A top police official in Pakistan's port city Karachi today called for abolishing the colonial-era policing laws to impove the force's efficiency and questioned the presence of paramilitary rangers in the city of millions.
In a hard hitting speech at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Karachi, Inspector-General of Police Sindh AD Khawaja said laws of the British colonial era had to be abolished in order to improve the efficiency of policing.
"If we are supposed to fight crime in the 21st century how can we do that with laws which date back to 1861," he said.
He said the 1861 policing laws was created by the British in a different era and for a different reason.
"They wanted a police force to control and enslave the people not do them service or help them," he added.
Karachi has one of the highest street crime rates in Pakistan with a population of around 20 million with people from different backgrounds streaming in from all parts of the country and even outside Pakistan to seek a better life and employment.
Khawaja was also very vocal about the presence of the paramilitary rangers in Karachi since the 90s and noted the impression created was that the police force was crippled and required the support of the rangers to run Karachi.
He said police had single-handedly fought the bloodshed in Karachi in the 90s before the Rangers were brought in.
He said hundreds of police officers had lost their lives on the streets of Karachi and were gunned down on daily basis by target killers.
"The sad part is that even after these police officers were killed their killers roamed around in the corridors of power," he said.
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