Observer Report
Lahore
Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed on Friday expressed regret over the gang-rape of a woman on the motorway near Lahore. He said such incidents were reflective of a “politicised” police force that has failed to provide adequate protection to citizens’ lives and property.
The top judge’s strong criticism of the state of affairs of police and the government’s role in it came during his speech at the closing ceremony of a training workshop for District Commercial Court judges in Lahore.
Justice Ahmed in his address noted that “effective policing” was indispensable for the government to perform its prime function of maintaining law and order.
“However, what we see is that policing in the country has been politicised, the result of which is that the life and property of the people are not safe and even innocent travellers on the highway meet serious crime[s] like the one we [had] two days back,” he said, according to a transcript of his speech.
The chief justice said it was “shameful” to note that neither any security system nor a safety mechanism had been placed on the motorway where the gang-rape occurred.
“The government needs to wake up and immediately restore the credibility of the police department by allowing its ranks to take initiative and decide the issues of the police department themselves,” he said. “No amount of any interference whatsoever [should be] made either by the government or by any political person in the police force.”
