- Last weekend’s police killing of a couple and their daughter
- in Sahiwal, has the country up in arms
- While the JIT report on the incident is being released
- it is time for the nation to discuss police encounters
- The Sahiwal event is horrific
- BUT it is not the ONLY police encounter
- that Pakistan must grapple with
- The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reports
- 3,345 people were killed in police encounters
- between 2014 and 2018
- That’s 3000+ distraught families seeking explanations
- for the loss of their loved ones
- Our police force is used to taking
- extrajudicial routes to handle cases
- Usually, instead of backlash, they receive praise
- For the large part, the public is supportive
- of the police’s trigger-happy culture
- Remember Chaudhry Aslam? The encounter king?
- His extrajudicial encounter track record was highly praised
- Then there is Rao Anwar – who still roams free
- As a society, we are accepting of ‘vigilante justice’,
- ‘encounters’, and extrajudicial killings
- This is not to say that police systems are not to blame
- The growing mistrust between citizens and the police,
- their low pays, outdated equipment, lack of training
- and understaffing are all problems that have led us here
- But at this moment, our apathy towards police encounters
- should be closely analysed
- Is it time to call for an end to the encounter culture?
Pakistanis love encounters and their specialists. Then why this outrage over Sahiwal tragedy?
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