Unforgettable Selves Yet Forgettable Identities
A story worth mentioning…
….and as I was walking down the road, the bus dropped me off on Boat Basin. On my way to the office around 10:30 Tuesday night, a police mobile stopped by. A policeman approached me from the back of the vehicle and asked for my ID card then performed a check on me… I was having a bag containing some books and a shawl to keep myself warm during the late night shift. The gentleman from the police vehicle, upon failure to discover anything suspicious from my belongings, asked me what am I doing at this time of the night. I told him that I was on my way to my office, he replied what sort of office starts at 10:30 in the night. I tried to explain him that it was my night shift and I work in the networking department. By the looks of the gentleman I highly doubt I could have made anything clear to him. He then asked me If I have the company ID card, unfortunately I did not have it with me, although I did have the visiting card. Once I handed over it to him, he got all fuming and shove the card at my face after tearing it into pieces. He then said I want the company ID card with your picture and your boss’s signature on it. I humbly told him that it wasn’t ready yet. He then asked me for how long I was working in the company, he again got annoyed, as my answer was ‘one year’… His colleague form the mobile came and said ‘sahab bula rahay hein’. The gentleman than said, okay… “kuch khanay peenay ka karo”, I took out my wallet to gave him all that I have. May be it was a bad day for me, I only had 20 Rupees in my wallet. Once I gave it to him, it was like I slapped him and then spitted on the face, he said “bhikaari hein kiya hum log” and grabbed everything I was carrying and asked me to get into the mobile and the rest would be taken care of in the police station. I thought there is nothing left to do now but to get into the mobile, they took all my belongings and switched off my phone.
In the station for almost 30 minutes no one spoke to me and I also stayed shut and put. I was thinking even one word could go against me and I can stay here forever. After a few minutes the SHO on his desk picked up my phone and starts to browse though, I didn’t know what he was doing, but then he whispered something to his assistant and gave the phone to me saying “call who ever you want to call”, once I got the phone I noticed that the number of PCIA was open. I called a “high profile” contact of mine and handed over the phone to the SHO, he suddenly starts abusing the person on the phone and threw it on the table… He than said to me that he is going to put a case on me that I have been involved in suicide bombing activity and we have discovered two pistols and some ball bearing making material from me. Man I was in shock! I didn’t know what else to do… At this point I was a suspected suicide bomber, I had two pistols and a proven material for making bombs! I’m doomed!, tomorrow’s GEO TV will be having a slide “Suspected Suicide Bomber Arrested”.
A while later my contact arrived the station with his lawyer (who was picked up from his home at that time of the night) and asked for the person who spoke to me on the phone, the SHO said it was me, the contact then said “is banday ko tu baad mein daikh lein ge, tum ne gali kaisay di mujhay. Mein tum pe case karo ga” anyway, after a while of tough exchange of arguments, my contact asked him about the case he has put on me. The SHO told him nature of the case and about what he has discovered from my bag. My contact said “give me the two pistols back” the SHO got confused and said “we were just pressurizing him”. The contact of mine said “does he look like a suicide bomber to you, I will press charges case against you.” The SHO was quite scared and confused, he apologized to me and the contact quite a lot, but we left the station and I was dropped off to my office…
This story is of my colleague’s experience, I happened to stay late the next day, he told me all what he had been through. He also told me the names and very specific details about the people involved, but I preferred not disclose the name on the internet (for safety reasons).
Moral of the Story:
It is not to comment on the ‘corrupt nature of the law’, it not even to highlight the importance of contacts in high profile. The concept is, One never forgets who he is, but most often forgets how he can prove to be who he really is.
As a respectable citizen and a human being, we should always keep our necessary documents with us. Refraining from carrying or applying for licenses, ID cards and / or other identification materials, just to avoid the “hectic procedure” isn’t a valid justification.
