35

On not becoming the IGP
After getting the vote of confidence in the Punjab Assembly in October 1986, the Chief Minister asked me to become the Inspector General of the Police (IGP). I declined politely, saying that I was still very junior. But he said he knew that Abbas Khan was junior to me in my batch and was already IGP NWFP. (He must have checked with the Establishment Division.) “But, sir, I have not been formally promoted to the rank of IGP,” I added.
Shortly afterwards, a meeting of the federal promotion board was called. I came to know that in the marking system I was short by two marks. I went to see Aftab Ahmad Khan, Establishment Secretary, and told him about my problem. I was meeting him for the first time. He told me that Brig. Zafar Iqbal had already spoken to him. Then he said, “I read all the papers written by you in the Federal Security Cell. I have never seen papers written by a public servant with such depth and vision. You put Pakistan on rails at a critical juncture. You will be promoted definitely. This is my responsibil­ity. Don’t worry about the marks. Officers like you are an asset for the country.” Saying that, he got up from his chair, came to me and embraced me warmly. I was moved by his kindness and warmth.
The promotion board cleared seven officers for promotion to the rank of Inspector General of Police. I was the last on the list. The summary for promotion was sent to the Prime Minister for his approval. Mirza Muham­mad Ali, SP, Special Branch, Rawalpindi, informed me that IGP S.D. Jamy had met Junejo. After that the Prime Minister approved the promotion of the first five officers on the list and dropped the last two names, of Ch. Manzoor Ahmad and mine, on the ground that only five clear vacancies were available. Muhammad Ali had learnt that the entire exercise was to get my name ex­cluded from the formal promotion list so that I might not be eligible to be­come the IGP. Jamy must be feeling insecure in his seat.
But promotion was my right. I brought it to the notice of the Chief Minister. He spoke to the Prime Minister, who took the plea of lack of va­cancies. Nawaz Sharif explained that I was already holding a cadre job of Additional IGP on acting basis. There was a need for only one more vacancy and he would take Ch. Manzoor Ahmad also in the Punjab, who was imme­diately above me in the promotion list. On the insistence of Mian Sahib, the Prime Minister approved our promotion after a month. After my formal promotion on regular basis, I continued to work as Additional IGP, Special Branch. The services of Ch. Manzoor were placed at the disposal of the Government of the Punjab.
I suggested to Ch. Manzoor that he should thank the Chief Minister for his help in promotion. I took him to Navid Ahsan, Secretary to the Chief Minister, who immediately arranged the interview. Ch. Manzoor went in while I sat with Navid. Within a few minutes, Manzoor came out, smiling as well as visibly surprised. We were also surprised that his interview was over so soon. I asked him, “What is the matter?” But he went on laughing.
Finally, Ch. Manzoor told us that he had hardly opened his mouth to thank Mian Sahib for his help in promotion than he said, “No, no. I have not helped you. Ch. Sardar has helped you. I wanted his promotion. You were senior to him. So we had to promote you. I don’t know you. He speaks good of you. Welcome to Punjab. I shall give you a suitable posting.”
Ch. Manzoor was meeting Mian Sahib for the first time and was ex­tremely impressed by his truthfulness. He said, “He is an angel in such times. How will he survive in politics? People try to put you under obliga­tion even for petty things. But here is a man who got me promoted and also transferred to the Punjab but he does not want to give even the impression of being a benefactor. He is really a very noble man.” I told Manzoor how I had landed in the Punjab. “He is a politician with a difference, a man of destiny,” I said.

No wish to be dubbed an intriguer. The second time I was asked to become IGP was in February 1987. Nawaz Sharif took Haji Akram and me to the Linear Park, Model Town, for a walk. (“Linear Park” is a typical bu­reaucratic name for a long but very nar­row green strip along Ferozepur Road, near the home of Mian Sahib. The people have a better sense and call it “Nawaz Sharif Park.”)
He asked Haji Akram to persuade me to take over as IGP as I had been promoted formally by that time.
“Why are you afraid of becoming IGP?” Mian Sahib suddenly asked me.
“No, sir, I am not afraid,” I replied. “I don’t want to be viewed as an intriguer. Jamy tried to block my promotion so that I could not succeed him. Now if I succeed him, he will go around saying that I had intrigued against him. Nobody will accept my version that I had earned the position on merit. I care more for my self-esteem and dignity than the prestigious office of IGP. I know it will come to me whenever Allah wants that way.”
Haji Sahib said, “Don’t be afraid of what other people or your col­leagues may say. You are senior and competent.” Then, turning to Mian Sahib, he added, “Issue his orders, sir. He will take over.” I had to be silent after what Haji Akram had said and our walk meeting ended at that note.
On the way back, Haji Sahib expressed his annoyance on my “philosophic and timid attitude.” He upbraided me, “You had behaved in a similar manner and observed the social niceties when Qazi Azam had posted you as DIG Rawalpindi.”
I told Haji Sahib, “I shall do whatever you and Mian Sahib decide.”
I was mentally prepared but the orders never came. I don’t know why nor I asked anybody. I was also not keen and continued to do my own job.

