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There's something rotten inside the Punjab police. When Punjab cops tortured #Salahuddin to death, they did not prove the rottenness of their force, they just reminded us of it. As did the discovery of the private torture cell of an SHO (1/10)
As did the death of a young man who was savaged in the private torture cell. But this rottenness has percolated down from the top. We can smell the stench of rottenness in the reactions of the superiors of Punjab police and the crocodile tears of their political bosses...(2/10)
But this is exactly what the promised change was all about, wasn't it? That men like #Salahuddin would not be tortured to death but be treated as per their rights as citizens of Pakistan? Wasn't this what @ImranKhanPTI guaranteed us?...(3/10)
Here's the reality though: Punjab police will not be reformed. Not now, not for a very very long time. The killers of #Salahuddin will be suspended just like the killers of the innocent family in Sahiwal. Then, soon enough & sure enough,killers will be back triumphantly...(4/10)
You know why? Because the dirty little secret that all political parties in Punjab harbour is that politics demands the retention of this rotten police. Now PTI is in on this secret too. Hush... But let's call this secret for what it really is: a crime against citizens...(5/10)
And here's what the PTI leadership will not tell you: the party has reconciled itself to not reforming Punjab police. The party's clownish spokespeople in Punjab may howl and shout but they know in their hearts that all plans for reform have been abandoned...(6/10)
They have been abandoned right from the top. This compromise is a result of a fait accompli presented to the highest party leadership after it won Punjab: choose which one you want - police reforms or retaining the numbers to keep the government in Punjab?...(7/10)
It wasn't a tough choice, apparently. So we all can scream till there is no air left in our lungs but the harsh reality is that nothing will change in the Punjab police. Too many people have too many stakes in this rotten system. Today they are in positions of power...(8/10)
This power is based on the rotten system that they vow to change. Sure. The system will keep them elevated in these positions regardless of their official rhetoric. The system will keep brutalising people in thanas only to provide a systemic response...(9/10)
The response? Of course. Suspension. Enquiry. Vows. Promises. Condemnations. Photo-ops. Compensation. The end. Till the next body shows up. Repeat...(10/10)
