Observer Report
Karachi
Sheeba Shah from Shikarpur becomes the first lady Inspector General of Pakistan. Shah’s accomplishment ensues a historic yet inspirational turn for the country. Shah began her career as the Deputy Superintendent of Police in 1999 after completing the Public Service Commission exams, Shah was then promoted to SP and SSP afterwards.
In March 2019, Sheeba Shah became the first lady Deputy Inspector General of Sindh prison for women and children. Shah’s appointment as the Inspector General is a stepping stone towards progress and culminating gender based discrimination in the profession. Police and law enforcement is considered a male centric profession. A woman making leaps in this ensues inspiration for others to follow.
Regarding her feat, Shah said, “During my twenty years of service, I have faced discrimination many times. In this patriarchal society, when a lady officer comes, they (men) have a lot of problems. My subordinates had a problem giving protocol or saluting to a female officer.” She further added: “Sometimes there was great disappointment. I used to ask them that if you give protocol to male officers then why don’t you give it to women of the same rank? But in a patriarchal society, this goes on.”
She also gives credit to her family for supporting as well as motivating her to move forward: “But my family, especially my father, pep-talked (me through) a lot. He used to say that no department is bad and you should work here as a social worker instead of being a policewoman. This gave me courage.” The lady cop told media how the climb to the top was not easy for a woman.
