Give us the police we deserve

Ten policemen were killed by terrorists in Kohat this week. This should have shocked the nation and jolted it out of its numbness. It did not. Another incident, another mass casualty, another statistic.

Someone should be seething. None more so than the Police Service of Pakistan.

In every briefing and every press conference on terrorism, we are reminded that police are the front line in the war against terror. Time and again pompous officials promise to arm and train the police on modern lines, and to equip them with everything required so they can take on the terrorists with an advantage. The tragic reality however is that these frontline warriors remain under-armed, under-trained and under-appreciated. They pay for this criminal apathy and neglect with their lives.

What makes it even more sad is that almost eight decades since our independence, Pakistanis continue to maintain a love-hate relationship with the police. In all these years, very little has changed in terms of police culture and ethos. Even less has changed in thanas where the citizens engage with the police on a daily basis. The institution itself is wrapped in contradictions and internal quagmires. It is, at the same time, a symbol of oppression and heroism; of incompetence and valour; of unprofessionalism and supreme courage. The men and women of the Pakistan police deserve better from the rulers and citizens of Pakistan.

Citizens? No, I stand corrected. It is the leaders, every single one of them from 1947 till 2026, who are responsible. It was, and is, their responsibility, to have converted this colonial institution of control into a service-oriented professional force for the independent nation of Pakistan. They did not. Have not. Will not.

Guess who pays the price.

The price is a steep one. For those citizens who have to deal with the police, and for those police who have to deal with terrorists. The most talked-about and least implemented of all reforms is the one dealing with the police. In every era some report or another has been compiled for such reform; in every era it is shelved as a matter of tradition.

Then came the wave of terror, and with it the urgent need to battle it. Few were trained to do so among the law enforcement agencies. The first to upgrade themselves were the armed forces. The success of various operations in the previous decade showed that they had swiftly adapted to the threat.

The police were left behind. Little training, and even less advanced weaponry. Years and years went by and nothing much changed except superficial developments. For instance, some new forces were raised within the police and imparted specialised training by the armed forces. That helped some. But terrorists evolved faster. The gap continues to widen. Precious police lives continue to get lost.

Why?

The answer lies buried under a pile of misplaced priorities. As in almost every other national failing, this too connects to the leadership and the broken system over which it lords. The relationship between the ruler and the police has hardly evolved over the last eight decades. It is the worst-kept and most acknowledged secret in the country. All bemoan it. None change it. The politicians cannot do politics without the police. The police cannot function without the patronage of the politicians. Both cannot exercise institutional and social power without each other. They have lived and worked under this cosy arrangement all these years, and continue to do so till today. The change, if any, is cosmetic: newer cars, bigger jeeps, grander offices, shinier uniforms and, for some, better weapons. That is it.

It is unfair to every citizen. It is unfair to every policeman and policewoman.

There is never a better time than now. There's a churn in the system. There's talk of strategic reform. We are told there is an appetite to break the already broken system and fix it. Have we heard such talk before? Yes, of course. But such is the hunger for change that we live in hope.

Ah, yes. We live in hope indeed. If we can mediate global conflicts, if we can be a force for regional stability, if we can defeat India - if we can do all this, why can't we reform our police?

I was recently invited to deliver a lecture at the National Police Academy in Islamabad. It is a beautiful institution made even grander - and yes, more aesthetic - by the present commander. I met bright young police officers who combine excellent credentials and solid experience. With such officers populating the Police Service of Pakistan, PSP should be a far better and professional institution than it is in its present form. I know so many senior PSP officers who could compete with the best of the best anywhere in the world. And yet, they are forced to work in a culture where their professionalism is suppressed under the weight of politicisation. They know what needs to be fixed. They know how it should be fixed. But nothing gets fixed because the system, as it is constituted since 1947, will not allow any such thing to be fixed.

Among the many tragedies that befall our nation, this has to be one of the most acute. The fact that no one will solve this most solvable of issues is itself evidence of why the police is where the police is.

Those brave sons of the soil who laid down their lives in Kohat should not have had to. Those corrupt and brutal policemen who terrorise citizens should not be in a position to do so. Those leaders who use and abuse the police for their personal and political ends should not be allowed to do so. We need these changes to happen. We need our police to be the most respected and revered public-dealing institution in the country. We need evolve beyond our colonial heritage and convert institutions like the police into their most modern versions. And above all, we need to make sure that those who constitute our front line in the war against terror have better training, deadlier weapons and higher morale than those they are faced with.

Is this hoping for too much?