By Amir Zia
Monday, May 26, 2014
The News
The prime importance for Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and his team appears to get men of their choice to lead the police. The removal of Shahid Hayat is just another symptom of the grave ailment that continues to grip this anti-people and unfair system.
Additional Inspector General of Karachi Police Shahid Hayat had to bid adieu after remaining in office for less than nine months – a relatively long term for an officer in a city where many last on similar positions barely two to three months on an average.
The new man – Ghulam Qadir Thebo – is the sixth officer to assume charge of this coveted, but treacherous slot in a period of about 18 months. This means that the average lifespan of a Karachi police chief is barely 12 weeks, which highlights the prevalent ad hocism and uncertainty in the police force, assigned to combat crime and terrorism in one of the most dangerous mega-cities of the world.
Similarly, about a dozen inspector generals have come and gone over a period of six years in the Sindh Police – making their average stay in office no longer than six months.
Deputy inspectors general, senior superintendents, superintendents, their deputies and station house officers have much shorter terms. They are mostly appointed and then transferred or removed within weeks or a couple of months.
The brief ‘honeymoon’ phase is all an officer gets in any position in the Sindh Police. In this period, the officer naturally takes a few days to settle in the new job, attempts to build a team, gets some familiarity with the usual and unusual challenges of his assignment and by the time he enters the planning or implementation phase, there are marching orders for him. Then comes a new man, and the familiar cycle begins again.
Political bosses keep police officers on a tight leash – not to fight crime, but to follow their whims. Favourites are thrust on lucrative positions and officers who try to resist land on the sidelines. There are pressures to go soft on politically-connected criminals and killers, demands to set them free and even tamper with their First Investigative Reports so that they can get benefit of doubt in courts and thus walk free.
Ask any police officer and you will hear that political interference remains the worst predicament for the force under the PPP rule in the province. And unfortunately, there are hardly any hopes for an improvement.
Shahid Hayat’s removal is just another demonstration of how politicians have been keeping the police force hostage. As reported in the press, the Sindh government had been vying to get rid of him for the past several months.
The reason – he ruffled many sacred feathers since taking charge of his office on September 13. He resisted political appointments and transfers, tried to build a team of relatively clean officers to spearhead the operation against criminals and terrorists, went after Lyari gangsters – many of whom enjoy patronage of some PPP stalwarts – raided MQM offices and took on the Al-Qaeda-inspired local Taliban, who use Karachi to rest, regroup and raise funds through bank robberies, extortion, kidnappings and other crimes.
It was certainly not that Karachi became less dangerous or less lawless when Hayat was holding the fort. The number of street crimes, according to the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, jumped by nearly 20 percent during the last eight months, but at least the Karachi police had been taking initiatives and going to areas that were once considered out of bounds.
As a result, there was a 35 percent drop in killings during the eight months of the operation, while extortion and kidnapping for ransom cases declined between 10 to 15 percent. Police killed 253 criminals during the first 248 days of the operation compared with 81 in the same number of days prior to the crackdown.
Given Karachi’s peculiar and complex demography, continued political interference in policing and the old nexus between criminals and politicians, it was no mean achievement for the police force which lacks both in numbers and equipment for a city of Karachi’s size. Yes, against the approved strength of 31,064, Karachi police only has 26,847 men and women on duty. This means that for 819 citizens, there is only one police official available here, compared with Lahore’s ratio of 337 per official, Delhi’s 291, New York’s 237 and London’s 152.
Lahore with an estimated population of 10.9 million – almost half the size of our mega port city’s 22 million – has a police force of 32,600.
While attempts to oust Shahid Hayat were frustrated by the federal government and the DG Sindh Rangers in the past, the PPP-led provincial government this time around used a Supreme Court order of May 9 that ordered the demotion of all government employees working on senior posts on ‘own pay scale’ (junior grade).
The Sindh government – known for poor governance, inefficiency and dragging its feet even on basic issues from providing timely relief to drought victims of Tharparkar to potable water in rural Sindh – in this case moved with haste to implement the court order.
It never occurred to the Sindh government’s bosses to take the administrative decision and make the slot of Karachi police chief a ‘floating-position’ for grade 20/21 officers as done by the other provincial governments, including Punjab, in their major cities. In the past, the Karachi police chief’s position was also for grade 20 officers as in the other provinces.