I always emphasize on focusing on one’s own personality circle with a centripetal manner not a centrifugal manner.
can’t we have a compromise…..the la is too hot for me…i have never been out of karachi…and rarely left jamshed town since i started commenting on KMB…how about Birmingham UK.everbody loves me there and our friend Gaz(gareth)has been running the show alone for quite some time….iam sure he would love my company too….and i would feel heaven at the dragons inn.
could it possible that we put this up as a complaint into the legal system i dont may be a combined KMB users group?
any lawyers around?
Criticizing is easy, art is difficult!!! Interesting Story – although with due respect I doubt the credibility of your story; maybe one day you could be good ‘Jasoosi Novel Author’ …your story has many gaps, contradictions and loopholes.
Some points to ponder,
a) SHO(s) are never present in-station at 11:00-11:30pm
b) I personally know the SHO of Clifton / Darakshan Police Station ; he could never go down to the level nor he is sort of a b.s person
c) the conclusion of the story is ‘messed up’ big time
As a criminal lawyer myself I had been seen the working of the police stations and its not good but then I had witnessed as (criminal physiologist) point of view that most of the statements used against police or administration are either fabricated or one-sided.
I request everyone not to make your mind about anyone listening to one side of the story – there are always two sides of a story and different dimensions of truth which has to be taken into consideration before making a judgment.
This is what to do when a policeman stops and search you:
a) be highly respectful ( usually we in Pakistan and around the world – gets offended when a police man stops and checks)
b) be co-operative
c) Police does not have the right to check anyone’s ID (according to the Pakistani Constitution); it’s only the FIA which could go into details of someone’s ID. Although it’s always good (in this time of terrorism) to keep a colored copy of your ID card.
If in case the police takes you to a police station ; you are in your legal rights to enquire about the charges made against you ; plus to call a lawyer or your
Regards,
Barrister Ali K Chishti.
good feedback !
@Ali K Chishti, me too doubt this is a good story written by someone, i live in DHA, and my office is situated near Parktower, yes they have stopped me many time, specially when i m on foots not having my car, but i never face such problem, they usualy perform a check and reason for being wandering out that time, never faced a harsh attitude,
People in departments like Police, Army, Rangers, and any other agency are well experienced in judging faces.
now thats interesting, you don’t believe his friend’s story and you think our police and law enforcement agencies are angels? well such cases are common, infact very very common..
well let me tell you a similar incident which occurred with dad of close friend of mine,he is among the top businessman in pakistan,filthy rich but still very modest and down to earth person.. he was returning to his hotel in Islamabad after a day long meeting with a senior official at defence ministry , he was accompanied by two driver cum gunmen(carrying 2 licensed firearms) ,on the way back they stopped for namaz at a masjid, after prayers drivers were waiting in the vehicle while friend’s dad bought some fruit being sold outside the masjid , out of nowhere a police mobile stopped with a screech near him and a decent looking man dressed in starched White cotton Shalwar Kameez jumps out of mobile pointing towards friend’s dad :
"ji inspector Sahib, bilkul yeh hi banda tha jis nay subhah meray say Rs50,000 cheenay thay"(Yes Inspector Sahib this is exactly the same person who snatched Rs50000 from me this morning "
my friend’s dad obviously perplexed upon hearing this told him that he must be mistaken and it isn’t true but that person kept insisting that he was the same guy who had snatched his money earlier in the day. my friend’s dad smelled that police was also siding with this person and trying to implicate him in some thing that he had not done,next the police ‘inspector’ told him that he’ll have to take him to police
