LAHORE: The Punjab police`s senior command seems to have succumbed to the pressure of some PML-N parliamentarians and is attempting to revisit the olive green uniform a year after it was introduced.

The task has been assigned to a 16-member committee headed by Additional Inspector General (Finance) Muhammad Tahir, and includes regional police officers (RPOs), some district police officers (DPOs) and superintendents of police among other of ficers, an official told Dawn.

Before taking the initiative, Inspector General (IG) retired Capt Arif Nawaz told the committee that the police force had expressed its `strong reservations` over the new uniform.

The official said some of the of ficers told the IG that during the previous police regime they wereunder pressure to give positive feedback about the new uniform.

He also said that an MNA from Rawalpindi had called it `unfriendly and odd` for the force. Some Punjab Assembly members had also complained to the chief minister demanding his intervention for the replacement of the new police uniform with a suitable one.

Interestingly, IG Nawaz was part of the entire process adopted before the olive green uniform was introduced.

The official said the newly constituted committee has shortlisted five samples of the uniform to discuss with the higher authorities, including the old black and khaki, the Islamabad police`s design, grey coloured, navy blue and mustard.

Quoting a committee member, the official said work on new proposals started as the previous IG had not adopted a transparent process of obtaining feedback fromthe force.

Former IG Mushtaq Sukhera expressed annoyance over the move to revisit the uniform, saying the olive green colour had been finalised after due process. He denied the allegations of pressurising the force for a positive feedback, claiming that opinion was taken through a secret ballot.

Talking to Dawn, he said officials, including the then additional IG (finance) Sohail Khan and additional IG Shoaib Dastagir, had headed committees constituted to select the new uniform. RPOs, DPOs, and many other senior police officers were part of the process to select a new uniform.

`The selection of the olive green uniform was based on three points, including functionality, maintainability and aesthetic principle,` the former IG explained.

He alleged that the new initiative was a `political decision` rather than departmental.

`The parliamentarians who havebeen behindthe transfers/postings of police officers were behind this move,` Sukhera alleged, adding that a rival political party`s chief and activists were also trying to make the new uniform controversial.

Talking about the process adopted during his tenure, he said some policemen wearing various samples of uniforms were deputed at the Thokar Niaz Baig picket.

Later,expertsfound certainissues with the samples except the olive green one that was made with polyester/cotton. It was passed and the garment also underwent a highquality testing process.

`One of the important things was that 72 per cent of the entire police force gave feedback in favour of the olive green uniform and the record was available at the Central Police Of fice`, Mr Sukhera added.

He believed any further change to the uniform would be humiliating to the force.