ISLAMABAD: Across the aisle, members of the upper house of parliament on Monday called for de-politicisation of police throughout the country.

On the private members day, senators from the ruling and opposition parties conceded that the ‘lust for power and protocol’ of the political class was the chief cause for the poor standards of policing across the country.

The debate took place as a result of a motion moved by PML-N’s Senator Chaudhry Tanvir Khan, who had sought discussion on the need for the provision of adequate salary and fringe benefits for the Islamabad police. However, the subject griped the attention of senators, who all wanted to give their input for the improvement of the police which otherwise is a provincial subject.

Opening the debate, Senator Khan said that until the service structure of the police was not brought on a par with other law enforcement agencies, one shouldn’t expect effective policing. Better service conditions, remunerations, controlled duty hours were some of the suggestions which Senator Khan made in his speech. Moreover, he said there was a need for better projection of the police force in the society.

Senator Saud Majeed of the PML-N accepted in so many words that it was politicians who had ruined police in the country. “When appointments of SHOs and DPOs cannot be made without the prior approval of the MPAs and MNAs concerned, one can well imagine the quality of policing, because the appointees will always look towards their patrons for action,” said Mr Majeed.

The senator added that unfortunately this was the practice in most part of the country.

PPP Senator Babar Awan though endorsed Mr Majeed’s argument of freeing the police from their protocol duties and clutches of the politicians, he blamed the pick-and-choose promotion policies adopted by successive governments as another reason for ever-falling standards of the police in the country. Without naming anyone, Senator Awan said in some provinces IGPs were only appointed to fulfil political agendas of their masters and have nothing to do with the professional improvement of their forces.

Senator Nihal Hashmi of the PML-N, however, made a comparison between the service structure and other benefits of the army and police. For Senator Hashmi the police which were responsible for the law and order throughout the year were always given low priority in terms of budgetary allocations as compared to the army.

Senator Azam Khan Swati of the PTI was of the view that if army personnel could be provided better transport and food at the place of their appointment, why not police.

Senator retired Lt Gen Salahuddin Tirmizi of the PML-N, in his remarks, talked about continuing politicisation of the police destroying the force.

He said the irony was that instead of realising the problem, the government was keeping silent and doing nothing for its solution.

In his response to the debate, Minister of State for Interior Mohammad Balighur Rehman said despite economic constraints the government was doing its level best to improve the salary structure of the Islamabad police. He said their training manuals were being improved along with the provision of best investigation facilities.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2016