The Sindh government decided not to file a review petition in the honourable Supreme Court. Its mala fide intentions are revealed from the fact that the Supreme Court order was implemented selectively in the police department where around 20 officers of grade 18, including some of the favourites of former president Asif Ali Zardari, continue to serve in grade 19 positions.
Rules also allow appointment of a junior grade officer at a senior position if there is a genuine reason. In this case, the valid reason remains that the Sindh Police has only three grade 21 officers in its ranks against seven such positions. As a result, now four out of seven grade 21 positions, including that of CIA and traffic chiefs, are vacant.
This politically-loaded decision of a change of guard in the Karachi police team when the operation against criminals and terrorists is entering the third phase has rightly drawn criticism from the federal government. In a strongly-worded statement, Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed has said that Sindh government showed “irresponsible and non-serious behaviour” by removing Shahid Hayat. The decision has also created uncertainty in the police force, which has lost more than 100 men, including one SSP and six inspectors, during the operation.
Efforts to beat crime and terrorism are likely to take a hit in the city as the new team leader of the Karachi police will take his natural time to build his team amidst interference of the Sindh government, which wants to see officers of its choice on various positions – from DIGs to SHOs – a move resisted by Shahid Hayat.
Instead of initiating the much-needed police reforms, which should include doing away with the culture of political interference in the police force and giving it operational autonomy, the Sindh government has stuck to its tried, tested and failed methods aimed at serving vested interests of those PPP’s bigwigs known for their passion for promoting commercial interests or patronising crime mafias of Lyari.
The Sindh government would have served Karachi better had it taken steps to increase the strength of the police force and introduced a protection programme for witnesses and police officers in the forefront in fighting terrorism.
The Karachi police need improvement in infrastructure including renovation of police stations and housing facilities. The force requires better training and human resource. It should be provided incentives of medical insurance and other welfare projects so that police personnel can face challenges with greater confidence. It must have modern equipment – from armoured personnel carriers to bulletproof jackets and communication network – to make Karachi a little less dangerous and a bit more liveable.
But all these vital steps remain low on Sindh government’s agenda. The prime importance for Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and his team appears to get men of their choice to lead the police. The removal of Shahid Hayat is just another symptom of the grave ailment that continues to grip this anti-people and unfair system.
Monday, May 26, 2014
The News
The prime importance for Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and his team appears to get men of their choice to lead the police. The removal of Shahid Hayat is just another symptom of the grave ailment that continues to grip this anti-people and unfair system.
Additional Inspector General of Karachi Police Shahid Hayat had to bid adieu after remaining in office for less than nine months – a relatively long term for an officer in a city where many last on similar positions barely two to three months on an average.
The new man – Ghulam Qadir Thebo – is the sixth officer to assume charge of this coveted, but treacherous slot in a period of about 18 months. This means that the average lifespan of a Karachi police chief is barely 12 weeks, which highlights the prevalent ad hocism and uncertainty in the police force, assigned to combat crime and terrorism in one of the most dangerous mega-cities of the world.
Similarly, about a dozen inspector generals have come and gone over a period of six years in the Sindh Police – making their average stay in office no longer than six months.
Deputy inspectors general, senior superintendents, superintendents, their deputies and station house officers have much shorter terms. They are mostly appointed and then transferred or removed within weeks or a couple of months.
The brief ‘honeymoon’ phase is all an officer gets in any position in the Sindh Police. In this period, the officer naturally takes a few days to settle in the new job, attempts to build a team, gets some familiarity with the usual and unusual challenges of his assignment and by the time he enters the planning or implementation phase, there are marching orders for him. Then comes a new man, and the familiar cycle begins again.
Political bosses keep police officers on a tight leash – not to fight crime, but to follow their whims. Favourites are thrust on lucrative positions and officers who try to resist land on the sidelines. There are pressures to go soft on politically-connected criminals and killers, demands to set them free and even tamper with their First Investigative Reports so that they can get benefit of doubt in courts and thus walk free.
Ask any police officer and you will hear that political interference remains the worst predicament for the force under the PPP rule in the province. And unfortunately, there are hardly any hopes for an improvement.
Shahid Hayat’s removal is just another demonstration of how politicians have been keeping the police force hostage. As reported in the press, the Sindh government had been vying to get rid of him for the past several months.
The reason – he ruffled many sacred feathers since taking charge of his office on September 13. He resisted political appointments and transfers, tried to build a team of relatively clean officers to spearhead the operation against criminals and terrorists, went after Lyari gangsters – many of whom enjoy patronage of some PPP stalwarts – raided MQM offices and took on the Al-Qaeda-inspired local Taliban, who use Karachi to rest, regroup and raise funds through bank robberies, extortion, kidnappings and other crimes.
