DAWN - Cowasjee Corner; 18 October, 1998

People-friendly police

By Ardeshir Cowasjee

ISLAMABAD: The beauty, the greenery, the weather, the prevailing atmosphere of indolence coupled with sycophancy, the grandeur of the prime ministerial hacienda-cum-palace, the silent uniformed flunkies padding around, the utter calm - all is more than enough to lull anyone into believing that everything is more, much more, than well with this nation.

On October 12, I met our prime minister. Alone, at a one-to-one session, he is as 'normal' (within the meaning of the word 'normal' as applied to those who conform to a certain mundane norm) as any other man. He makes his views known to all, he hides little, devious or otherwise, that goes on in his mind. He and I know each other well enough to agree to disagree, without acrimony, and to be able to talk on, to further disagree.

He now has about him an invincible air, all-powerful, having so far sorted out to his satisfaction what are known as the 'pillars of state'. Yet, as happens with all those who are 'in', he is unable to comprehend that a country wherein subsist some 140 million souls cannot survive for long on the misery of its people, though when 'out' he proclaims he is capable of doing so.

Economy: What can be done to kick-start it? he ponders. Nothing. It is not a motorcycle. Credibility and confidence are lost in a matter of minutes, but restored in years.

Karachi: Whatever else it may be, it is the sole port city this country has, it is the hub, it is the financial centre. The first and foremost concern of its people is the safety of their lives and properties. All else follows. This government of Sindh, as with its predecessors, incapable and inept, is also unwilling to provide safety. The chief minister and his coterie concentrate on amassing power and pelf. The government can just about survive with a weak coalition; the on-off partners are unreliable and thrive on terrorism, the means they employ to display their 'strength'. Their 'demands' are never-ending, pertaining only to their own needs, not to those of the people of their city.

What is the answer? Mr Nawaz Sharif asks. Mine is simple - governor's rule.

The safety and security of the people of Karachi was the main topic of discussion. Nawaz's 'monitoring cell' has discussed the subject with those who run the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC). Would I help? he asked. An important decision has to be taken on police reforms. Why not? I know CPLC chief Jameel Yusuf and his crew. I know their competence and dedication. I know the previous joint chief, Nazim Haji, and how he and Jamil worked together, night and day, at the expense of their own business. Both are conscientious, selfless men in whom the people of Karachi have faith. Given a choice, any citizen of Karachi in distress would turn to the CPLC for help, rather than to the police.

The CPLC has been with us for almost a decade. They have suffered and survived the chief ministers with whom Sindh has been blessed. At close range they have watched and experienced the modus operandi of police officers from the rank of DSP upwards. Their assessment of men and material available is reliable and if strengthened, and allowed to, they can be of enormous help in cleaning up the muck. What is needed is public participation and the people's control of their own protective force. Fine, said Nawaz Sharif, talk to the CPLC and then come to the meeting I am holding at the Governor's House on October 15.

The men of the PM's monitoring cell and of the CPLC have done much research and for long have worked on a report concerning the reorganization and revamping of the police force. They have no doubts in their minds that Karachi would be well served by a metropolitan police force to care for the needs of its large (probably nearing 12 million) strife-ridden population. They have studied the reforms report prepared in July 1996 by that able policeman, the then IG, Police, Punjab, Mohammed Abbas Khan.

The aim is to work towards the Japanese model of policing, initiated in 1947. Suggestions as to how this is to be implemented have been fully covered in yesterday's Dawn.

The Japanese system is unique. It was created by legislation, the objective of which was to reverse traditional Japanese policing and create a force which would be democratically controlled, and, most important, politically neutral (repeat, politically neutral). The great warlord who later in life became a far-sighted, firm and dedicated administrator, General Douglas MacArthur, originated the system, and then enforced it.

In September 1947, the Supreme Allied Commander of the Occupation Forces in Japan, whose job was to reform and administer the country following the devastation of WW2, asked the Japanese prime minister to create a new police force which would support and sustain the democratic institutions being introduced in the country. Clear guidelines were given. The Japanese prime minister conveyed them to each head of the concerned government departments. Each department head produced a list of a dozen or so reasons why MacArthur's scheme could not work. The PM returned the lists, asking each to define in full as to how their objections could be overcome. That finished off the objections. A police force came into being in December - democratically controlled, politically neutral and highly professional.

A new institution, the National Public Safety Commission (NPSC), was created at two levels: the NPSC at the national level (five members) and the Prefectural Public Safety Commission (three to five members) at the provincial level. Before it could ensure the maintenance of a politically neutral police, the commission itself had to be politically neutral.

Members are nominated by the prime minister and appointed with the approval of both houses of parliament. The law allows the appointment of members of political parties provided they are not politically active, and no more than two members may be affiliated with one political party, thereby ensuring that no single party has a controlling majority. However, the practice has developed that no person with political affiliations is appointed. To fully ensure political neutrality, members are appointed from amongst men of national eminence - lawyers, retired heads of corporations, scholars, journalists, and so forth.

Commission members are appointed for a five-year tenure and may only be removed if physically incapacitated or, if found guilty of grave misconduct, with the consent of both houses of parliament through a process of impeachment. Security of tenure acts as a safeguard against pressures.

To illustrate the working of the NPSC, here is an extract from a Japanese police experts committee report:

"The Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission is a minister of state who represents the cabinet which is responsible for public safety and order. The chairman normally has no right to vote on decisions, so as to ensure independence of other members. He is only called upon to vote in case of a tie.

"While the Public Safety Commissions have overall administrative responsibilities for professionalism of the police forces on behalf of the citizens, they do not have direct control over specific and detailed police matters. They administer indirectly.

"In order for the Public Safety Commission to protect the police from outer pressures and influences, the following measures are taken in the field of personnel management:

"The National Public Safety Commission has the authority to appoint/dismiss the Commissioner-General of the national police agency with the approval of the prime minister; to appoint/dismiss the Superintendent-General of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department with the consent of the Tokyo Public Safety Commission, and with approval of the prime minister; to appoint/dismiss the chief and high-ranking police officers (senior superintendent and above) of each prefectural police with consent of the Prefectural Public Safety Commission."

Nawaz Sharif met us on the 15th and despite opposition from the 'thekedars' (politicians and bureaucrats) ordered that the reforms be implemented. He asked for a fixed schedule to be presented to him on his return to Karachi on the 21st. This is the second most significant action taken purely in the interests of the people, with no extraneous strings, the first being his steadfast declaration that the country will revert to Sunday as its weekly holiday for its own economic and financial benefit.

Yesterday at 0800 hours I was told that Hakim Mohammed Saeed, a good, honest citizen of Pakistan of whom, to the best of our knowledge never a bad word has been uttered, had just been shot dead. Why, I asked, as we must all have asked why. It defies comprehension. The nation's sympathy goes out to his family who will forever be asking each other just what it was he died for. We must all bear the responsibility for allowing our society to degenerate into the disgusting and brutal state in which it now finds itself.