کوئی شریف قتل ہو By Khurram Altaf

الله کرے کوئی شریف قتل ہو اور نواز شریف کو کوئی ٣ لا کھ کا چیک پکڑا کے کہے"ہمیں افسوس ہے"

- uttered the frustrated mechanic working on my car when the news broke on ARY about the Wahga Tragedy.

350,000 Policemen for 180 Million people in Pakistan makes one policeman for over 500 people. In other words, there are 207 policemen for every 100,000 (One Lakh) Pakistanis.

There is nothing wrong with this number – Japan, India, Iran, Finland and half of the rest of the world have a worse Cop to Population ratio than Pakistan. However, this number – 207 policemen per 100,000 Pakistanis, becomes worrisome when you compare it with the security appointed to VIPs.

Over 3000 security personnel are engaged with the 8 person Shareef Family household. A little lesser is the number serving Zardari & Son (and daughters). Party office holders demand protection of their own. Ministers move with police escorts. Seasoned bureaucrats are accompanied with a couple of policemen every time they step outside their offices. Even the baigamaat of these VIPs enjoy the company of a police 4x4 each time they visit bazaar to get their dopatta dyed the right shade.

375 policemen guarding each Shareef Family Member versus 1 policeman per 500 common Pakistanis – the contrast is frightening. Around 25% of our police force is directly or indirectly appointed for ensuring the security of the 0.5% VIPs.

The remaining police force is in shambles too. Bribery and corruption has hit its peak. The current “monthly rate” in case an SI(Sub Inspector) desires to be posted at Ravi Police Checkpost runs in several Million Rupees, a tad lesser for Multan Road Checkpost. Security barriers all over the city have turned into state governed bribe centers with the money going from bottom to top. The local, provincial and national government keeps a blind eye on these irregularities to avail personal favors in dark hours.

With such loopholes in security and allocation crookedness, tragedies like Wahgah blast are inevitable. The suicide bomber freely roaming in Lahore for 3 days shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the security forces are busy providing protocols to the VIPs and their offspring.

In a society where a DSP can causally shoo a murder case in his jurisdictional area, but will be suspended if someone picks a guava from the PM’s farm, security threats are bound to prevail. A culture where delaying the FIR of the model town mass massacre for months is ignorable but a 5 minutes delay in VIP protocol gets 5 policemen promptly fired, priorities aren’t set correctly.

Pakistan needs to revamp the whole Police department, Punjab police in particular. Preventing Bribes, curbing corruption, halting the utilization of police and civil agencies for personal gains and depoliticizing the whole department are a few steps which can pave way towards long term security and avoidance of such tragedies.

Unless appointments are made on merit and not on the basis of personal favors, unless the security forces are allowed to operate freely without the influence of the party in power, unless the civil agencies are permitted to do their job rather than engaging them in gathering intelligence reports on our own armed forces, the loopholes will remain to be exploited by the internal and external enemies.

Unless the lives, security and wellbeing of 180 Million Pakistanis are esteemed as precious as the lives, security and goodwill of the VIPs, we will keep suffering.

by webmaster@insaf.pk (tkiadmin)