Punjab Assembly: ‘Political influence affecting police reform efforts’

Treasury, opposition members raise concerns over poor law and order.

LAHORE:

Work is underway to reform the Police Department. However, political influence on the police remains an issue requiring more attention, Home Minister Col (retired) Shuja Khanzada said on Friday.

He was speaking at the Punjab Assembly session during a debate on law and order in the province.

Khanzada said thaana culture had become a catchword for the dismal conditions at police stations. He said the government was committed to reforming the Police Department but added that it would not be possible without freeing the police of political influence. The home minister called upon the lawmakers to help the government deal with the situation.

Meanwhile, several members expressed concern over the poor law and order in the province.

Opposition lawmaker Dr Muraad Raas said crime rate had risen in the province despite increased spending for maintenance of law and order. He asked the provincial government to inform the House about the impact of installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras at various public places in the city at a cost of Rs5 billion and recruitment of 1,500 more policemen.

He referred to the killing of Pakistan Awami Tehrik activists during a public rally in Model Town last year and said it was unlikely that justice would be delivered. “Protection in the Punjab is for the powerful only. The Elite Force is seen providing security only to the very important personalities (VIPs),” he said.

Raas also expressed concern over the deployment of a large police contingent for the security of the Zimbabwe cricket team. He was interrupted by treasury member Zaeem Qadri who said performance of police was hardly any better in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Opposition member Dr Waseem Akhtar came to the defence of KP police and said that recent reforms introduced by the government had ensured greater freedom for the Police Department. “IGP Mushtaq Sukhera should be allowed to manage the department without any intervention,” he said.

He also raised the issue of use of torture during interrogation of suspects. He said findings of inquiries into incidents of torture reported from Sialkot and Narowal should be made public.

Dr Akhtar also spoke about terrorism. He said the rise in terrorist incidents in the country should be seen as a consequence of the policies adopted during General (retired) Pervez Musharraf’s government. He said security agencies had themselves trained seminary graduates and used them in the Afghanistan and Kashmir.

Muhammad Rafique broke into tears as he recalled a recent incident where he and his family were allegedly abused by a National Assembly member from his area. He sought police protection and said that if it was not arranged he would hold demonstrations everyday and may consider resigning from his seat. With this, the opposition members started chanting “shame, shame”. Ehsan Riaz Fatayana asked the speaker to redress Rafique’s grievances.

Earlier, Malik Ahmad Khan stressed the need for establishment of a parliamentary commission to oversee police reforms. He criticised Law Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman for not showing up at the session. He said Rehman was scheduled to submit to the chair a report on the salaries of the assembly staff.

Adjournment motions

Adjournment motions were made on assessment of damage caused by recent rains to standing crops and of compensation to the affected farmers; restoration of a building of the Writers’ Guild of Pakistan and commercial use of land owned by the Punjab University.

Legislation

The Punjab Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill of 2015 and the Stamp (Amendment) Bill of 2015 were referred to standing committees on Labour and Human Resource and Revenue, respectively.

The session was adjourned till 2pm on Monday.

PAT workers protest

While the assembly was in session, the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers staged a demonstration at the Charing Cross to protest the findings of a joint investigation team formed to probe the killing of its activists last year in Model Town.

The protestors were stopped from entering the assembly premises by the police guarding the entrance. A delegation of PTI lawmakers met the protestors. In its report, the JIT had fixed the responsibility for the killings on 10 policemen, including a superintendent of police.

It had cleared the police high command as well as the provincial government of responsibility for the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2015.