This post is also available in: العربية (Arabic) اردو (Urdu)
Every morning, men in uniform wake up with the designation of guarding our country before their own lives. Despite what the conditions are, these men leave their homes to fulfill the duties they have promised to do. They took an oath to pledge their lives to us – they do it every day, each time terror hits the country. Despite what your perception is about our local policemen, they are the ones who save the lives of others during a situation that can cost them their own lives.
In a recent bomb blast which took place on the Ferozepur Road Lahore, many policemen lost their lives. In every terrorist attack which hits a particular location, security guards and policemen are killed or injured. Just like us, they are humans yet we only bring the negative side out in the air.
While there are two sides of the coin, we only focus on one – the rotten one. However, Hasan Saeed just highlighted how policemen in Pakistan are always there for their duty, despite what the conditions are.
The young Pakistani, in his own narrative, explained how our policemen, who are poorly treated guard our country no matter what the situations are.
Here’s what Hasan Wrote:
All of us(including me) badmouth the police forces for being corrupt, lazy and basically doing nothing. We have all once in our lives been stopped by a Police wala and they have in return asked for the infamous “chai aur paani” “laal note” and what not, we all have felt that they were rude to us or unprofessional in their behavior. We hear about stories on police brutality and how they beat up confessions out of people belonging from the lower classes.
On the other hand, they are underpaid, understaffed and don’t have any modern equipment. They are made to perform their duties day and night, the weather is damned, sometimes it is the searing heat or the freezing winters, sometimes it is on national holidays when all of us are with our families, some of them are out on the roads doing their duty.
I have met both kinds of police officers, I was once stopped at a chowki and was “asked” to pay a fine for something I hadn’t done, on the other hand, I was let go after crossing a traffic signal on a yellow light when I showed my bus ticket and how I was running late. One traffic warden once asked me a physics question, saying if I knew the answer, he wouldn’t fine my friend. I once saw two policemen help feed a poor man who had gone up to them saying “Saab, I don’t have money and I am hungry, saab please help me”
Whenever I have had the chance of traveling to Lahore early morning on Mondays, I have always seen them trying to get a lift on the motorway trying to get to Lahore after spending the weekend with their families. They wear their uniform every day, they tell their families goodbye, knowing this the last time they would see them and that they could die. They know if they piss off someone influential, they could be demoted or transferred or fired, despite all this, they are still doing their duty and more often than not are the silent heroes and first victims of the terrorist attack. They still do their duty and more often than not, lay down their lives.
Maybe, one day this will all change.
Maybe one day, it will.
