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| India-Pakistan |
| Shock and horror |
| 2018-02-11 |
| [DAWN] AS elections near, and the search for sticks to beat political opponents with reaches fever pitch, hypocrisy rises to new levels. Consider the ongoing charges and counter-charges against police forces in Punjab, KP and Sindh. Provincial cops ‐ and by extension, their political masters ‐ are being accused of incompetence in recent high-profile crimes. Shock, horror! The pretence here is that normally, we have outstanding guardians of the peace who have recently fallen flat on their faces because of political interference from the PML-N, PTI and PPP governments ruling in Punjab, KP and Sindh respectively. The reality is that our police force was designed to protect the government of the day and its high officials, and not ordinary citizens. This priority was set by our colonial rulers decades ago, and remains unchanged today. Indeed, rules and police manuals reflect this reality. So when brutal crimes are committed against children, for example ‐ as scores are every day of the week ‐ cops take this as the norm, and have to be persuaded to even record these atrocities. Until the recent spate of reported rapes and murders of children in the media, they were never a big deal for senior coppers more concerned with providing security to ministers. Despite the obvious failings of the police in all these cases, using the sickening murders of children as ammunition against rivals is surely a new low, even in our toxic brand of politics where slander is the common currency. Inevitably, the media and suo motu ...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard... notices follow the scent of scandal and gore. |
| Posted by:Fred |