KARACHI: Today marks the 177th Sindh Police Raising Day.

The Sindh police were raised on May 1, 1843 by Charles Napier, commander-in-chief in India and governor of Sindh. It was said to be the first ‘modern’ police of the subcontinent commanded by its own officers.

The Sindh Police Museum in Karachi, the brainchild of former IGP Saud Mirza, contains a wealth of information in the form of historic photographs and documents. Mr Mirza himself knows a great deal on the subject and sheds light on it in an impassioned manner. His knowledge of the role E.C. Marston played in making the police department a force to reckon with is particularly worth paying attention to. (It is also available in a documented form in the museum.)

“Charles Napier had a galaxy of young dashing officers (Younghusband, Preedy, John Jacob etc), but settled for Captain Brown to head the Sindh police after annexation of Sindh and Lieutenant Marston to head Karachi Police. His police system was based on two principles: the police were to be completely separated from the military; and secondly, it must act as an independent body to assist the collectors in discharging their responsibilities for law and order but under their officers. Marston organised the police force according to the precepts of Napier into three branches: Mounted Police or Horse Force, Rural Police and City Police. The total strength of Karachi police was 215 in 1848 while of Sindh, inclusive of Karachi, was 953.

‘Marston’s grip on crime remained firm and it is to his credit that no dacoity took place in 1869/70 in Karachi’

“Public spirited Marston kept the governor abreast on the local pulse of the citizens. The other facets of his persona were employing his boundless stamina, fearlessness and zealous professionalism in crime fighting. All these sterling traits had raised the Sindh Police to great heights under his leadership. He was the head of Karachi Police from 1843 to 1848. His Excellency Lord Falkland, Governor of Bombay, made him Captain of Sindh Police in 1848. The appointment at the time was equivalent to that of the inspector general of police in other provinces and E.C. Marston acted for 17 years from 1848 till reorganising the force in 1865.

“Marston continued to lament about the inadequacy of pay and service conditions with his superiors. In 1871, in his annual police administration report submitted to the commissioner, he wrote emphatically about the inefficiency and lack of motivation in police officers. However, the major casualty of the police commission was the post of Commandant of Sindh Police. The provinces were given under the command of inspector general while districts were given under the command of superintendents of police. In Sindh, the commissioner became the de facto head of police as Sindh remained out of the domain of IGP for some more years. Consequently he was made the District Superintendent of Kurrachee Police only on pay [of] Rs800 in 1865 till 1872. He continued to command Karachi police with the same passion which he had shown previously as Commandant Sindh Police.

“Marston’s grip on crime remained firm and it is to his credit that no dacoity took place in 1869/70 in Karachi. Being a popular personality, distinguished citizens of Karachi also appealed to the government for Marston’s attention. In 1872, at the end of his tenure in Karachi, the government appreciated his services in a resolution sent to commissioner Sindh.”

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2020