It hasn’t happened for the first time. It has happened before during various regimes, dictatorships and quasi-democratic. Even elected ones were no different. Perhaps first police encounters were done when Amir Muhammad Khan was the governor of West Pakistan but the area of operation was restricted to Punjab.

In the 1970s when the People’s Party was in power it was its tough guy Ghulam Mustafa Khar who allowed a large-scale elimination of criminals and alleged goondas in police encounters. The same method of controlling law and order was adopted when the Pakistan Muslim League (N) ruled Punjab but it happened on a bigger scale as allegedly hundreds of criminals and suspects were gunned down in police encounters. Ruthless police officers known as encounter specialists were praised to the sky as saviours of Punjab. The same ruling party has recently launched a similar campaign to deal with the deteriorating law and order situation under a newly-established wing of special police called Crime Control Department which has been given huge funds and most importantly carte blanche to kill hardened criminals who are a menace to social order without due process of law. Such a drastic measure which is not only undemocratic but also draconian clearly shows three things; a low standard of governance, failure of administrative machinery, police force and judicial collapse. Good governance means rule of law i.e. conducting business of the government according to the laws laid down in the book. Treating citizens equally and fairly is fundamental to such a concept of governance. Rule of law has been flouted by relying on measures which give police authority to shoot anyone arbitrarily declared criminal. Police act as judge, jury and executioner.

As far as police are concerned they carry the vestiges of the British brutal colonial regime that used coercion to exploit our material and human resources. They have immense powers which they use and misuse to keep the people in check. They are not here to serve the people but to control and rule them. No regime in Punjab ever since 1947 -when it apparently became an independent country- has tried to change or reform the anti-people structure of the police force. Police here are a force, not a service, a force to be used against whom? Against people of course especially against those who dare to raise the voices of political dissent. Since the elite is autocratic and self-centred, laws which would suit an independent country, have been spurned. Colonialists in order to control the people’s movement imposed a law of vagrancy which authorised police to arrest/ detain any one after sunset on the charge of vagrancy. So beware you can be arrested anytime after sunset outside your home. It’s such arbitrary laws that allow police a lethal force. The state by virtue of being a state already has a monopoly of coercion but it’s not enough because the class that runs the state has a gargantuan appetite for wealth and power. In order to satiate their insatiable lust they are forever in need of more oppressive and exploitative legal mechanisms.

The new department called Crime Control Department (CCD) was set up some months ago to fight heinous crimes in Punjab such as murder, rape/ gang rape, extortion, dacoity, robbery, child abuse and vehicle snatching at gunpoint. Zero tolerance for crime is the main objective. But zero tolerance and tackling criminals through extra-judicial measures are two different things. During these months hundreds of outlaws have been eliminated in police encounters which investigative journalists, reliable reporters declare were fake. They were little more than unlawful killings because alleged victims were never put on trial, due process of law was disregarded. The families of those killed have nowhere to go to seek justice. All FIRs (first information reports) from the first to the last have similar content that shows malafide intent as well as professional incompetence and intellectual laziness. It also shows arrogance; they backed by the ruling clique can offer any fig leaf for the justification of their unlawful activities. In other words, the situation is an unmistakable sign of judicial collapse. Sadly, people have given up on the judiciary because of the unbearably long process of law, high cost of litigation and miscarriage of justice. There is no surprise that a large number of ordinary mortals support the recent phenomenon of police encounters regardless of whether they are lawful or not. Not bothered by the nitty gritty of law, they want peace on the street and a sense of security. They believe the end matters, not means. Police present it as justification of their action which blatantly flouts laws and constitutional rights. Such a mindset is rooted in the patriarchal family structure and non-democratic public culture which rely on authority and force of traditions.

Now the question is not whether maintaining order through police encounters is a viable or sustainable option? If this practice continues people would lose whatever little respect they have for the laws which are in the book and are fundamental to a functional state. If the state doesn’t follow its laws people would do the same.And it’s going to be an existential crisis that would unravel the state. Coercion through fear is always suicidal. — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2025