Rebellion: Lahore CCPO Refuses To Follow IG Orders As Centre, Punjab Lock Horns

Rebellion: Lahore CCPO Refuses To Follow IG Orders As Centre, Punjab Lock Horns
A centre-province tussle over the withdrawal of Lahore CCPO Ghulam Mehmood Dogar's services is turning into a logjam.

The federal government had withdrawn the services of the official and directed him to report to the Establishment Division on Tuesday after city police lodged a terrorism case against two Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) heavyweights Marriyum Aurangzeb and Javed Latif for proliferating religious hatred against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan. Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi had, on the other hand, directed Dogar to not relinquish charge saying the centre had no power to transfer or remove him.

Journalist Talat Hussain on Wednesday separately shared footage of the senior police functionary 'paying obeisance' to Elahi. The Punjab CM can be seen beckoning Dogar for a hug and praising him for a job "well done" after. Son Moonis Elahi can also be seen standing alongside his father.

https://twitter.com/TalatHussain12/status/1572540931630592000?s=20&t=t5tU71HxmCTIAllrpR6_Bw

A veteran police official, speaking to Naya Daur -- The Friday Times on the condition of anonymity, said such transfers and postings had to be undertaken with the concurrence of the provincial government, according to precedence.

Naya Daur -- The Friday Times Editor Raza Rumi said administrative chaos in the Punjab had become a serious challenge. "Earlier, the CS left office as he was being bypassed when it came to transfers and postings undermining his authority. Now the IG’s authority and discipline of police is being undermined."

Beyond the political contest and brazen capture of power by the Chaudhries of Gujrat and the PTI, this reflects the larger governance crisis and growing bureaucratic decay. "No country can introduce and implement policies in this environment," Rumi, a former Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) official, said.