Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Depoliticise police
Punjab Police is in sharp focus these days because of irresponsible and ill-advised acts of some policemen and death of some accused or under-investigation persons in different parts of the province in the private torture cells in various police stations. There is a lot of talking about police reforms and the Punjab Government is moving on a priority basis for bringing about short and long term reforms.
But the bitter fact which everyone is somehow ignoring is that the police force needs to be free from political influence in any form. The Punjab Police has been working under immense political pressure and influence for years together. Any kind of reforms will not bring about desired results unless and until the police force is freed from all kinds of political influence and given free hand to work according to laws of the land.
There has been incidence over the past many years about the chief ministers directly ordering police officials posting and transfers bypassing the IGPs. This scribe is also witness that the Ministers, MNAs and MPAs criticize the police in the legislatures and afterwards rushing to meet IGPs seeking posting and transfers of their chosen and liked police officials. In these circumstances, it is absolutely wrong to blame policemen alone. If police officials are pressurized to do some wrong under political influence then they can also commit some wrongs on their own.
Firstly, the police have to be freed from all kinds of political pressures; no matter if it is from the prime minister or chief minister, mindset of the police personnel has also to be changed essentially from negative to positive and only then any kind of reforms will be of any use. By the way, is the spokesman of the Chief Minister also Home Minister.
M Z RIFAT
Lahore
Those beautiful luminaries
A great Indian lawyer Ram Jethmalani is no more now. Having acquired the in-depth knowledge of the law, Jethmalani had represented so many serious and high-profile legal issues/cases. He had been literally leading the entire legal fraternity for quite a longer period of time in an inimitable style.
Our society and the international community at large are in dire need of such talented and tireless people as Ram Jethmalani. Despite there having been talks of unemployment and economic slump, the fact is that there has been an acute knowledge crisis that has been the bone of contention in most sectors. I often bump into law students in my native areas like Korkai, Tiruchendur, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari, encouraging them to acquire the great knowledge of both their field and English. The beautiful people like Jethmalani have been a ray of sunshine and we should emulate those people by the book.
P SENTHIL S DURAI
Mumbai
Where are the teachers?
Government Boys High School Balnigwar is the one and only high school of Balnigwar (sub-tehsil). The school where thousands of students are wanting to bright their future and coming from different villages. But unfortunately owing to lack of teachers and lecturers students are facing major problems and their future is at stake and in trouble.
According to the students, out of twenty one (21) teachers and lecturers only nine (9) are fulfilling their duties and are present. They have brought some impermanent teachers due to absence of the permanent teachers. Yet the permanent teachers have not seen the faces of the classes and are only taking their salaries. So, how the students can be the builder of a nation without any teachers and education? It is my plea to the government of Balochistan for taking a serious action regarding the issue and off the salaries of the absent teachers and lecturers.
ZAHEER DOSHAMBAY
Balnigwar
Police — Licence to kill
We heard in our school days that Police means: Polite Obedient Loyal Intelligent Courageous Efficient. Similarly, according to abbreviation.com the full forms of POLICE are: Protection Of Life and Investigating Criminals Establishment. But in Pakistan Police has a License to harass and kill innocent people in custody or in fake police encounters. Rao Anwaar stands testimony to it. One wonders how he managed to kill so many terrorists in a specified locality without any retaliation or friction. The Afridi case unveiled the reality of Police encounters in Malir area. The attitude of SHO to parents of Farishta was so derogatory and his remarks were so insulting and unbecoming of a government officer but it is their norm and daily routine.
During last few weeks various innocent people died in police custody, a serious matter of concern for all, but the concerned authorities are silent over the issue. Police has become an unbridled force in rural areas where awareness of rules and education is minimum and illiterate masses are left at the mercy of low ranked hard-line police officials. The death of Amir Masih and Salahuddin Ayubi in police custody must have rung alarm bells for police high-ups to curb the tendency of applying third degree violence on innocent citizens who have no place to hide from police and no forum to appeal against the atrocities of their so-called saviours.
Is there anybody to revert their license to kill? It is high time to make reforms in Police rules and code of conduct to muzzle their force. Moreover, vigilance committees along with citizen’s committees may immediately be constituted at grass root level of police chowkis and police stations by government to curb the nuisance of inhuman torture and unlawful use of force to human beings.
IFTIKHAR MIRZA
Islamabad
Love emanates from emotions
None can probably understand the importance of least considered, yet the most influential, part of a human’s body, not a word but a book which lacks words and rich with feelings. We call it ‘Emotion’. Physical gestures of a person demand a feeling and that feeling calls itself an emotion. Emotion is used by every person but understood by a few or none. It is not just beneficial but is necessary to understand the emotion. One tries to find one’s soul everywhere and goes in vein but what if one tried to find emotion instead yes, that intense feeling behind every soul is the Emotion.
Emotion is the only spiritual thing in my view. The quality of this, which asks me to adore, it is its direct contact with the heart. Emotion has nothing to do with the brain nor the brain has. Heart is sometimes selfish to own the brain so ultimately no brain in the whole talk about Emotion. This direct contact with the heart raises a lot of questions which an emotion itself answers. This emotion is everyone’s soul query, which can’t be solved.
The response, the reaction to everything comes from it. We develop an emotional feeling with every other we meet and the strength of that feeling is shown by our attitude towards others. Everyone here in this world isn’t the best choice for anyone because everyone here cannot understand anyone here. Not only human, everything here is full of numerous words. We can read them, we can start, but we can never stop. This deep reading of other develops an emotional understanding. The point for which I described this all and to which I wanted to come on was this ‘emotional understanding’. Ladies and Gentlemen this is what I call ‘Love’.
ASHAR MASOOD
Gujranwala
