Punish The Criminals In Khaki
By Harsh Dobhal
31 August, 2007
Countercurrents.orgBhagalpur is back in news again. Same Bhagalpur where in a barbaric act, policemen had poured acid in the eyes of 31 undertrials in 1980, blinding them tortuously. The incident had shaken the nation's conscience then. Twenty-seven years later, television sets grabbed our eyeballs with shocking images of a 20-year-old man being dragged by a policeman riding a motorcycle, with his hand and legs tied. Salim Ilyas, alleged to have stolen a gold chain from a woman, was severely beaten up by a lynch mob when two men in uniform arrived on the spot. These custodians of law, instead of saving the boy from mindless public wrath, joined the blood-thirsty crowd, beat him up and dragged him by their motorcycle for well over 100 metres until the chain snapped and this small-town pick pocket fell unconscious. It seemed a perfect shot straight from some Hindi film. A sequel to 1980 acid pouring-into-eyes incident.
This is not new to Bihar where parading women naked in the street, gouging out the eyes of prisoners, chopping off body parts, throwing acid on faces are not uncommon. Ilyas was a petty thief and a thief should undoubtedly be punished. But there are adequate laws for that and what men in khaki did on August 27, reaffirms the barbaric and brutal face of the police of a democracy that prides itself in boasting about protecting fundamental rights of its citizens.
And why only Bihar. Media reports are replete with incidents from all across India of police torture, sometimes beating up suspects to death. Hardly any day passes without a report regarding abuse of power by these protectors of law. In one such incident a few years back, a young management graduate was beaten to death by a drunken cop over an argument over Rs 50 autorikshaw fare in Mumbai's Thane district.
While Bhagalpur incident is as much about mob violence which should have no place in a democracy, the uncondonable behaviour of the crowd can also be seen as people having lost their faith in the rule of law. And, thus, at the slightest opportunity they tend to take law in their own hands.
However, police behaviour such as the one displayed in Bhagalpur with such impunity needs a closer scrutiny. Let us not forget that perpetrators of crime of acid act in 1980 got away with their crime. While on Supreme Court direction, the 31 victims (26 of them are dead now), got a monthly compensation of Rs 500 as only as a sop in the name of justice rendered to them, the policemen responsible for the heinous crime were never brought to justice by successive governments in Bihar.
Mumbai's communal carnage of 1992-93 was aggravated by the shameful role played by the police. Years later, Sri Krishna Commission, set up by the government after the riots, came out with its report that indicted over 30 police officers for their role. The commission's report found specific police officers to be utterly "trigger happy," "guilty of unnecessary and excessive firing resulting in the deaths of innocent Muslims," "extremely communal" and "guilty of inhuman and brutal behaviour." In short, the Commission found out, the police were "communally biased against Muslims" and observed that the lapses in the investigations were not merely cases of negligence but deliberate attempts to suppress material evidence and sabotage the probe into violent incidents. It recommended strict action against them. Yet, no significant action has been taken against these policemen till date. Among these are officers against whom an FIR was lodged but no arrest, suspension or dismissal took place. Officers against whom departmental enquiry is completed escaped with minor or no action taken and many officers have been exonerated.
Obviously, police personnel acting with impunity know that they are likely to go unpunished. This is also explained by a strong nexus between criminals and politicians in recent times. The criminalisation of politics and politicians has led to undermine the authority of honest police officers and consequent decline in the discipline of the force with the police becoming vulnerable to wrong influences looking elsewhere for protection and rewards. On the other hand, the State has enacted 'draconian laws' that give police and armed forces unaccounted powers. This has fostered climate in which impunity flourishes and which ultimately has shaken public's confidence in police.
Till few years back, if a mob was beating up a petty thief anywhere, someone from the crowd would have leaped up for his rescue. Not any more. With the faith in police and constitutional machinery eroding very fast, nobody wants to be caught in a legal complication. Either way, it is the failure of the constitutional machinery.
While the system has failed repeatedly in punishing the personnel responsible for crime and instead enforces 'black laws", the police quite frequently acts beyond the bounds of even these laws, almost with impunity. And that is why the incidents of third grade torture, killings in fake encounters, maiming, rape, violating modesty of women, opening fire on peaceful demonstrations, setting houses and even villages on fire and dragging a young boy through a government owned motorcycle. Police know that most probably they would not have to face, much less suffer, any punishment. Therefore, blinding of prisoners in Bhagalpur, extra-judicial killings in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, police encounters here and there appear to be having the tacit complicity, and even approval, of the State. The August 27 Bhagalpur incident is reflective of a deeper rot besetting the system.
(The writer is Managing Editor with Combat Law, a journal on human rights and law, and can be contacted at [email protected])
Leave A Comment
&
Share Your Insights
Digg it! And spread the word!
Here is a unique chance to help this article to be read by thousands of people more. You just Digg it, and it will appear in the home page of Digg.com and thousands more will read it. Digg is nothing but an vote, the article with most votes will go to the top of the page. So, as you read just give a digg and help thousands more to read this article.
Get CC HeadlinesOn your Desk Top