Nawan Lahore police station, Gojra:

The third police-public session this quarter was held on 31st December 2011 within the jurisdiction of the Nawan Lahore Police Station in tehsil Gojra, district Toba Tek Singh. More than 200 people attended this session out of which 140 were self-signed registered participants. Following are some of the key points discussed in the event.

Muhammad Idrees, Inspector Nawan Lahore, Police station Tehsil Gojra, District Toba Tek Singh, spoke about the duties of policemen. “We serve the public 24 hours a day, without any break. We are sometimes forced to accept bribes from the public to do their illegal work. If we refuse them, they pressurize us with threats from parliamentarians and higher authorities of the police department.” He admitted that one of their weaknesses was not reaching a crime scene on time, but he blamed that on the wide-ranging areas and the shortage of vehicles (they had only one). 
He added that they were trying their best to serve citizens with the limited infrastructure and resources. “Our doors are open for every citizen. They can come and meet us without any difficulty or barriers. We also encourage this type of a public-police joint session so that both parties can understand each other by discussing issues together.”

Muhammad Mohsin, CEO RDO, said that the country does not suffer from any shortages, but approaches to issues and their implementation needed to be purified. The society had its own norms of honour which were usually based on wealth and material things instead of honest work and good deeds. Being dependant on wealth opens the door for corruption and we all were responsible for this collectively. He said that we needed to become accountable for this instead of blaming others. He further added that these joint sessions between the police and the community were introduced only to build familiarity and a trust between the two. He hoped that these sessions would be sustained in the remaining areas of the district of Toba Tek Singh as well.

Abdul Ghafoor, teacher, said that Islam condemns corruption from its very inception. “The Holy Quran teaches us to live a pure life which leads human beings to real success.” He also said that the people should lessen their repugnance against the police because they serve the citizens every day, for 24 hours a day, without any holiday.
After the speeches, an anti-corruption drama was performed by the RDO Drama Team. The main emphasis was on the robbery and corruption of the police and the patwari.
After the drama, a question-and-answer session and mutual discussion also took place in which the public actively participated. The participants and attendants both made a unanimous commitment to be more collaborative and trusting of each other.