When Rules Apply Only to Some

Asem Mustafa Awan

There is something deeply unsettling about a policeman riding through the streets without a helmet or a number plate. It is not merely a traffic violation captured by a camera; it is a small but powerful picture of a much larger problem, what happens when those entrusted with enforcing the law begin to believe that the law applies more strictly to everyone else.

For an ordinary motorcyclist, the helmet is not optional. At traffic crossings across Pakistan, riders are stopped, questioned and fined for failing to wear one. Number plates are checked, documents demanded and penalties imposed. For many struggling families, even a routine traffic fine can mean sacrificing money meant for food, fuel or household bills.

Yet here is a member of the very institution responsible for enforcing those rules, travelling without the most basic requirements.

The contradiction is difficult to miss.

Laws do not become meaningful because they are written in books or displayed on roadside signs. They become meaningful when they are applied equally. A policeman should ideally be the first person to demonstrate obedience, because public respect for law enforcement begins with example.

There is another uncomfortable question hidden in this picture. What happens to the motorcycles and vehicles recovered by police after theft or other crimes? Across the country, impounded vehicles can remain for years in police compounds, exposed to weather and decay while owners struggle to recover what belongs to them. Every abandoned motorcycle represents not merely a machine, but someone's savings, livelihood and sometimes the only means of getting to work.

When citizens see such vehicles deteriorating while they are repeatedly told to obey every regulation, frustration naturally grows.

The issue, therefore, is larger than one officer, one motorcycle or one missing number plate. It is about trust.

A citizen cannot reasonably be expected to respect a system that appears to demand obedience from one side while overlooking violations on the other. The uniform carries authority, but it should also carry responsibility.

Pakistan does not need more reminders that the law exists. It needs visible evidence that the law applies equally, on the road, at the traffic signal and inside every institution.

The helmet may be missing from this motorcycle. But what should never be missing from a law officer is accountability.

Photo APP