Novel remedies to fight corruption in police

SIALKOT: On Tuesday afternoon, officials at Daska City police station were pulled out of their comfort zone by an unusual request.

The unsuspecting men were packed in an auditorium at Daska Civil Rest House and asked to participate in a debating competition.

Things became more interesting when they were handed their topic and asked to deliver a speech on ‘How to turn down bribes’.

Senior officials of Daska police thought it would be a good idea to teach the men about professional ethics by directly engaging them in a speaking contest.

The competition was arranged as part of the ‘anti-bribe and anti-corruption’ campaign of the district police.

The expectation was that asking policemen to think about the topic and make a convincing argument would ‘shake their conscience, activate their inner voice and make them see that bribery was a sin and a crime’. Officials of Daska police hoped that the policemen would realise that ‘corruption was a curse and honesty was indeed the best policy’.

The participating policemen generally thought the topic was ‘a very difficult one’, but ten brave men took the challenge head-on.

Their arguments were met with applause of their colleagues.

Senior officials of the Sialkot police have also tried other techniques to wean their men off corrupt practices. Only recently, several prominent, religious clerics were taken to all 26 police stations of the district and asked to deliver lectures on ‘morality and professional honesty’.

The men were then administered oaths by the cleric after each of them made solemn promises to avoid corrupt practices.

Dr Mian Saeed, the assistant superintendant police (ASP) supervised the speech competition and Allama Qari Khalid Mehmood (ameer Jamaat-e-Ahle Sunnah, Punjab), Mian Muhammad Sadique (Government Christian High School principal) and Sheikh Abid Hussain (Markazi Anjuman Tajraan president) adjudicated it.

Dr Mian Saeed stated that he was very happy with the participants as they had managed to come up with really great arguments even though the topic was a difficult one.

The guests commended the efforts of the district police and congratulated them on their campaign against corruption. They stated that the lesson to take away from the ceremony was that corruption was an evil act that was damaging the prestige of the police.

The competition concluded after prizes were presented to the top three orators.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2010.