KARACHI - Women’s Action Forum (WAF - Karachi) here on Tuesday urged the Sindh government to make public the draft law on police reforms public and open the same for public consultation prior to its presentation on the floor of assembly.
It was also demanded that the new law under the police reforms must empower the police chief for effective command and control over his subordinates and strengthen the police secretariat rather than putting the CPO under direct control of politicians.
Members of WAF Karachi also registered their concern that the provincial authorities, in violation of the constitution, was attempting to pass certain laws in a covert manner.
We demand the provincial government to introduce a mandatory requirement of open public consultation on draft of every law before it is presented in the Parliament, said the WAF spokesperson, Mehnaz Rehman.
With specific reference to police reforms draft law, the activists regretted that it was being rushed to the floor of Sindh Assembly for a vote without an open public consultation.
Taking strong exception to the interference of the provincial authorities in the affairs of the Sindh police, the activists were of concerted opinion that provincial government’s attempt to secretly present the police reforms bill in the assembly for voting was non-transparent and therefore questionable.
Mentioning that Inspector General of Police, Sindh, A.D. Khowaja, only recently, through his letter to the Sindh Chief Minister has complained that the introduced changes undermines IGP’s authority over the police department, they agreed with the provincial police chief that it would paralyse functioning of the police department as an organization.