Efforts to transform the Punjab police on the same lines as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police which Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) believes led to its victory in 2018 polls in the province, have proved elusive so far. Informed sources told Business Recorder that there are deeply entrenched structural issues in Punjab which were not of that intensity in KP.
Coalition government of PTI in Punjab would find it extremely challenging to pass legislation like it passed in KP Police Act 2017 from the provincial assembly granting operational, financial and administrative autonomy to police.
A senior police official said the PTI government empowered the police in KP and appointed a non-controversial and active police officer Nasir Khan Durrani with full powers and PTI MPs and provincial ministers were not allowed to give any directions to police officials.
He said it is difficult to change police culture in Punjab but not impossible. He suggested that PTI should introduce KP police model in Punjab and post a well-reputed senior police officer to lead the force. He said it would take time to bring changes in Punjab police, it took four years for KP Assembly to pass legislation, as KP Police Act of 2017 was passed on January 24 and it was a historic moment as Pakistan's first-ever provincial legislation relating to police.
Talking to Business Recorder, former Inspector General Police Afzal Ali Shigri said it was a big blow to Punjab police autonomy after former IG KP Nasir Khan Durrani resigned as head of the Commission on Police Reforms and Implementation.
"Durrani was an experienced officer and he could have turned things around like he did in KP; the prime minister has not yet appointed his successor and a lot will depend on whether his successor can take the police with him while resisting pressure from legislators," he added.
He added that the government must try to de-politicize the police as it is the need of the hour. "If PTI manages to pass the reforms from the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, it will be a big achievement," he added. The PTI's commitment to reforming the Punjab police has been severely compromised after transfer of Inspectors General of Police Islamabad and Punjab, as well as DPO Pakpattan and Sialkot as well as Deputy Commissioner Sialkot for offenses relating to protocol to prominent people.