By Sanjiv Krishan Sood
It was
disconcerting to see a Minister of Uttar Pradesh Government claim that the law
and order situation in the State had improved after the Adityanath government
took over. The statement, coming a couple of days after the brutal killing of a
policeman in Gazipur by an unruly mob, is bizarre and shameful, especially
considering that this is the second murder of a policeman in the State within
one month. The Director General UP Police also has similarly claimed
improvement in crime situation in the state in 2018 over 2017.
Claims made
by the minister and the DG(P) are no consolation to the son of the deceased
policeman, who raises a valid question when he tearfully asks how will a
police, that cannot protect itself, be trusted to protect the common public?
This tragic
state of disregard for the law and law enforcers has been in the making for
some time and has been accelerated by the highhandedness of the police
themselves on one hand. On the other hand, active encouragement and liberty
that the supporters of the ruling party receive from the government in illegal
acts has created an environment in which the party workers consider the police
to be subservient and browbeat them with impunity to give in to their illegal
demands. Police also has surrendered abjectly to the whims and fancies of the
ruling party. Resultantly, whatever respect or fear the common public had for
them, has vanished completely.
Few months
ago, a video of a young woman police officer being threatened by a crowd led by
a person claiming to be a local leader of BJP, had gone viral. The police
officer handled the situation firmly and did not give in to the illegal demands
of the crowd; yet, she was summarily transferred a few days after the incident.
The police
leadership failed in standing up to the political masters in protecting the
officer. The DG Police should have taken up the matter with the government in
the above case and prevented the young lady from being punished for no fault of
hers.
The police,
especially in the states ruled by the BJP, appear to be under pressure to go
soft on crimes committed by lynch-mobs against minorities in name of “gau
raksha”, “love jihad” etc. Lynch-mobs, secure in the knowledge that their
political masters will protect them do not hesitate to attack them with
impunity. Inaction by the police in cases of mob violence by self-appointed
protectors of Indian culture, and protection accorded to them by politicians,
further encourages them to take law into their hands and disregard the
authority of the police.
Humiliation
of the authority of police in the manner discussed above disincentivises and
creates a defensive mentality amongst them. They thus prefer to play safe, lest
they invite wrath of the government.
Politicians
have always used the police to advance the cause of their followers and to
protect their own. This is true for almost all the States of the Union, in
varying degrees. However, it is the police leadership, which has failed in
standing up to illegal pressure and demands of politicians.
Politicians,
especially in Uttar Pradesh, appear to have let the lynch-mobs lose. In an
interview to India TV in June 2017, UP chief minister Adityanath said, “Agar
apradh karenge toh thok diye jayenge (If they commit crimes, they will be
shot).” Adityanath boasts of 63 killed and 500 seriously injured in 1,500
encounters since he took over as a proof of his resolve to ensure proper law
and order.
This is a
mockery of the Supreme Court order in a landmark 2012 case, in which the Court
held: “It is not the duty of the police officers to kill the accused merely
because he is a dreaded criminal. Undoubtedly, the police have to arrest the
accused and put them up for trial. This Court has repeatedly admonished
trigger-happy police personnel, who liquidate criminals and project the
incident as an encounter. Such killings must be deprecated. They are not
recognised as legal by our criminal justice administration system. They amount
to State sponsored terrorism.”
The police in
UP after 2017 has been a willing tool in the hands of government in spreading
this kind of state-sponsored terror. This highhandedness is one cause of them
slowly loosing respect of population.
Responsibility
for this dismal state of affairs lies squarely on the shoulders of the police
leadership. Lacking courage of conviction, they take an easy way out and kowtow
to the whims and fancies of politicians, or resort to subterfuge to deal with
them. I recall a prominent TV anchor telling me that he was flooded with calls
from senior officers to raise the issue of attack by mob on the residence of a
District SP (superintendent of police) in UP in 2017. The police did not have
courage to lodge FIR against the mob, even though the lives of the family
members of the SP were at risk. The SP was conveniently transferred, or he
perhaps thought it prudent to seek transfer and the matter appears to have been
quietly buried.
Police
leaders continue to display abject incompetence in leading the police from
front. This is apparent from the overall image of the police in the minds of
the common public, which is formed through their interactions with them. The
level of operational efficiency (or lack thereof), overall law and order
situation, rate of conviction, etc., are hardly anything to be proud of. The working
and living conditions of policemen remain subhuman in most states. Their
training and lack of camaraderie is apparent from the shameful manner in which
the murdered Inspector, Subodh Kumar Singh, was abandoned by his subordinates
when surrounded by murderous crowd in the Bulandshahr incident.
The police
leaders talk passionately of police reforms and blame all ills of policing to
lack of implementation of Supreme Court orders in this regard. However, except
for some honourable exceptions, they are not willing to take any initiative to
implement whatever is within their powers for the wellbeing of either the
policemen and policewomen in the country, or the police system as a whole. For
example, there cannot be any justification for the low standards of training of
a policeman. That they need to inculcate soft skills amongst them is something
that every citizen realises but the police leadership appears to be oblivious
to this requirement. The case of a policeman shouting “thain-thain” when his
weapon malfunctioned during an encounter recently in UP is indicative of their
inability to use and maintain their equipment properly. How can the police
leaders not be able to carry out even this essential command function properly?
Police
leaders at the very first available opportunity are keen to abandon their
primary role and look for greener pastures on deputation to public sector
companies and central paramilitary organisations.
The police,
in order to become an efficient arm of governance, needs to run like a
business. “Like a business” should not be construed to mean that it has to earn
revenue for the Government. What is implied is that the organisation has to
copiously adhere to a set of laid down procedures and practices with the aim of
ensuring a crime-free society.
In India, one
rarely expects to find a police person behaving in a pleasant manner. They are
either arrogantly drunk on power, or submissive if you happen to be someone in
position of authority. Justification of senior police officers going abroad to
study the policing systems in USA and other advanced countries is only if what
they learn there is implemented in India for better policing.
Good Law and
order and safe environment is a precondition for progress of any society. The
police leadership must wake up to this reality and do whatever is within their
capabilities to improve police functioning without waiting for the so-called
police reforms. The leaders have to work towards creating a better image of the
police, which is well within their realm of authority.
The police
leaders also have to learn to tell the truth to their political masters for the
general good of police and the country. Failing this, India faces a bleak
future.(IPA Service)
Courtesy: The Leaflet
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