Bringing back the night watchmen…
Chowkidars to take up night duty once again in all districts of the province.
SIALKOT:
The provincial government has decided to revive the traditional watchmen system throughout the province to safeguard the public against increasing crime in the districts.
“People felt safer when they knew the person that was watching over them while they slept at night,” said district officer Rehmat Khan, adding that locals appealed to the district government in several districts throughout the province for the old system to be reinstated. “They said that when there were local watchmen on night patrol they felt safer because they had interacted with these men and they knew who they were,” he said.
The original watchmen system was introduced under the Punjab Law Act 1872, Section 139A. According to the senior government officials, these watchmen were men of integrity and were dedicated public servants who performed various jobs beside guard duty.
“The ‘chowkidars’ kept watch on different developments and goings on their areas as well. It wasn’t an impersonal exercise, they knew about all the births, deaths, illnesses and marriages that were taking place and had all the particulars of the house members and families,” said a tehsil municipal administration officer (TMA) Imran Khattak.
“I used to be responsible for guarding two streets in a housing colony in Pasrur ten years ago,” said chowkidar Sultan, adding, “For the past ten years I’ve been a guard for a house but I would love to go back to my old job. It was a lot of responsibility but if felt good knowing I was protecting people and that they trusted me,” he said.
“These days we have barriers, road blocks and army or police guards who we do not know and hardly ever meet,” said a resident in Sambrial, Amina Khawar. “I remember growing up in a street where we all knew who the chowkidar was and he knew our names and our houses. Somehow it inspired confidence since we would meet him every day,” she said, adding “we hardly even notice the new guards.”
Locals said that it was a great pity that the people guarding them these days were complete strangers.
“In such dangerous times it is even more important for us to know who is standing guard outside our homes and to have confidence in them. Even though we definitely need the army and police on a larger scale, at the local level security has been largely ignored and crime rates are through the roof,” said Pasrur resident Muhammad Khan, adding that he hoped the old system would work. “I think this is the best option at the local level because we do need protection as most robberies take place in the middle of the night,” he said.
Senior officials have appreciated the Punjab government’s decision to reinstate chowkidar’s at the local level and said that this would greatly improve the security situation and help reduce crime.
“It helps just to know that someone is looking out for people. Criminals also take that into account, just knowing that someone is standing guard makes it a lot less likely that a robbery will take place,” said street guard Khurram Baksh.]
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2010.
The provincial government has decided to revive the traditional watchmen system throughout the province to safeguard the public against increasing crime in the districts.
“People felt safer when they knew the person that was watching over them while they slept at night,” said district officer Rehmat Khan, adding that locals appealed to the district government in several districts throughout the province for the old system to be reinstated. “They said that when there were local watchmen on night patrol they felt safer because they had interacted with these men and they knew who they were,” he said.
The original watchmen system was introduced under the Punjab Law Act 1872, Section 139A. According to the senior government officials, these watchmen were men of integrity and were dedicated public servants who performed various jobs beside guard duty.
“The ‘chowkidars’ kept watch on different developments and goings on their areas as well. It wasn’t an impersonal exercise, they knew about all the births, deaths, illnesses and marriages that were taking place and had all the particulars of the house members and families,” said a tehsil municipal administration officer (TMA) Imran Khattak.
“I used to be responsible for guarding two streets in a housing colony in Pasrur ten years ago,” said chowkidar Sultan, adding, “For the past ten years I’ve been a guard for a house but I would love to go back to my old job. It was a lot of responsibility but if felt good knowing I was protecting people and that they trusted me,” he said.
“These days we have barriers, road blocks and army or police guards who we do not know and hardly ever meet,” said a resident in Sambrial, Amina Khawar. “I remember growing up in a street where we all knew who the chowkidar was and he knew our names and our houses. Somehow it inspired confidence since we would meet him every day,” she said, adding “we hardly even notice the new guards.”
Locals said that it was a great pity that the people guarding them these days were complete strangers.
“In such dangerous times it is even more important for us to know who is standing guard outside our homes and to have confidence in them. Even though we definitely need the army and police on a larger scale, at the local level security has been largely ignored and crime rates are through the roof,” said Pasrur resident Muhammad Khan, adding that he hoped the old system would work. “I think this is the best option at the local level because we do need protection as most robberies take place in the middle of the night,” he said.
Senior officials have appreciated the Punjab government’s decision to reinstate chowkidar’s at the local level and said that this would greatly improve the security situation and help reduce crime.
“It helps just to know that someone is looking out for people. Criminals also take that into account, just knowing that someone is standing guard makes it a lot less likely that a robbery will take place,” said street guard Khurram Baksh.]
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2010.