station,so he should sit in the mobile,but friend’s dad said ok fine we’ll settle this at the police station but am not sitting in the mobile but will instead follow police mobile in my own vehicle,(‘Inspector’ kept insisting,thinking kaheen murga haath say na nikal jai ), finally one of his driver sat with them in the mobile and they went to the police station, upon reaching the station ‘Inspector’ showed them the report purportedly lodged by this complainant earlier in the day, friend’s dad told him that he was busy all day in a meeting and couldn’t possibly be involved in any such thing and shouldn’t be implicated, but the ‘inspector’ and other policeman present there kept insisting that to resolve this issue amicably he would have to pay back the 50000 to the complainant otherwise face the consequences.. my friend’s dad was not interested in giving a dime to these thugs n tried unsuccessfully to resolve the issue on his own but when nothing worked out, he had no choice but to call some bigshot contact of his,that bigshot came to police station lashed out/abused the policemen present there,called up senior police highups and explained them whole mess and instructed them to take care of those involved and left along with my friend’s dad and his drivers,as expected later it turned out that all of them including the ‘complainant’ were junior policeman and none of them was ‘inspector’ and they had been orchestrating this thing and trapping innocent victims and making them pay large sums for quite some time and victims it seemed never complained fearing embarrassment
@barristerakc wrote:
a) SHO(s) are never present in-station at 11:00-11:30pm
( in the absence of real SHO, all the junior policeman are ‘Chaudries’ and they act like SHOs. )
This is what to do when a policeman stops and search you:
c) Police does not have the right to check anyone’s ID (according to the Pakistani Constitution); it’s only the FIA which could go into details of someone’s ID. Although it’s always good (in this time of terrorism) to keep a colored copy of your ID card.
maybe Barrister Sahib can lecture policeman stopping him about his rights,but a normal shareef admi can’t imagine telling a policeman
"you have no business checking my ID/driving license and only FIA/Traffic police personnel can check it.. "
Well, I do not want to comment on the story or rebuttal or counter rebuttal of it. However going by the record and experience I would say that those traveling on foot and or on motorcycles are the most vulnerable species in Defense/Clifton/Bath Island neighborhood. I never saw any AFR 2005/2006/2007/2008 MPV being ever stopped by the law enforcement agencies. However sight of poor motorcyclists being stopped and being abused PHYSICALLY near the traffic signal is a common sight. I wonder how can even argue about their constitutional rights as currently this country is led on the basis of "leadership by example"!
Rahil Iqbal
@ Doctor,
Mate, I not trying to defend our police; it’s bad and messed up. I commented on the nature of the ‘story’ published by the author of this post and what I am pointing to is at this unnecessary bashing embellishment and exaggeration of violence and corruption of our police – which at most cases is a pure ‘myth’.
Some point,
i) If police ever grabs you and take you down to a police station – you are within your legal rights to ask for the copy of the report / FIR lodged against you. It’s always good to keep a lawyers cell phone number or a contact number with you.
ii) In most cases corrupt and dishonest police men would show you the copy of a FIR which is ‘un-named’ or filed against an anonymous person – at this case you should call you lawyer immediately – plus the SHO of the station does not have a legal right to held you without charges for more then six hours.
iii) It’s always good to have a driving license (a valid and original) all the time; I understand we all have connections but going by the records our connections usually fails when we need them. So why take the risk? Secondly, one should know that if you kill someone on the road and you don’t have a driving license – a case of 302 PPC (murder) will registered against you.
iv) If in defense you kill someone – it’s always good to push his or her body against towards you (so that the persons head is pointing towards the position you were when you fired the shot) – to make a good defense and to show it to the police that the person was an assailant. (Usually most of the mobile snatchers dacoits and robbers are killed in defense).
I understand that we are not living in a perfect society – the system helps the rich and is discriminating and like it or not we have to live with it.
Regards,
Barrister Ali K.Chishti.
