A capacity building workshop on strengthening the police investigation and stakeholders’ coordination mechanism was held in Mithi by the Tharparkar police in collaboration with the Civil Society Support Program, a non-government organization. Speaking to the participants, advocate Kashif Bajeer, the manager of CSSP and the member of Human Rights Vigilance Committee, lauded the efforts of Sindh government for introducing community policing and setting up of human rights cell and child protection authority but said that nobody knew about their applications and efficiencies. Commenting on the increasing incidents of the suicides in Tharparkar, Advocate Bajeer showed his resentment over the role of police and urged that each and every case of suicides should first be termed as ‘murder’ before being properly probed and investigated by an able police officer. He observed that some cases which had recently been probed after the protests by the parents of the victims of such incidents turned out to be incidents of the cool-blooded murders. He said that it was the prime responsibility of the police officers posted in Tharparkar to look into each and every suicide case in a proper manner with the help of the available resources to prevent such incidents.
“The Child Protection Authority has annual budget of about Rs.200 million while the Safe House has annual budget of Rs.5 million, however these organizations need to improve their working, as owing to inactive role and non-utilization of funds on assigned tasks, the budgets have reportedly lapsed,” he said and added that it was because of absence of coordination mechanism. “We need to devise the coordination mechanism for better results,” he urged. Mr Bajeer opined that these were very small things but one needs to understand. “We can work in a better way despite all these weaknesses in the system,” he said.
He also spoke about the conditions of prisons, and said that prisons were always considered as reform houses in other civilized countries but here a person becomes a habitual criminal after being imprisoned even if he is convicted in a minor crime. Advocate Rai Singh Sodho, the president of Thar Bar Council speaking during the event underlined the need for new legislation so that the investigation side could be strengthened. He also spoke about the powers of Station House Officers (SHO) and said that SHO had vast powers but he was mostly not allowed to use them. Advocate Singh also underscored the need to probe the suicide cases in proper way in the wake of the steep rise in such cases in the desert district in the recent years. He said that he and other members of the bar were ready to extend their full support to police in the legal procedures. ” We can together put an end to all social evils rearing their heads in the peaceful;l region like Thar” he added.
Psychologist Dr. Bharat in his speech called for changing attitudes. “We must pay respect to others, as several issues can be resolved only through changed behaviors.”Dr Bharat also urged the parents to spare time for their children. “Pay special attention to the children, who indulge in consuming drugs that often cause mental disorders. ” Even the excessive use of social media often results in mental disorders , which in turn develops other complications,” he said.
DSP Rasheed Haroon Sirai, Natho Khan Rahimoon and others also spoke on the occasion and shared their views on basic issues of the district.
