Having completed his one-year term in March 2011, Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) chief Ahmed Chinoy is now allegedly engineering a one-year extension in service, Pakistan Today has learnt.
“Ahmed Chinoy has been working as the CPLC chief for the past three month without any notification of his tenure having been extended,” sources told Pakistan Today.
Chinoy’s rise to CPLC chief was not on merit to begin with, claimed sources. He had been appointed as member of CPLC-Central, but was transferred after CPLC-Central chief Murad Sohni lodged a complaint against him. CPLC-South chief Shaukat Suleman also refused to accept Chinoy as a member.
After former CPLC chief Sharfuddin Memon completed his term, sources explained, Chinoy – assistant chief at the time – manipulated the situation in such a way deputy chiefs Shukat Suleman and Hanif Moosa were both superseded, and he was appointed out-of-turn as the CPLC chief.
Chinoy’s case is not unique: dozens of other members of the CPLC are also working without appropriate notifications, claimed sources, but the larger story is that postings and promotions are taking place on the basis of political associations and backings.
“Shameem Junejo from CPLC-South and Hanif Moosa from CPLC-East were also illegally appointed as assistant chiefs,” sources alleged. “As for Chinoy, former Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza had declared him to be a controversial person because of his political affiliations.”
On the other hand, the authorities concerned declined to consider utilising the services of CPLC’s founding members Saifuddin and Zubair Habib for senior posts – ostensibly because they did not have strong links with any political party, sources said.
Meanwhile, senior police officers fear that political wrangling inside the CPLC and the appointment of controversial individuals could in turn be “dangerous for the secrecy of the Police Department.”
“The CPLC is simply a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and should be treated in the same way,” a senior police official, speaking to Pakistan Today on condition of anonymity, argued. “But it is accommodated in the Governor House, uses government offices, records phone calls of general public, and its officials move in police mobiles.”
Another officer, also speaking to Pakistan Today on condition of anonymity, also argued along the same lines. “There is no secrecy in the CPLC, as individuals with political affiliations have been appointed to the body. Because of that, people seem reluctant to visit CPLC offices and share their problems,” he said.
It is worth mentioning here that CPLC was constituted on August 31, 1989. The CPLC, commonly known as a non-political statutory institution, was in principle supposed to be operationally independent, and managed by citizens offering their honorary services.