In Punjab and Sindh, the motives appear ulterior
Former Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mushtaq Sukhera retired after putting in 34 long years in this god forsaken department. His successor should have been decided and vetted well in advance, but the government could only produce an acting IGP. On just the third day of his ‘retirement’, the outgoing IGP was appointed Punjab Police Advisor with a lucrative package, no doubt as the eminence grise. Mushtaq Sukhera became controversial in his first week as IGP, when the infamous Model Town incident occurred, one of the skeletons in the PML-N closet. A Chinese proverb says, ‘do not trust him who lies for you, for he will one day lie against you’, and in our context it defines someone who might turn out to be a singing canary approver.
In Sindh, the incumbent IGP AD Khawaja fell afoul of the government, which replaced him with another, no doubt, sycophantic appointee, but the change was blocked by Sindh High Court, where the matter still rests. Khawaja’s integrity and honesty, qualities which were widely attributed to him, became liabilities as the PPP Co-chairman became a judge, jury and executioner himself by remarking sarcastically in a television interview that “If AD Khawaja is a good officer, then what are others?” He made it sound politically correct by questioning why Sindh could not appoint an IGP of its choice (read malleable and compliant).
The matter of KPK IGP is also pending in Islamabad High Court, as the acting IGP questioned the new IGPs appointment, citing violation of Police Ordinance 2016 and Supreme Court rulings regarding promotions. But this appears to be a purely careerist tangle.
PML-N and PPP have a single minded election strategy, consolidating their power in their home provinces, while attempting to make inroads into each others electoral territory. It is to remove the slightest element of unpredictability from the 2018 election outcome that the battle of the IGPs ostensibly rages. And the constant fear of former insiders and favourites turning loose-tongued approvers is also a good enough reason.
