LAHORE: More refusals by officers to oblige the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf legislators and written complaints of such “orders” to higher authorities and the judiciary are feared in Punjab where the letters written by two deputy commissioners regarding “political intervention” in their work has emboldened the civil bureaucracy to the extent never seen before.

This apprehension is deepening despite reported advice by the top civil servants to their subordinates to cooperate with the elected government. There are certain reasons for it.

The main reason for these refusals is to avoid any action that could make the officers answerable to the court or the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). “It is better to say no here and brave wrath of those who now matter than to get humiliated by courts or NAB,” a mid-career officer said on Tuesday.

Officers who talked to Dawn on the condition of anonymity said more such reactions by the civil servants could surface to show solidarity with Chakwal and Rajanpur DCs, assuring them they would not be left alone in case of any adverse outcome of their bold actions.

They said the chief justice of Pakistan’s unequivocal announcement that there should not be any political intervention in the official matters in the case of transfer of Pakpattan’s district police officer (DPO) Rizwan Gondal has given the officers courage to say no to the politicians belonging to a ruling party. This had given the impression that the officials resisting any undue pressure could seek relief from the court.

Repeated statements by Prime Minister Imran Khan that he wanted independent civil administration and his desire to appoint former inspector general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police Nasir Durrani to change the police laws to free the force of political interference in Punjab too encouraged the officials to resist any illegal orders.

“During his interaction with the bureaucracy in Lahore on Saturday last, the prime minister while replying to a question by a senior official promised full independence to the civil servants,” an officer said.

Officials pointed out that both the Chakwal and Rajanpur DCs belonged to the provincial managemnet service, PMS, which has its own axe to grind. The provincial officials are not happy with the former DMG (now Pakistan Administrative Service), whom they accuse of monopolising administration and discriminating against them.

The sudden death of a PMS officer posted in a remote corner of Punjab because of heart attack two days ago has angered his colleague who held a protest demonstration in front of the chief secretary’s office on Monday. The protesting officers say the deceased was a chronic heart patient and was sent to the far-off place despite his repeated requests to the contrary. The agitation could also lead to refusal to work, which they think they could do under the law, and making it public.

Meanwhile, some senior officials are reportedly saying they should obey only written orders so that responsibility for a questioned action could easily be fixed if required at any stage.

“We must watch our steps. We must ask for clean patwaris if someone wants us to change the existing “corrupt” patwaris,” an official said.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2018