Has our justice system failed to monitor police brutality?

The state and its institutions are primarily responsible to ensure the safety and security of its people. In almost each and every country around the planet, a policing system is put in place so as to maintain law and order in society.

Unsurprisingly, Pakistan being an allegedly democratic country also has its own champions (law enforcers) in uniform, out with a mandate to defend the public.

Even jacked-up versions of the ordinary police in the shape of Dolphin force, Anti-Riot Police force, Anti Crime Force, Frontier Corps (FC), CTD and so on, are seen racing around the streets of Karachi, Lahore and other parts of the country to keep the common man at ease.

An immense budget is spent on the training and running of the police force across the country. Elite training institutions have been established so as to give specialized training to the champions.

Despite the provisions in place to shape up these men as the guardians of the citizens, the nation is occasionally treated to the news of a merciless killing at the hands of these very men. The protectors of the common men end up putting an end to their lives in the most heartless and brutal manner.

The latest victim of police brutality drew attention after the extra-judicial killing of Hayat Baloch at the hands of Frontier Corps in front of his parents.

The murder of Hayat Baloch

On August 13, a 25-year-old Hayat Baloch, a resident of the Turbat area of Balochistan, was shot dead by the paramilitary Frontier Corps in broad daylight.

He was a final-year student of BSC (Physiology) at the Karachi University. On the fateful morning of August 13, Hayat Baloch was harvesting dates on a farm with his parents.

Reportedly, a convoy of Pakistani security forces was passing by the Aapsar area, just before noon, when it was attacked with an IED explosion.

Since the farm was located adjacent to the road where the blast took place, troops of paramilitary Frontier Corps entered the farm. As per reports, they began harassing Hayat Baloch and accused him of engineering the IED explosion.

The FC personnel tied him up and carried him to the other side of the farm, despite his father pleading to the security forces that Hayat had not left the farm since morning.

Meanwhile, one of the officers fired 8-10 shots at Hayat. Reportedly, the security personnel then abandoned his dead body while the parents of Baloch wept by the side of his dead body. The boy was dead even before they could manage to take him to a hospital.

According to SSP (Turbat), an internal investigation by the Frontier Corps found that the accused personnel ‘reacted in haste’ and handed him over to the police for further probe into the extra-judicial killing of the 25-year-old student.

Protests against the extra-judicial killing of Hayat

Following the extra-judicial killing of Hayat, civil society people organized protests in Karachi, Islamabad Quetta and other cities. Hundreds of people took part in the demonstrations, demanding justice for Hayat Baloch.

The speakers urged the youth to be the voice of resistance against the hegemony of the Pakistani State and armed forces, besides reiterating that they have lost faith in the government.

Naqeebullah and others’ encounter by police

The killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud had unleashed festering anger at a rash of alleged extrajudicial murders and the police accused of orchestrating them.

The fatal shooting of 23-year-old Mehsud, an aspiring model whose goofy dance videos and airbrushed brown locks had earned him a large Facebook following, brought thousands of people onto the streets to urge an end to impunity.

Mehsud was shot dead along with three other people in what police say was an operation targeting Taliban insurgents on 3 January in Karachi. Friends and relatives insist the internet celebrity had no connection to militancy.

Cops kill citizen over ‘misunderstanding’ 

A man was killed and another injured when police personnel opened fire at them on Karachi’s I.I. Chundrigar Road over a “misunderstanding”, assuming the men to be robbers on 8 August 2020.

The incident prompted higher authorities to take notice and the three policemen involved in the incident were subsequently arrested.

According to Mithadar police, 48-year-old Muhammad Aslam was shot dead while 26-year-old Waqar Muhammad was injured near Techno City after officials opened fire.

Another citizen killed over ‘misunderstanding’

In November last year, police firing on a vehicle in Karachi left one person dead and another injured over a misunderstanding. Three policemen were arrested in connection with the incident.

Hundreds of detainees killed by police

This isn’t the first time a man in custody had been killed. From Naqeebullah Mehsud in Karachi to Salahuddin in Punjab, hundreds of detainees had been killed by the police either by way of a fake encounter or simply by brutal torture.

By disregarding all norms of the justice system and trashing a vast number of constitutional fundamental rights, the law enforcers of our country remain hell-bent upon acting in a manner they see fit.

No practical results achieved yet

In the immediate aftermath of such terrible incidents, high-level denunciations are received and calls are made for police reforms and other related legislative reforms to control the situation.

However, yet no practical results have been achieved. No deterrent is in place which would wean away from the police officers from misusing their authority.

No exemplary punishment has been awarded which would instill fear into the hearts of law-breaking champions.

There could be nothing more shameful than torturing and killing a student in front of his parents. After killing Hayat Baloch the FC personnel also threatened the heartbroken parents who were weeping by the side of his son’s dead body.

In spite of continual incidents of similar nature, no material progress has been made to prevent such atrocious incidents in the future and they continue to repeat themselves, taking away an innocent soul each time.

Cases like that of Hayat Baloch, Naqeebullah Mehsud and the killing of other citizens will keep happening unless there are reforms and severe punishment.