Amjad Mehmood
ISLAMABAD— The dynamics of the capital city are rapidly changing with an ever-growing population that demands effective policing to maintain a law and order situation. Since 2014 with the start of sit-ins and road-blocking culture from various political parties in Islamabad, the role of the Islamabad Capital Police has increased manifolds. These challenging situations directly hit the life of common men in their businesses, education, commuting, and other routine affairs of daily life. The city once popular for its beauty and peaceful life has turned into a land of agitation and uncertainty. In such situations, the ICT Police has a very crucial role in maintaining law and order situations for a smooth and safe life.
The performance and character of the police department in Pakistan have remained compromised due to a non-transparent selection process and political interference. Additionally, the other powerful departments with unlimited privileges have deprived the police department of many basic rights, credits, and modern equipment in the fear of performance. Unfortunately, services for the elites and powerful are part of the culture within police departments across Pakistan that guarantee them rewards at the cost of core responsibility.
Amid the political turmoil, the Govt has appointed Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan as Inspector General (IG) of the Islamabad Capital Police in May 2022. Dr. Akbar is a highly qualified, trained, and experienced officer who has served in many key positions prior to this appointment. He possesses vast and diverse experience in command and is passionate about start-ups, reforms, and institution-building. He remained part of formalizing the national policies of Pakistan in the security domain. He is credited as a pioneer to develop Punjab Safe Cities Authority in Punjab in 2015. Earlier in his career, he also contributed to the reforming process of the National Counter Terrorism Authority of Pakistan. He is among the few police officers in Pakistan who have contributed to the literature by writing books. His interests in sports, film-making, poetry, and music indicate his pleasing personality contrary to the general perception associated with policemen.
Dr. Akbar qualified for his Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) in Business Administration & Law (2016-20) from the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom. He passed a Master of Public Administration in International & Global Affairs (2009–11) from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, USA as a Fulbright scholar. He completed LLM in Public International Law (2006-7) from the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London as a Chevening Scholar. He passed a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering (1990-95) from the University of Engineering & Technology Lahore. During his stay in the UET, he actively participated as Vice President of the Dramatic Club and a Member of the Literary Society. Earlier between 1990-1992, he did a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the Islamia University Bahawalpur. During 2012-13, he published various articles which show his intellectual capacity and keen interest in doing research.
He has also contributed academic papers and articles on a variety of topics including the US policy of Target Killings by Drone Attacks in Pakistan, War Crimes in Afghanistan, Legality of Drone Attacks in Pakistan, Preventive Strategy of Suicide Attacks in Pakistan, Making Elections Egalitarian and Lawful, Roadmap for Fair FATA Elections, Fear Free Elections are Fair Elections. These articles are very informative and useful for researchers and young police officers to seek guidance in their literary work and careers.
Starting his policing career as ASP under training in September 1999 from the Civil Services Academy of Pakistan, Lahore he has been appointed to various key positions including Assistant Superintendent of Police, Peshawar (2001-2), District Police Officer of Kohistan, Chitral, Dera Ismael Khan, Nanakana Sahib and Mianwali Districts between 2005 to 2009, National Governance Adviser (UNDP) 2011, National Training Consultant, UNODC Pakistan 2012-13, Director General NACTA Pakistan 2014-15, COO, Punjab Safe Cities Authority / Deputy Inspector General of Police, Lahore 2015-20, DIG Telecommunications & Transport Punjab Police 2020,Director General (Monitoring, Evaluation & Capacity Building), National Counter Terrorism Authority 2021-22. He has also been awarded with the Quaid-E-Azam Police Medal, a gallantry award for the police officer in August 2013 for his excellent services. In May 2022, the federal government engaged Dr. Akbar’s services to lead the capital police considering his vast experience and capacity to lead the force in much-needed time.
After the successful move of a “vote of no confidence” in April 2022 against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, Islamabad has turned into a place of distress. PTI’s calls for holding rallies, protests, and sit-ins in Islamabad fueled this trauma to the next level when inhabitants of the city including commuters, patients, students, employees, and businessmen were equally stressed. In these challenging moments, ICT Police has maintained active contact with the citizens through their social media accounts by posting updated information at every short interval. They have defused the rumors and also countered the spread of fake news on social media. They not only maintained the flow of traffic to keep life active in the city but also kept updated road situations for travelers to avoid undue delays and hurdles. This active liaison with the public through social media is added value to Islamabad police under the leadership of Dr. Akbar. People are used to tagging the ICT police on social media for various illegal happenings around and the department is responding as well. The crime rate has registered an upward trend in Islamabad including snatching and robberies. This is a challenge for the police to control law and order situations and to curtail the crime rate with effective policing.
The head of an institution has a vital role in the delivery of performance and Dr. Akbar Nasir personally monitors every happening in the capital city and maintains a zero-tolerance policy for departmental negligence. He has marked his role without giving an impression of political tilt which is usually a rare element in the police department. He has expertise in establishing safe city projects and the performance of safe city cameras in Islamabad is gradually improving. A full-scale E-Challan system for traffic violators is a coming-up feature in Islamabad which may further improve traffic situations on roads. The performance of the police officers and staff in various police stations and the elimination of corruption from the department are real challenges for him as years-long dirt cannot be laundered overnight. The police force’s attitude towards the public is very important and this needs significant improvement. He is also required to educate the police staff about civilized policing norms. He is well conversant with the use of modern technologies in the investigation process to catch the culprits in a short span therefore, he needs to equip the force with modern gadgets.
The appreciating aspects which Dr. Akbar has introduced in Islamabad police are recognition of services and care for the martyred families; this would not only boost the morale of the police force but also their energy to face every situation without any fear. With the concurrent efforts of Dr. Akbar, the launch of a dedicated hospital for ICT police is a very good welfare project. This project can be further extended with the establishment of a modern forensic laboratory in the capital city. The composition of intellectual capacity, experience, and commitment has made Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan a ‘super cop’ in reality and he is a good role model for the young officers in the force.