THE recent decision by the government to raise a new force dedicated to control riots and deal with future protests goes against the very grain of good governance and respect for taxpayers’ money. This is a tried-out recipe, experimented several times before under the labels of Dolphin Force, Special Security Unit, police commandos, Counter Terrorism Department and Elite Force. Many of these highly trained units are largely engaged in protecting the so-called VIPs, rather than being deployed on more serious assignments.

What is needed is not addition of ‘another’ police unit, but improving the quality of the existing police force to meet the rising challenges of law and order. Raising a new anti-riot unit is akin to establishing Daanish Schools, that may provide benefits to a few, but do not improve the quality of schooling at large.

In a world that is aggressively engaged in downsizing, reducing the size and number of government departments and saving every penny, we seem to be doing just the opposite.

This is the reason we are poor. This is the reason why our 12,000 sanitation workers in Karachi and one million sec- urity guards are deprived of even the legal minimum wage.

The government should reconsider its decision in favour of improving the existing police units, instead of adding more. That will be a prudent approach, considering the economic situation of the country.

Naeem Sadiq
Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2024