Sindh home minister Rauf Siddiqui told the provincial assembly that station house officers (SHOs) were bound to register First Information Report (FIR) in all circumstances and refusal to comply with these instructions would make them accountable to rules of discipline.
The minister was answering questions during question hour when the Sindh assembly began its session on Tuesday. To a question from PPP MPA Rafique Engineer, the minister said hitherto SHOs were reluctant in registering FIRs, as they feared it would be a bad reflection on their performance. This apprehension had been cleared and SHOs had been instructed to register FIR without any fear of getting bad remarks.
He said SHOs had been told and convinced that registration of FIR would be helpful in understanding the pattern of crime and location of acts. It would help police understand about criminal activities and develop a programme to combat it.
Siddiqui said people should also understand the necessity of registering FIR and they should get it registered without any fear. Through their assistance police would be able to collect nearer to correct statistics on crimes.
On the question about the rate of crime and its incident in various districts, Siddiqui gave statistics about robberies, dacoities, theft, kidnapping, murder and dealings in narcotic collected from police stations of Sakro, Gharo, Sujawal, Banno and Jati in Thatta district for January-June 2003 period.
The minister said cases could only be registered after the complainant had registered an FIR. The police on its own can take cognisance of an offence but it seldom happened. The state comes to fore only when the complainant does not approach the police but the matter is brought to the notice of concerned authorities.
To a question from Humaira Alwani, the minister said no case during 2003-05 was reported or registered under bonded labour system. The minister said there was an overall improvement in the law and order situation but, still, a lot has to be done. He assured the house criminals would not be spared in any case.
Earlier, on a point of order from MMA MPA Hameedullah Khan, education minister Hamida Khuhro said examination of class XI would not be held in 2006 and there would be combined examinations of class 9th and 10th in 2006.
She said the decision was taken by the federal government in a meeting chaired by the President.
She said this decision had been taken to bring uniformity in the examination system across the country. It had also been endorsed by the inter-provincial meeting of education ministers.
In response to another point of order from MPA Gulzar Unnar, Khuhro said a chapter on Pir Pagara and his Hur followers is being added in primary textbooks to highlight the Hur Movement and their services to Pakistan.
Unnar paid glowing tributes to the Pir and his services to Pakistan on his birthday.