The Punjab Cabinet was meeting in the Jinnah (Town) Hall of Murree in July 1987. Sardar Arif Rashid, a minister, complained against the misbe­haviour of a traffic ASI with his wife but IGP Jamy defended the ASI vigor­ously. The other members of the cabinet also had certain com­plaints against the police. There was a heated discussion and the atmosphere became tense. The Chief Minister also intervened.
Jamy was in a bad temper. Sitting next to him, I advised him to cool down but in vain. He complained of too much political interference and said that the administration had gone to dogs. (He was largely right.) When the atmosphere became too tense, all officers, except the Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary, were asked to leave the meeting. I came to know later that the IGP, after a long discussion, was asked to improve matters within a month. In the following month, Jamy was transferred and Ch. Nisar Ahmad Cheema took over as the acting IGP.

No wish to be on a weak moral ground. After about a month, my friend Khaliq Awan met Anwar Zahid, the Chief Secretary. Anwar Zahid told Awan, “I am keen to make Cheema the IGP as he is my friend but so is Ch. Sardar. I hope Sardar will not mind.” Awan already knew my mind and said, “I know Ch. Sahib is not keen to be IGP. You can go ahead with Cheema.”
Khaliq Awan conveyed to me the views of Anwar Zahid and I went to see him. I told him that I was not keen to be the IGP and was happy where I was. He thought I was not coming out with my true feelings and it took me some time to convince him that I meant what I had said. I knew I still had a long time to go and impatience had never been my weakness. This time Nawaz Sharif did not ask me directly to become the IGP as he might be thinking that I was still not willing to shoulder the responsibility. Soon af­terwards, Nisar Cheema was made the IGP.

Nisar Cheema was suddenly transferred and recalled by the federal gov­ernment in early 1989. The Chief Minister called a meeting to decide about the new IGP. It was attended by Ghulam Haider Wyne, Ch. Shuja’at Husain, Ch. Nisar Ali, Anwar Zahid, Chief Secretary, Malik Majeed, Secretary to the Chief Minister, and me. I was asked to take over as the IGP. It was the third time that Nawaz Sharif had offered me the prestigious and powerful job.
I thanked the Chief Minister for placing his trust in me but expressed the view that it would be inappropriate and incorrect to elevate my position immediately after my suspension by the federal government. (I had been suspended only a week or so earlier.) I did not like that he and I should take a position that would be morally unsound after taking a stand on principles. I would have been personally vindicated, no doubt, and my family, upset on my suspension, too would have been consoled. But I wanted to be correct. Otherwise, my pride of professional rectitude that I had preserved so assidu­ously throughout my career would have been destroyed. I had never taken my job as a source of power or authority but as a mission to uphold the maj­esty of law. The authority was essential only for discharging my responsi­bilities that I always considered a sacred trust from Allah Almighty.
The views expressed by me surprised everybody in the meeting. There was a wide appreciation of my attitude. Anwar Zahid was especially very generous. He and I then recommended that Ch. Manzoor Ahmad be posted as IGP. (He was then serving in the Punjab as Secretary Population Plan­ning.) The federal government and Rao Rashid, not wavering in their wicked attitude, pressurized Ch. Manzoor to refuse the posting but their efforts failed and he took over as IGP.

No wish for a reward. After the elections in 1990, Anwar Zahid, who had been selected by Nawaz Sharif to be the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, asked me again whether I wanted to be the IGP Punjab.
I replied, “Yes, but after some time. Let my friend Ch. Manzoor have a respectable tenure.”
“Are you sure that you are saying this after due deliberations?” he asked. “If so, I’ll tell Mian Sahib.”
“Certainly,” I told him. “I am quite happy as Director Anti-Corruption.” So, Ch. Manzoor continued as IGP.

Mian Sahib thought that I had suffered so much for his sake and must be compensated by a prestigious posting. I told him that I had taken a stand on principles and in accordance with law. It was enough for me that the Lahore High Court had vindicated my position. I did not need any compensation. I have always viewed a senior post as an onerous responsibil­ity rather than authority to be flaunted and enjoyed. I relish performing my duty correctly and as a contribution to the welfare of my people. It gives me satisfaction and happiness.
I also declined an offer of the post of the Director General of Federal In­vestigation Agency in 1990 because Wajahat Latif, my friend and batch mate, had been there only for three months and I did not want to disturb him. Anwar Zahid asked me to become IGP Sindh but I preferred to stay as Direc­tor, Anti-Corruption. Then he wanted me to become the Director, Intelli­gence Bureau, the senior most position in the police cadre. Dr Safdar Mah­mood and Haji Akram, my close friends, also advised me to become the DIB. I liked the job as it suited my temperament but the incumbent, Zafar Iqbal Ra­thore, had been there only for four months and I thought he too should com­plete his tenure gracefully.
The post of Director, Intelligence Bureau, was offered once again in another way. Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother of the Prime Minister, invited me to a dinner and sounded me about it but I did not warm up. I thought the Prime Minister himself should have talked to me for such a sensitive job. I did not want to take any posting, however important it might have been, as a favour from anybody as being under obligation, or even a feeling of it, could affect my sense of judgment.
The public servants are not playthings. They have duties to discharge. The postings and transfers are not only important for a public servant and his family, particularly for the education of his children, but are also of para­mount importance for the government and the people. To have efficient and effective administration, the right man must be at the right job and at the right time. The postings must not become a measure in the hands of rulers and administrators only for pleasing or penalizing public servants. For a clean and efficient administration, the career advancement should not even occur to a senior administrator. It should follow a definite streamlined pat­tern. The pride and self-respect of a public servant must not be damaged. There are the service and seniority rules to free the officers from such worries and to enable them to work with full dedication. I have seen many honest officers fumbling before their seniors and flattering them to save or advance their careers. The seniors then play with their desires.

Most of my friends were surprised by my attitude. In fact, they even held it against Mian Sahib as if he had let down an officer, who had staked his whole career for him. When I would explain the real position, they would call me crazy. Khawar Zaman, my class fellow and batch mate, observed, “Some people think that you consider the position of IGP beneath your dig­nity and are aiming much higher.”
“I am not without a posting and Director Anti-Corruption is not a bad posting either,” I told him.
“Our colleagues do not understand it,” said Khawar, who had already been the IGP Sindh. “They are surprised that you have declined such good offers from Mian Sahib. They would have jumped at the first such offer. Therefore, there must be something more to your refusal.”
“IGP is the highest position for a police officer,” I said. “We both joined as ASPs and wish to end our careers as IGPs. How can I aim higher when that is the highest position? Unless I go to Mian Sahib and ask him to vacate his own office for me!” We both had a hearty laugh.
Many people continued to interpret my attitude in their own way but I treated them with the indifference of Plato, who called public opinion “a shadow of the shadow and farthest from reality.”

No wish to be pushed around. Then a crisis suddenly developed and the circumstances changed with such a lightning speed and in such a manner that I could not refuse any more and had to takeover as IGP Punjab.
On June 17, 1991, a traffic ASI misbehaved with two Muslim League members of the Punjab Assembly in front of the Assembly chambers. They had coloured sheets on their car windows, a violation of rules against which the traffic police was then running a vigorous campaign. When they did not take the policeman’s objection lightly, considering it an insult by a lowly public servant, the ASI too became adamant. He even took out his service re­volver on them.
The Assembly was in session. The MPAs, emotional and agitated, rushed into the hall and protested very strongly on their humiliation. They demanded stern action against the ASI and SP traffic. Other members, who all belonged to the party in power, not only supported the demand but also wanted the transfer of the IGP as many of them were not happy with him for one reason or the other. Then most of the MPAs came out on the Mall in a protest procession and re­fused to come back till their demands were met. Ghulam Haider Wyne, the Chief Minister, lost his nerve. To pacify his own party MPAs, he ordered action against the ASI and the SP. He also trans­ferred the IGP.
Ch. Manzoor was away to Sargodha on tour and rushed back to Lahore. I came to know of the developments in the evening and went to see him. He was more surprised than shocked on his transfer. It was the worst form of pressure and interference to ask for the transfer of the IGP for the misconduct of an ASI but the MPAs wanted to assert themselves.
In reality, the MPAs were fed up with the merit policies of Ghulam Haider Wyne and Ch. Manzoor Ahmad. They wanted the things their way. They wanted SHOs, DSPs and SPs of their own choice in their constituencies and under their own diktat. But if they could have it, the administration would become partisan, their political opponents would be victimized and the impartiality of the investigating officers would become suspect. The people would lose faith in the police officers, who would be under the thumb of their local political bosses.
The Chief Minister and the IGP had been trying to check the deteriora­tion in administration through a strict policy of merit. The MPAs were ex­tremely un­happy and had been grumbling about it. The incident provided them with an immediate excuse to put pressure for the transfer of the IGP and the Chief Minister succumbed to it.
Administratively, it was a very unhealthy development. The police gen­erally felt offended. The press also went against the irresponsible behaviour of the people’s representatives and supported the law enforcer. (In fact, the ASI became a minor public hero.) In my view, the transfer of the IGP needed to be canceled to restore the impact of the administration but it had been announced on radio and television by the time I discussed it with Ch. Manzoor.

