LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat and a couple of other ministers in a meeting listened to the objections of police on the department’s reforms ordered by the prime minister in a marathon meeting here at the Civil Secretariat on Friday, making it clear with the help of a copy of the orders that many of the objections were unfounded.

They also conveyed to the force that the government was ready to remove any genuine objections to ensure enforcement of the long-awaited reforms only with the consensus of the department.

In the meeting of the cabinet’s sub-committee on law and order, the police was represented by Inspector General of Police (IGP) retired Capt Arif Nawaz, who was assisted by two additional IGPs. The civil administration was led by Chief Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Ali Murtaza Shah and some other provincial secretaries were also present.

Police have strongly objected to the reforms ordered by Prime Minister Imran Khan, terming them an attempt to usurp their autonomy and place them under the civil bureaucracy. In a meeting held on Thursday, a number of senior police officials had reportedly announced that they would prefer to resign from service rather than functioning under the proposed system, alarming the provincial government.

Sources said that police were asked to state their objections that were then discussed in light of the documents. Things were clarified and any justified objections were also promised to be ironed out.

Minister Basharat told Dawn after the meeting that during the three-hour meeting, police were heard on their objections to the draft of the prime minister’s directions to introduce police reforms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. This was done to evolve a consensus before implementing the orders.

When asked whether the police objections were genuine, he said things were clarified in true perspective which might have been misinterpreted. He said that the government did not want to give the impression that it was imposing the reforms on the police despite the disagreement. It would introduce the reforms for the welfare of the people in agreement with all stakeholders.

Replying to another question, he said the government would meet the deadlines set by the prime minister for the implementation of his orders regarding police reforms, but would ensure removal of all apprehensions of the police, showing that there was no plan to delay or withdraw them. “We already have a consensus on majority of the reforms,” he added.

When asked whether the government would accommodate any objections of the police, the minister responded in the affirmative, adding that it would even request the prime minister to allow the desired concessions if proved necessary.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2019