Mushtaq Mughal

ISLAMABAD: Inspector General Police (IGP) Islamabad has ordered the policemen not to talk to media without having prior permission from the IGP Office; sources told The Nation on Wednesday.

The sources said that the IGP though a office order made it clear to that the police officials below the rank of Senior Superintended Police (SSP) were not allowed to talk to media sharing information regarding investigation and developments in various old cases.

This order would likely to widen the gap between the media and police. This being termed an attempt to curb the freedom of speech has been taken very seriously by many quarters including police department itself.

However the media men believe that apparently is to create trouble for media persons in getting information regarding various criminal and one sided cases lodged against the innocent citizens by the police. This would empower the politician and local influential people to register cases against the citizens. Security expert were of the view that access to information was vital for improvement in the system. The practice will create rift between the media and police department and improver political influential and land mafia to victimize the rivals.

The ground reality is that the open and the transparent system and access to information is need of the time.
Source: The Nation
Date:2/10/2011