The next day I received a phone call from the Prime Minister. He asked for my views on the incident in Lahore and then called me to Islamabad. Anwar Zahid, Principal Secretary, and Saeed Mehdi, Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister, wanted me to become the IGP. Saeed Mehdi was par­ticularly keen for my appointment, as he believed that I was the only one who could handle the po­lice and the MPAs equally well, firmly and tactfully. He had already drummed it into the ears of the Prime Minister and others around him.
I met the Prime Minister at 7 p.m. on June 18 with Ch. Ni­sar Ali, Spe­cial Assistant to the Prime Minister, and Anwar Zahid. The Prime Minister believed that the administration would become very weak if an IGP could be shifted in the manner it had been under pressure from the MPAs. He was feeling very perturbed and even thought of countermanding the orders of the Chief Minister. I endorsed his views. However, Anwar Zahid believed that in that case the Chief Minister would have to resign and there would be seri­ous political and party problems. Ch. Nisar Ali agreed with him. I made it clear that the administration had already fallen apart. If the MPAs continued to interfere in postings, transfers and other administra­tive affairs, there could be anarchy. Even the government could fall because of maladministration.
“We need the goodwill and support of the MNAs and MPAs also,” said Ch. Nisar Ali.
“Yes, I know,” I agreed. Then I dilated upon some basic issues in case they were thinking to post me as the IGP. “If I am the IG, I must be given a free hand. You may handle it politically. You may call a meeting of MNAs and MPAs and discuss it openly. Tell them that they should not allow them­selves to be exploited by clever public servants who seek postings of their choice. I’ll also ensure that my officers do not go to them to seek their sup­port and favour but I shall also not brook any interference in the adminis­tra­tive affairs. I assure you that I shall try to minimize your political prob­lems from the public representatives also but there is a limit to which one can ac­commodate them. I shall not allow any injustice on any grounds, nor the ruling party politicians will be able to shelter criminals on one pretext or an­other. I shall see to it that my officers and subordinates become public offi­cials of justice and fairplay. You give me your support and I shall give you good police. With that you can ensure good governance, which means being near to the hearts of the people.”
They all agreed with my views. It was decided that a party meeting would be called to discuss the issue and the Assembly members would be asked not to interfere in administrative matters of the police.
Nawaz Sharif appreciated my frank analysis. As desired by him, I went again to the Prime Minister Secretariat the next day. Saeed Meh­di told me that the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary also wanted me to be the IGP and they had already spoken to the Prime Minister. They were aware of the resentment in the police ranks on the humiliating manner in which the IGP had been transferred and believed that I was the only one who could carry along both the policemen and the MPAs. He alerted me to remain ready to take over immediately as the Prime Minister had already decided to post me as the IGP. Ch. Shuja’at Husain, Minister for Interior, met me in the office of Anwar Zahid and congratulated me on becoming the IGP. At that moment it became clear to me that now there was no escaping the responsibility.
Anwar Zahid and I were called to the Prime Minister’s chamber. Mian Sahib said, “Chaudhry Sahib, I am going to Lahore tomorrow. I want to see you in uniform at the airport there. Wish you good luck in the new assign­ment. You will have a free hand.” He left no possibility for any further dis­cussion. I thanked him for placing his trust in me and left his chamber, bur­dened with a very onerous responsibility. I received him in the uniform of the IGP at the Lahore airport in the afternoon of June 20, 1991, after having taken over the charge that morning.
Ch. Nisar Ali, who accompanied Mian Sahib, complimented me on “looking smart and towering above others around you.”
“Thanks for your compliment,” I replied. “My height, inherited from my tall parents, is six feet but that doesn’t mean I am imposing.”