Reforming the police

Monday, October 20, 2008
This is with reference to Shakir Husain’s column “The first line of defence” (Oct 13). The reason why our policemen are so ineffective is that they are employed most of the time in guarding VVIPs as well as their own bosses. When the recent attack on the Anti-Terrorist Squad headquarters in Islamabad took place, every nine out of ten policemen in the city were on duty, guarding members of parliament.

Another point worth noting is that in Karachi nearly all policemen are from outside the city. As a result of which at times one finds it impossible to communicate with them. At least the majority of policemen in Karachi should be residents of the city, so that they are familiar with the language as well as the nature of the locals. It is apparent from the way they behave that they consider residents of Karachi second-class citizens.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi