacies of their positions, their policies to bring substantial and concrete results to solve the people’s issues.
However, instead, the government expects the police chiefs to suddenly clear up the institutional backlogs with the whims of their command stick.
Such inconsistencies in policy were further deteriorating the already fragile delivery mechanism of police department. Police officers cannot work in an environment when they do not know the fate of their post even for weeks.
Such decisions by the government were ruining some initiatives as the police department was unable to focus on policing matters.
Such inconsistent policies also weaken the hierarchy. The commander cannot assert himself when he himself was uncertain of his fate.
It was also creating a sense of rebelliousness and indifference among top brass of police. The senior police officers, from the pool of additional IGs, who often go on to become the next IGs, had started assuming that they too will be transferred without any indefinite time whether they comply by the PTI-led government’s priorities or not.
This mindset was not going to stick just to the additional IG rank officers. It, of course, trickles down to the level of inspectors if not constables, gradually.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2021.
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