History has proved again and again that no matter how large
and supposedly powerful any forces may be, they can accomplish little without
accomplished leaders. Babar defeated the hordes of Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat.
Frederick the Great repeatedly defeated forces having twice his strength.
General O’Conner defeated numerically superior Italian forces in North Mrica in
the First Libyan Campaign and General McArthur turned defeat into victory at
Inchon. General Omar Bradley said, “Man for man, one division is as good as
another, they vary on the skill and leadership of their commanders”. Police life
and work, by its nature, is full of contradictions. On one hand, the fact that a
large number of men have to live, and work together requires imposition of
strict discipline under which they have to conform to well defined codes of
conduct and function in a particular manner. On the other hand. the fluid nature
of urban policing, counter insurgency operations calls for initiative,
understanding and critical judgment, all these being the antithesis of
conformity and authoritarianism. Thus, we need someone to lead the force who has
seen both extremes in service. Who could be a better choice who is blend and
product of warfare and peace time none other than Mr. Akhtar Hayat Gandapur. The
peacetime environment in the police forces encourage the breeding of senior
commanders who stick to rules, always conform to the wishes of their superiors
and sacrifice their independence of action by first ascertaining the preference
of his superiors on which to base his conduct. Peace time tends to produce
officers who sit in Air conditioned offices and make irrational decisions,
policies with devastating results. Today’s state of affairs in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa is a true depiction of this scenario. Sana UllahAbbasi who has not
served for a single day in KP suddenly is posted as PPO and DIG Salman Chaudry
most disgruntled material is at helm of affairs and calling the shots. We in KP
are confronted with Leadership crisis. It is the pervasive performance culture
that has created a particular style of leader that is less compatible with
today’s needs. So where does the future lie? Personally, I think the future lies
in a system that allows son of the soil to lead. Round pegs, round holes is the
future, with no wood shaving required. The more people have had to change to fit
into selection criteria, the more masks our leaders have had to wear. We need
some with an attitude that appreciates and tolerates individual difference,
whilst respecting operational credibility as a base. This has to be the future.
It makes sense that our future leaders must represent all points of the compass,
and not just North as a default. Dr.IshtiaqMarwat and CaptFeroz Shah are from
20th Common. They are senior post Pakhtoon officers serving in KP at the moment.
They are very experienced and versatile officers. Then comes Mr. Akhtar Hayat
Gandapur, incumbent DIG Special Branch, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who remained RPO
Mardan, Hazara, Malakand ,Kohat in those challenging times when majority of the
Pakhtoon officers bid good bye to the province and left for jobs in Federal
Government. He fought like a soldier in Swat and held his ground firmly. He is
the topper of 22nd CTP and senior most Pakhtoon PSP officer at the moment who
has served in almost every Region of KP. He hails from Dera Ismail Khan and
comes from a respectable Pukhtoon family. He knows the norms and culture of KP.
With NMDs and its peculiar policing dynamics it would be a folly to say that
someone other than him understand it better. He is considered as an authority in
policing in KP. He is kind and supportive to his subordinates. During his entire
service it has been a norm that he has taken responsibility for failures and
given credit to others. The officer has steel nerves which is needed from our
Future Police commander. He strongly believes that Doing the right thing is
always the right thing. I hope the Government of Pakistan will also do the right
thing by posting a Pakhtoon officer as IGP who has extensive experience and
rendered great service to the country. The demographic situation of this
province demand the leadership of a unique police officer who is open to
suggestions and has a proactive approach towards policing affairs.It is high
time to switch to someone as capable as Akhtar Hayat Gandapur.