Any help: akchishti@hotmail.com
@ Barrister Ali K Chishti.
its good that you are a criminal lawyer and you know people, coz you really live in your own world!! what rights are you talking about Sindh Police have every right to violate the person they bring in the THANA, untill the person brings in any lawyer or some from law enforcement agencies from his contacts.
a) SHO(s) are never present in-station at 11:00-11:30pm
i have seen SHO Bahadurbad in PS at 2am.
and you know if you tell them that they dont have right to check your ID they will slap you and say "tu hum ko kanooon sikhaye ga" ;)
omg!!!! story in comments looks like the write of the story is Abba in writing such stories, (of Poster of this post) ;) ,,
damn, i would never believe a junior police man would dare to stop and connect a person with such a false case who got two gun men with him, omg omg !!
and for you guys,, it’s true police wala usulay/mostly stops bikers, but it’s not that they put terrorist charges on them, yes they are corrupt and they ask for ‘chaye paani’.
come on guys don’t fool with such stories, and i know our police in not angelic police, but comeon!!!
oh guys one thing never ever try to teach a ‘police wala’ a law thing, cuz i am sure he will really slap you for this, just do what they say, u know all they do is when they will stop u they will take a complete overview of your ‘Huliya’ and thats all their attitude will depend.
i wander in nights a lot but never encountered such incident, just to advice you guys, be wise and confident, keep your mind open when u r in such situation.
@ muzz lad,
then Zulqarnain Haider (SHO, Bhadarabad) is a different species ; it’s must have been a emergency.
cyrenity, excatly – apparently Nadir (the author) is Sydney Sheldon inspired? or is it Stephen King?
cheers!
It brings a smile to my face :)
Barister Sahab, could you please go back up and read the portion after the "story". Just a few things I mentioned.
– It is not to comment on the ‘corrupt nature of the law’
– The concept is, One never forgets who he is, but most often forgets how he can prove to be who he really is.
– I always emphasize on focusing on one’s own personality circle with a centripetal manner not a centrifugal manner.
You say…"As a criminal lawyer myself I had been seen…"
Looks like you have missed the core of the post. Being a criminal lawyer, is it a true that you missed the most important things of the matter under discussion? (No offenses)
I really don’t care if you buy the story of not, I’m really not here to ‘prove’ anything. I knew what is to come up after I make the post. That is why I made my conclusions very clear. And the hitches you find, my friend, in the "story" are kept there for a reason, deliberately… Being inspired by "Sydney Sheldon" or Stephen King", don’t you think that I know What I’m missing? [I really don’t know who there people are -btw :)]
Cheers!
Mate, I don’t have any personal grudges against you nor I disqualify the spirit of your story – all I pointed was the fiction and drama attached to it. It’s either over exaggerated or complete fiction.
a) Could you explain the rationale behind the ‘deliberate hitches’ or imperfections?
b) It started as a narration then there’s a concept attached to it
Anyhow, keep it up!!!!
(PS. Sydney Sheldon & Stephan King? you don’t know them? Read them would improve your creative writing)
My friend…
I was to write exactly what I heard… that is why the post starts with the quotation mark.
The hitches are those specific details which I skipped in order to make the post to not point to someone. If you observe, if I add things like, names of places, people, time, exact quotes about who said what and when, the dialog, getups, registration numbers etc, all would make much more sense.
Plus why would I make-up a story? what good is it gonna do to me? The person who actually underwent such an event does not need sympathy or recognition neither do i, nor does anyone else is intended to be targeted or accused of any acts.
So the only thing left is the conclusion, if you focus on it, I think there isn’t any need for the story to be real or fictitious its the moral of the story that matters.
(PS. I’m not into story writing, but id consider your recommendations) :)
c) Police does not have the right to check anyone’s ID (according to the Pakistani Constitution); it’s only the FIA which could go into details of someone’s ID.
dear barrister sab have you ever received a credit card by courier(any)of yourself or a house inmate…?no because the courier guys never hands you the envelop until you show your ID card.
Whys is it always that the person is always either a friend, or a friend of a friend, nadir dont take me wrong but i also live in the same city and you have no reason to go to the PS with the cops unless you have something to hide (like maybe the guy was with his GF or somthing at 10.30).
We heard a lot of stories a few days back "A friend of my frind was hijacked and asked to ram his car for a cause"…. but the interesting point is, it always happend to someones friends or neighbours or friend of a friend.