After seeing the policemen flogging suspects in public places on T.V channels, the whole nation is ashen-faced with shame. The Chief Minister and the IG Police have been forced to take action even though we all know police all over the country resorts to torture of suspects as a matter of routine. The Punjab Police has been rather more active in the craft during the PML-N government. There have been extra judicial killing of citizens in the previous government of Punjab also. But the crime graph has increased during the last two years. There are also reports of policemen getting involved in robbery and street crimes of snatching of mobile phones and valuables from the citizens. The police has been tops on the list of most corrupt department of government and taking money for FIR is a common feature of every complaint against it. The people are afraid of approaching police even for their genuine complaints. It is now also known to everyone that our police, instead of following the normal course of investigation of the heinous crime, often opts for killing the criminals in fake encounters. Unfortunately, there is also a general perception that these extra judicial killings are often in the knowledge of Chief Minister and the senior most police officials who, perhaps, consider this to be the quickest way of rendering 'justice. There is an urgent need to reform the present police system and its administrative structure. The police department has been politicized by politicians who often use it for their personal interests. The lower level staff in police is often incompetent, corrupt and ignorant about the basic human rights and about the criminal laws. There is an urgent need to change the 'thaana culture also which the Chief Minister Punjab particularly has been repeatedly claiming to have changed. -ENGR.S.T. HUSSAIN, Lahore, March 5.