Description
About the Book
Bought Law, Broken Youth is a compelling and thought-provoking examination of police misconduct, custodial violence, corruption, and youth criminalisation in Pakistan. Drawing on real-life accounts from inmates at Bannu Central Jail, the book presents a powerful narrative of how policing practices can profoundly shape the lives of young people. Rather than viewing crime solely through the lens of criminal behaviour, it explores how systemic failures, abuse of authority, and institutional weaknesses can contribute to cycles of injustice and social exclusion.
Through carefully documented case studies and firsthand testimonies, the book reveals the harsh realities faced by many young men who encounter the criminal justice system. Stories of false FIRs, forced confessions, custodial torture, bribery, family feuds, land disputes, poverty, and inadequate legal protections expose the human cost of flawed policing. While some individuals acknowledge involvement in criminal activity and others continue to deny the charges against them, every account highlights the urgent need for greater accountability, professionalism, and reform within Pakistan’s law enforcement institutions.
Combining empirical research with criminological analysis, Bought Law, Broken Youth demonstrates that police misconduct extends far beyond individual violations of human rights. It argues that abusive policing practices can deepen trauma, erode public trust, fuel resentment, and increase the likelihood of repeat offending. The book challenges conventional assumptions about crime prevention by showing that justice cannot be achieved through coercion, violence, or corruption. Instead, it emphasizes that effective policing depends upon fairness, transparency, lawful investigation, and respect for human dignity.
Written in an accessible yet academically grounded style, this work bridges the gap between scholarly research and lived experience. It provides valuable insights into the relationship between policing, criminal justice, and youth development while encouraging readers to critically examine the structural challenges facing Pakistan’s justice system.
Ideal for students of criminology, sociology, law, public policy, political science, human rights, and criminal justice, as well as legal practitioners, researchers, journalists, policymakers, and anyone interested in police reform, Bought Law, Broken Youth is both an important academic contribution and a powerful call for meaningful institutional change. It serves as a reminder that a society cannot effectively reduce crime while allowing injustice, corruption, and abuse of power to undermine the lives and futures of its young citizens.
About the Author
Dr. Syed Fida Muhammad Khan is a distinguished defence economist, researcher, and academic whose work focuses on policing, criminal justice, counter-terrorism, youth studies, and postcolonial state institutions in Pakistan. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor at the PIDE School of Policy, Development and Governance and previously held the position of Deputy Director (Research) at the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA). His research critically examines the institutional structures that shape law enforcement, governance, and public security.
Dr. Khan’s doctoral research explored the colonial foundations of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), demonstrating how many contemporary policing practices continue to reflect inherited British models of authority, order, and control. His scholarship combines historical analysis, criminology, political economy, and public policy to better understand the challenges facing Pakistan’s criminal justice system. Alongside numerous academic contributions, he is also the author of Kamra Unseen: The Defense Economics of Pakistan’s Aerospace Industry, a widely researched study on Pakistan’s indigenous defence capabilities and strategic industrial development.
In Bought Law, Broken Youth, Dr. Khan brings together rigorous academic research and firsthand field evidence to examine the human consequences of police misconduct, corruption, custodial violence, and institutional failures. His work seeks not only to identify systemic problems but also to contribute practical and evidence-based discussions on police reform, accountability, and justice.
Siaf Ullah Wazir is a researcher at the PIDE School of Public Policy, where his work focuses on policing, trauma, marginalised communities, and vulnerable populations within Pakistan’s criminal justice system. His research is driven by a commitment to understanding how institutional practices affect individuals and communities, particularly young people who become entangled in the criminal justice process.
Together, Dr. Syed Fida Muhammad Khan and Siaf Ullah Wazir combine academic expertise with extensive field research to produce evidence-based scholarship that bridges theory and practice. Their collaborative work offers readers valuable insights into policing, criminology, justice reform, and public policy while contributing to broader debates on human rights, institutional accountability, and the future of law enforcement in Pakistan. Through Bought Law, Broken Youth, they present an important and timely examination of one of the country’s most pressing social and legal challenges, making the book an essential resource for students, researchers, policymakers, legal professionals, and anyone interested in criminal justice reform.
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