It was certainly not that Karachi became less dangerous or less lawless when Hayat was holding the fort. The number of street crimes, according to the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, jumped by nearly 20 percent during the last eight months, but at least the Karachi police had been taking initiatives and going to areas that were once considered out of bounds.
As a result, there was a 35 percent drop in killings during the eight months of the operation, while extortion and kidnapping for ransom cases declined between 10 to 15 percent. Police killed 253 criminals during the first 248 days of the operation compared with 81 in the same number of days prior to the crackdown.
Given Karachi’s peculiar and complex demography, continued political interference in policing and the old nexus between criminals and politicians, it was no mean achievement for the police force which lacks both in numbers and equipment for a city of Karachi’s size. Yes, against the approved strength of 31,064, Karachi police only has 26,847 men and women on duty. This means that for 819 citizens, there is only one police official available here, compared with Lahore’s ratio of 337 per official, Delhi’s 291, New York’s 237 and London’s 152.
Lahore with an estimated population of 10.9 million – almost half the size of our mega port city’s 22 million – has a police force of 32,600.
While attempts to oust Shahid Hayat were frustrated by the federal government and the DG Sindh Rangers in the past, the PPP-led provincial government this time around used a Supreme Court order of May 9 that ordered the demotion of all government employees working on senior posts on ‘own pay scale’ (junior grade).
The Sindh government – known for poor governance, inefficiency and dragging its feet even on basic issues from providing timely relief to drought victims of Tharparkar to potable water in rural Sindh – in this case moved with haste to implement the court order.
It never occurred to the Sindh government’s bosses to take the administrative decision and make the slot of Karachi police chief a ‘floating-position’ for grade 20/21 officers as done by the other provincial governments, including Punjab, in their major cities. In the past, the Karachi police chief’s position was also for grade 20 officers as in the other provinces.
The Sindh government decided not to file a review petition in the honourable Supreme Court. Its mala fide intentions are revealed from the fact that the Supreme Court order was implemented selectively in the police department where around 20 officers of grade 18, including some of the favourites of former president Asif Ali Zardari, continue to serve in grade 19 positions.
Rules also allow appointment of a junior grade officer at a senior position if there is a genuine reason. In this case, the valid reason remains that the Sindh Police has only three grade 21 officers in its ranks against seven such positions. As a result, now four out of seven grade 21 positions, including that of CIA and traffic chiefs, are vacant.
This politically-loaded decision of a change of guard in the Karachi police team when the operation against criminals and terrorists is entering the third phase has rightly drawn criticism from the federal government. In a strongly-worded statement, Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed has said that Sindh government showed “irresponsible and non-serious behaviour” by removing Shahid Hayat. The decision has also created uncertainty in the police force, which has lost more than 100 men, including one SSP and six inspectors, during the operation.
Efforts to beat crime and terrorism are likely to take a hit in the city as the new team leader of the Karachi police will take his natural time to build his team amidst interference of the Sindh government, which wants to see officers of its choice on various positions – from DIGs to SHOs – a move resisted by Shahid Hayat.
Instead of initiating the much-needed police reforms, which should include doing away with the culture of political interference in the police force and giving it operational autonomy, the Sindh government has stuck to its tried, tested and failed methods aimed at serving vested interests of those PPP’s bigwigs known for their passion for promoting commercial interests or patronising crime mafias of Lyari.
The Sindh government would have served Karachi better had it taken steps to increase the strength of the police force and introduced a protection programme for witnesses and police officers in the forefront in fighting terrorism.
The Karachi police need improvement in infrastructure including renovation of police stations and housing facilities. The force requires better training and human resource. It should be provided incentives of medical insurance and other welfare projects so that police personnel can face challenges with greater confidence. It must have modern equipment – from armoured personnel carriers to bulletproof jackets and communication network – to make Karachi a little less dangerous and a bit more liveable.
But all these vital steps remain low on Sindh government’s agenda. The prime importance for Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and his team appears to get men of their choice to lead the police. The removal of Shahid Hayat is just another symptom of the grave ailment that continues to grip this anti-people and unfair system.
I truly believe that shahid hayat will occupy the same slot with more honor and dignity In Sha Allah.
ReplyDeletezabardast sir
ReplyDelete