A lose-lose for everybody

There is a long and dishonourable litany of incidents in which Punjab police have displayed criminal police brutality

The incident at Daska in Sialkot on May 25 was yet another textbook case of how not to handle social tension and unrest by all concerned, but principally by the police and the lawyers who, ironically, are the hallmarks of something known as a ‘justice system’. Two lawyers were killed when the Punjab police opened fire on a group of them who were protesting outside a police station. There is a long and dishonourable litany of incidents in which the Punjab police have displayed what may euphemistically be described as ‘high-handedness’, but is, in actuality, sheer, illegal and criminal police brutality. The police have beaten differently-abled and visually-impaired protesters, slapped and punched health workers, dragged women by their hair, and opened fire or used tear gas to disperse crowds on innumerable occasions. The Daska incident is also strongly reminiscent of the fiendish excesses in Model Town last year proceedings against which toil slowly through a back-logged judiciary. Had a strict and speedy verdict been meted out for Lahore criminalities, officials would have thought twice before pulling the trigger in Daska.



But then those who protest are also little better in many ways, for it is rare indeed for any protest to pass completely peacefully. Violence of the protesters feeds the violence of the police and the bloody circle is completed. The Daska incident was by no means unusual, and that in itself should be warning enough — but it will be replicated down the line unless there is a root-and-branch overhaul of police conduct during public demonstrations. Violence is a natural, impulsive, default action for the local police. Given the high frequency of popular large demonstrations across the country, paramilitary forces should by now have been trained and equipped to deal with crowd management in a modern manner, where damage to bodies is firmly off-limits. Given, of course, that the wider public is unlikely to suddenly acquire skills of discipline and self-restraint; it is down to the police, as the gatekeeper of the state’s justice apparatus, to exact minimal violence. We need professional police, not licensed thugs.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th,  2015.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.