IN a shocking development on Friday, police in Lahore lost every sense of propriety as they showed to the media photographs of two young women who, according to the law enforcers, had been arrested in a ‘raid’ on charges of ‘immoral activities’. There are several points worthy of outrage in this action. First, the women were arrested from private premises, the very implication of which is that outsiders may not enter without reasonable grounds of suspicion of sufficiently illegal activities to warrant the intrusion — and then, too, in the normal course of things, a judicial mandate is required. Second, in making public the images and information, the police in effect condemned as ‘guilty’ persons who may for whatever reason have come under suspicion, but who had not even been formally accused of a crime, let alone convicted after a probe and trial. The worst transgression committed by the authorities, though, was that unlike what ought to be the norm in such sensitive situations, the women were not allowed to cover their faces, and thus their identity and distress have fallen into the public realm even before an investigation has been conducted. In a patriarchal and gender-discriminatory society such as ours, it would be an understatement to say that this mishandling may well ruin the lives of these young women, as well as of their families.

After the furore, the police command has distanced itself and provided several protestations about gender equality being a central tenet of the force. An inquiry has been ordered and action against the policemen responsible for the outrage promised. Nevertheless, the fact remains that for the two young women, the damage done to their reputation and self-esteem is perhaps irreversible. Further, gender prejudices are entrenched in our police force, particularly in the rank and file. This is not the first time an incident such as this has occurred. The police high command must purge the force of such gender-insensitive attitudes.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2018