Police Reforms
The deterioration of law and order in Pakistan to the point of virtual anarchy is mainly because of the rank ineffectiveness of the prime law enforcement agency of the country, the police service. This state of affairs is the culmination of many inadequacies, e.g. bad pay and service conditions, politicisation and nepotism in recruitment, recruitment of inferior manpower, lack of training, lack of education, promotion without merit, etc all resulting in corruption across the board. The laundry list of wrongs is quite long, along with economic apocalypse it spells doom and disaster. Police Stations (Thanas) should have been an oasis for citizens to reach out to solve their security problems, they have become such dens of evil that they breed insecurity among common citizens who stay clear of them unless there is no other choice. Obviously this has affected society adversely, leading to a breakdown of the fabric that binds citizens within a moral plane of positive co-existence within the laws of the land. That is what civilisation is all about and we in Pakistan are very close to a rapid descent into the laws of the jungle.
That police reforms are necessary in the face of decades of neglect nobody doubts. We are prisoners of the Police Act of 1861, reports of commissions after commissions have become historical record, figuratively consigned to the waste paper basket. To break the logjam the “Focal Group on Police Reforms” was convened by the Federal Minister of Interior, Lt Gen Moinuddin Haider and did just that in the space of a few crucial weeks in January and February this year, producing a workable document after an intense debate that was high on intellectual content as well as long on the pragmatism required to effect meaningful change. Instead of getting bogged down in endless theoretical discourse as had previous Commissions, the Focal Group concentrated on macro-reforms to set in place an institutional process that would by its very existence effect meaningful micro-reforms. The Focal Group consisted of academics, mediamen, lawyers, senior bureaucrats and police officers, both serving and retired. They were drawn from all the Provinces and brought to the table years of knowledge and experience as well as a positive feel for the need for change. Change cannot be brought about without making someone unhappy somewhere, however the discussions were marked by a positive inclination to go for consensus rather than let the brute force of an outright majority make for an aggrieved minority. There was a marked absence of both vested interest as well as mutual acrimony that is the hallmark of such discussions. The process thus ensured that a wide range of diverse opinion was accommodated.
Horses for Courses
Pakistanis savoured a special delight in the cricket team winning both their fixtures in the first round of the Carlton-United one-day World Series in Brisbane, Australia. That it happened on Eid (and the day immediately after) made the holidays that much sweeter, that the victories came against the rampaging World Champions Australia and arch-rival India, the latter a virtual impossibility contrived by Saqlain Mushtaq and Waqar Yunus on the last ball, made it much more enjoyable. Memories of Miandad’s last ball six at Sharjah came floating back. To round off a good beginning to the year, the century and the millennium (give or take a year), the much-awaited rains finally came to Pakistan (in place of the severe drought that threatened our already fragile and reeling economy), in time to ensure a possible bumper wheat crop. On cue, the Karachi Stock Exchange Index went up 70-80 points in one heady day (12 Jan 2000), the next day their computers went bust. In the general euphoria of nothing-succeeds-like-success, we ignored the obvious failings of our beloved cricket team, namely the constant failure of our front-line batsmen in a record six back-to-back one-day matches.
To put it bluntly, Pakistan’s batting problems stem partly from Aamer Sohail’s non-inclusion (1) mainly because of his attitude problem (2) a mutual aversion with Wasim Akram and (3) the Selection Committee putting personal egos, likes and dislikes ahead of the national interest. Aamer Sohail has also to put the national interest (and his own career) ahead of his over-developed ego, in the national interest some accommodation and compromise must be made in the knowledge that prima donnas all over tend to behave in like fashion. Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did well convincing the ICC Chairman to have the outrageous decision to suspend Shoaib Akhtar put in abeyance, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia has now to ensure merit in selection, that only the best in Pakistan walk into any international cricket field. The tremendous pressure on Saeed Anwar to not only score every time he dons his pads but to hold down one end, has had disastrous results. If anyone expects Ijaz, given his sorry scores over of the last 2 years, to perform more than once every 10 matches or even more, he (or she) is really optimistic. To quote Humayun Gauhar in a recent article, a person who bought a Rolls Royce discovered after a mile or so that the Rolls had no engine. On return to the Showroom he asked the salesman how the Rolls had managed to go a mile without an engine, he was told, “on pure reputation, sir, on pure reputation”. Unfortunately, reputation will only take you so far, beyond one needs capability, not simply good wishes and hoping against hope.