A NEWS item in Dawn (Nov 22) states that when a police officer in Islamabad asked a man for identification, he refused saying that he was the defence minister’s driver.

Later, the man, with 12 others returned to the scene and beat the policeman. The report goes on to state that subsequently the defence minister called the policman’s boss and asked him to suspend him for insulting the defence minister’s driver and the boss obliged.

What a weird definition of insult! The dismissed police officer got his job back but was transferred to a different location.

How can a cabinet member condone criminal behaviour of one of his staff members? Under what law can a cabinet member interfere with the work of law-enforcers? Is this not abuse of power?

Beating anybody, let alone a police officer, constitutes assault. Would the defence minister explain why his name appeared in this incident?

Would the prime minister take notice of the situation or is an illegal act by one of his ministers too small an issue for Pakistan’s chief law-enforcement officer — the country’s prime minister — to worry about?

Siddique Malik

Louisville, Kentucky

Published in Dawn, November 23th , 2014