The writer is Editor of The Express Tribune
The stopping is random and is based on the wisdom of the policeman who stands in the middle of the road. He decides who to stop. Possibly in his mind, however, is not the desire to catch criminals. His reasoning may operate on an entirely different tangent.
In most instances, while the bigger cars are able to breeze through, it is the motorcyclists and the people in smaller cars that are invariably asked to stop and then a session starts where the policeman needs to catch you out and demand payment against the perceived crime committed. In some instances, regular policemen haul you up for traffic crimes. I am not sure they can do that.
Historically we see that “Nakabandi” have neither helped curb crime nor check terrorism. The only purpose, say some, is to make the policemen richer on the one hand and the people of Karachi angrier on the other. What gives this practice political undertone is that almost all policemen in Karachi are non-locals and it helps breed the feeling in the city that we are left at the mercy of outsiders. The problem, however, is much more complex.
While cities like Lahore and Islamabad have roadblocks in place, one does not see the bargaining which eventually ensues in Karachi. Nakabandi is just one of the avenues through which the police in Karachi earn their millions.
Policing in Karachi is terribly frustrating. The present police chief, Shahid Hayat, is trying his level best to ensure some semblance of duty and discipline but it is hard to do so under the present circumstances. Not every policeman is a Chaudhry Aslam, and many say that this may well be a blessing for us. At the same time, there are few in the police who are as motivated in fighting crime in a city where the daily death toll from target killings stands at 10 on a good day.
Nowhere in South Asia do you see the crime that is witnessed in Karachi. One of the largest cities in the world, Karachi can best be called the crime capital of the region. We have armed robbery, kidnappings, car-jackings, mobile phone snatching aside from the usual murders and rapes. Then there is terrorism.
We are told that with the recent operation in the city, crime has gone down. People say this is true but there is no way to independently verify this. As it is, the Rangers are not a permanent solution to the problems of Karachi. The people of Karachi need to be part of their police force and own it. So far, the opposite is the case.
The issue of bad policing in Karachi reflects a larger problem in the country. Our bureaucracy is unwilling to give key powers to the elected representatives under one pretext or another. In many ways, the hands of the politicians are either tied or guided. We should be looking for out of the box solutions, instead we are trying the same methods with little or no success.
The solution of the Sindh Chief Minister is to hire more policemen. This adds more untrained and incompetent men to a force that does not need them. The PM wants to add retired army men to Sindh’s police force. While a good idea, they are still outsiders and will not be owned by the people.
Why can we not have a simple system of merit in hiring, and open up vacancies to all residents of the province? This will require political will from the PM. We should do the same in all provinces of Pakistan so that educated men and women, honest and competent, come ahead and fight crime and terror. This practice does not require millions of rupees, only a commitment from the powers that be.
Our interior minister remains in a sulk and everyone wants business to continue as usual. The government continues to delay on all fronts. In the meantime, we fear doom and gloom all round.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2014.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
COMMENTS (11)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
How come that Mr Sidiqqi seems to be the only intellectual who deals with basics of what one s democrcay hould expect in a country w hich claims to be a democracy. Your police while most others express their passion and emotions and travel from Pakistan structures and sitsKsyste administration tolls appear to be more or less those which the anglo saxons colonialists organised for the vast land and its people. They must be reformed and renewed in the light of what has been found successful in European countries. How can a city Mayor or the elected Premier of the Province can administer the services for the people if they are responsibles are not answerable to them. The standard colonialist practice has always been to avoid locals in control of their cities by giving them positions in cities far away from their own. This is simply to avoid rebellion plots against occupation authority and most probably is still in force. Pakistan has a very long away towards becoming a democratic Union of the People of varying ethnic divide.
Rex Minor
One of the reasons, Karrachiites are angrier than other Pakistani.
Mr Siddique, you have hit the nail on the proverbial head. The fact that matters have been brought to this level of criminal activities in Karachi owes itself, in direct proportion to two major causes: lack of a police force manned by local residents and of course the lack of a fully empowered local government. In the absence, of these two initiatives, all attempts to resovle the Karachi Problem remains a hogwash betraying the lack of sincerity of both the provincial and federal government.
The irony is that the city`s manifest representatives i.e. MQM have also failed to understand the central importance of these issues - as these are the key issues worth bringing the city to a halt - not the trifles that MQM usually resorts to.
For those who would jump to oppose the above smacking these suggestions of partiality, let them be consoled by the added suggestion that all local governmetn elections and the selection of local police personnel be done transparently on the basis of merit and with full transparency, the cardinal rule being that a metropolitan city`s denizens have the first and full right to govern - and police - their city.
I don’t agree with the proposed solution by the author to recruit policemen from inside the Karachi. It won’t make any real difference. At one hand there is need to reinforce the implementation of law and to make the guilty accountable. On the other hand state needs to introduce the more incentives in all public sectors departments to discourage the bribery and corruption since corruption is instilled and has taken deep roots in our society.
In the nut shell, Mr. Editor is saying: " Hand over Karachi to MQM".
The Editor
You are right , Sir : "nakabandi" checks no crime . But it does what it is supposed to do : it enables state functionaries to use their position and power to extract money from the hapless citizens . Nakabandi, in an extended sense , is a universal feature of our state culture : We have to pay "naka" fees whenever we have to deal with any state institution--- even courts , from the lowest to the highest .You cannot survive in our society unless you submit to the culture of nakabandi . Many of our brilliant and talented youth seek careers abroad simply because this culture violates their conscience and their sense of personal dignity .
@Ali S: Probably alternative is that what you did it in past! Employ people from Karachi who are sworn members of one party and to serve them. Do you hear any demand from Lahore or other city like that?why not? MQM has been in power in almost every government. During Mushraf they were real rulers Some dudes quote new York and other city about city police but they forget that is the system in whole USA.every town or city has its own police.
How about hiring policemen from Karachi who have at least some ownership of the city instead of those from interior Sindh, who treat it like any other job and are here in Karachi to make money and then go back to interior Sindh.