A tale of two cars.

Byline: Rafi Ahmed Pervaiz Bhatti - Villanova, P.A., USA

THIS is a tale of two cars stolen this summer. One was snatched by two robbers in Sabzazar area of Lahore. The other car, a Suzuki 800cc, was snatched by the same robbers from a poor taxi driver in Sharaqpur, Shiekhupura.

The Sabzazar police recovered and stored the car to its owner and the SHO and the area SP earned his praise and gratitude. In contrast, the Sharaqpur police did nothing for the poor taxi driver because he could not 'oblige' the police.

This shows the dark portrait of the police in Pakistan. No matter how much my PSP colleagues trumpet the so-called public complaint cells set up to deliver internal accountability in every district, farmers, shopkeepers, taxi drivers continue to face a culture of abuse of power and arrogance.

I remember the words of Begum Nusrat Bhutto, the then first lady of Pakistan, when she visited Gujar Khan in 1974 to hold an open katchery to redress people's complaints against...