Decolonization, Fraser Report and Police Reforms in Pakistan

Kamran Adil1

Introduction
The colonial powers used their military might to conquer and occupy the land of the countries that they colonized. Later, through culture, language and law they subjugated the people. In the context of the Sub-Continent, the British established institutional structures through law into the criminal justice system of the colonies that consolidated their control. Now, in the post-Independence phase, since 1947, the countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh make efforts to decolonize and demilitarize their police organizations that are central to the criminal justice system. In Pakistan, over two dozen reports have been officially commissioned on the subject of police reforms by different political and administrative dispensations. Most of these
reports trace back the problems of police and policing to colonial times. Therefore, before attempting to decolonize the existing police structures, it is apt to understand how, in the first place, the colonization and militarization of police took place. For this, a basic and formative bit is the Fraser Report on Police Administration 1902-03 that documented colonization of police in India. The instant write up will present brief orientation of the Report followed by discussion on the police reforms carried out in Pakistan.