A few days ago, an SHO named Faryad Cheema killed a young boy and injured one in the process of “keeping peace”. The youngsters aged around 15 were playing with a toy pistol, taking selfies in a residential colony of Faisalabad. Before that, a lawyer was killed in broad day light almost a month ago by a policeman in Lahore. The police had also beaten up a group of blind men in Lahore, lately, and who can forget the victims the Model Town event, last year.

These indicators should be strong enough to make us realize that the role of the "police" in our society has transformed into something different from its intended purpose. Since the inception of Pakistan, the role of the police has been ineffective and it has invariably failed in developing a strong relationship with the common man. I say “common man” because with people of high stature, police can be trusted to maintain good relations.

Though, no crime is bigger than killing someone – especially a teenager with a toy – yet I won’t put the entire blame of it on the culprit Mr. Cheema, since he is a part of this longstanding, rotten institution of police which possesses some basic in-built faults.

I usually do not get affected by the barbaric acts our police keeps committing, for they are meant to do that – our history tells us that in quite a lot of detail.

When the British cemented their hold in India, they eagerly wanted to sustain that dominance and for that they needed subjects within the subjects to extend their control. Every tyrant government keeps the fear factor alive in the masses to suppress possible uprisings, as there are always revisionist elements in the system.

As Arvind Verma rightly argues, "Establishing a police force on these principals was far more cost effective than any other means. The police worked as a rule-bound organization that was not motivated by the public good but was loyal to the organization and the higher officials".

In 1857, when the British failed in stopping the War of Independence, Police Act of 1861 was introduced to exercise more authority over the Indians. The dual control introduced by the Act meant that the district superintendent was to be accountable not only to his superior but also to the District management. Dual control was specifically introduced to keep the police from being too close to the local population. The British proved to be right when General Dyer initiated the bloody Jallianwala Bagh Massacre with help of local Indians in Amritsar, and successfully defeated the civil disobedience movement of 1930-1933.

A good 154 years have passed since the Police Act of 1861, but we are still living under its shadow. Even today, an SHO is not answerable only to his hierarchal bosses but to the members of the National and Provincial assemblies, as well. The British were replaced by the Parliament which is no different from our historical masters. They don't need the police to protect us, but to protect their own vested interests.

So, it's hard to point out a single individual or to cry over the fruitless death of a teenager because the police is just doing what it is “meant” to do.

You don't need a social survey to get the idea that almost everybody thinks that the police is a corrupt institution. Whenever we see a police van, ironically, we feel less protected. But still every student wants to become a 17th grade police officer (doctors and engineers included) not because they mean to do any good to society but because they want to enjoy the perks of having unprecedented power (neeli bati and green number plate) – and the power to kill an innocent boy who was just taking a selfie.

The corrupt government always seeks for support within the masses, for which they keep throwing in little incentives. The desperate masses readily cling upon that and become a part of the bloody scheme of the government, at times, without even realizing it.

In a country like Pakistan, where people are dying with every possible cause, it is beyond my ability to absorb the killing of an innocent soul through the ignorant bullets of an arrogant officer. It's time to realize that we have to stand against these hostile norms and heinous intuitions which are causing us harm from centuries. This love for the “green number plate and neeli batti" is not impressive, anymore.

In fact I would like to warn the beholders of such perks: beware of the wrath of the common man.