LAHORE: “When I saw the advertisement for police training for women, I applied for it in secret,” says Lubna Rajput. “But when my family found out, it was my brother – a field officer himself – who expressed his disapproval. He did not like the idea of me working alongside men, and I tried to convince him to trust me.”

The coaxing paid off, and ten months later, as Lubna along with over 500 other young women, marched in the passing-out parade, her brother was one of the first ones who stood up and gave her a salute. And for the first time in history, the passing-out parade which was divided into five companies and three platoons (each platoon consisting of 30 trainees) was led by the young female students themselves.

Commandant DIG Fayyaz Ahmed Dev, who has been in charge of reshaping the image and workings of the college, calls this a ‘miracle’. “Before this, the women trainees used to be led by men and their trainers. No one can believe the level of opposition we faced regarding this. Almost everyone said that it was impossible for them to lead platoons and companies without spoiling the parade. But we gave them the trust that they deserved and they played out beautifully, and broke all myths. People including the IG Punjab, who is a man of few words, was left awestruck by this.”

In fact, says the Commandant, the IG seeing their performances, not only in the parade, but also in their examination results and their skills at weapon handling and firing, was so impressed that he made a decision that after Ramazan, these trainees should be given a course for Moharrar, an extremely important post in a police station, and instead of starting out as constables, they should be incorporated on a higher designation as Moharrar or Naib Moharrar, especially in urban centres of Punjab.

The incorporation of these women as Moharrars all over Punjab will bring about change in the scene. Their responsibilities will include the significant task of filing FIRs. Not only does this speak of a vision to promote more women in the police force, it will also change the way police stations work, and how the public is served, especially women victims of violence.

“We have worked very hard on these women, and we do not want their education to be wasted,” says Inspector Fayyaz. It is strange though how these young women came into profession of law enforcement. After all, they were regular degree holders, most of them bachelors graduates, followed by intermediate and master’s degrees but even an MPhil and an LLB graduate were part of the course. They could have easily opted for any civilian job.

“When someone looks for a job it is out of necessity,” explains Amreen Tariq from Rawalpindi. Like the others she too is dressed smartly in a dark gray shirt and fawn trousers. A navy blue beret rests stylishly on her head, and although she is wearing makeup, it is discreet. Her body language, like each of the other graduates is upright, strong, and confident.

“Many young women are supporting their families. We need jobs too, but we also began looking for work not just out of necessity but also interest. Who is not interested in the police? It is a fascinating institution, and although our families were reserved, there is no hiding that, today they are proud of us.”

The others also agree, and there is no regret about their decision. “Yes there were days when we were given punishments by our teachers for things like appearing late, but we were never mistreated. By the end of the day we were thankful for the discipline we were taught,” says Kiran Fareed, who has come second among all-rounders. This means she has not only scored second highest in physical training but also in theory which is usually the study of Law.

These young women are now officially declared police constables. It has been the very first time when a group consisting solely of women was trained for constabulary. And the level of training too is commendable.

“We were given training for combat and self-defense, firing, and other physical fitness. We were even given karate lessons,” says Iqra Iqbal from Gujranwala, who acquired first position as an all-rounder. “Our law classes taught us which laws are applied when, including from the Criminal Procedure Code, the Pakistan Penal Code, etc. Most importantly though we were given lessons in collective and individual interaction.”

And this is perhaps one of the most important lessons that were imparted to these young women. “Police has been made infamous because of the ‘thana culture’ and we have especially since the past two and half years been working on this issue aggressively,” says Inspector Zafar Javed Malik Chief Law Instructor (CLI). “Our graduates, both men and women, are taught how to behave, especially with hostile people and even with those who come for help. “Instead of instilling corruption and shortcuts in their minds, we drill them with respect, dignity and strength.” In fact before this the college had no properly indicated core values in place. Today there are six: discipline, good conduct, hard work, service to people, truthfulness and modern training. With these the college has been more focused on getting its goals covered. We have guest speakers who come in to speak on the criminal justice system, police and public relations, as well as police and media relations. There is intensive weapon handling training including dissembling and re-assembling guns while blindfolded.”

Their physical training teacher, Iram Khanum, herself a top athlete and archer of Pakistan, says she was very pleased with what they had attained at the end of the course. “I found these young women to be very professional in their attitudes; they were brave, obedient, devoted and completely immersed in what they were doing.” The trainees performed wonderfully in running a one-mile distance. The best time has been five minutes but Mehnaz Hameed from Faisalabad broke the male/female record by finishing in 4:28 minutes.

“The best part is that now that we are in it, we can change the image of the police,” says Iqra Ghulam Rasool, one of the flag-bearers on Parade Day. “And we definitely intend to.”

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2015

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