The Rizwanur Rehman case has been doing the rounds lately. The 30 something Computer Graphics teacher who was murdered by the West Bengal Police, and then portrayed as a yet-another-suicide-case. What was brilliant was the policemen mentioned suicide within minutes of his death, despite it being obvious that the death was a murder. Despite all the noise, nothing's going to happen. It rarely does.
The police are not to be blamed. It's not their fault. They are simply doing what the buyer asks of them. Most of the policemen in India are poor. They have no protection from the unwanted elements of society simply because those elements have political support. What should the helpless policeman then do? The answer is simple. Put themselves up for sale to the person in power. And this has reaped ugly returns. Police are often used for personal gain by politicians. We saw the role of the police in Gujarat and Mumbai during the riots. Even now, policemen simply refuse to register FIRs against people in power.
Policemen are for sale for pretty much anyone who wants to buy them. Right from 50 bucks to overlook a traffic incident to lakhs of rupees to ignore rapes and murders of children in Nithari to the murders of muslims in Gujarat. As long as you have deep pockets, you can buy any of their services - from murder in Kolkata, to kidnappings and ransom notes in Patna to covering up murders of dalits in Maharashtra.
What then, is the solution?
The solution was proposed by the Supreme Court. On 22nd September 2006, the Supreme Court of India delivered a historic judgment, in Prakash Singh and Others Vs Union of India and Others, laying down six practical directives to kick-start the police reform process.
1. Constitute a State Security Commission to (i) ensure that the state government does not exercise unwarranted influence or pressure on the police, (ii) lay down broad policy
guidelines, and (iii) evaluate the performance of the state police;
2. Ensure that the Director General of Police is appointed through a merit based,transparent process and enjoys a minimum tenure of two years;
3. Ensure that other police officers on operational duties (including Superintendents of Police in-charge of a district and Station House Officers in-charge of a police station)
also have a minimum tenure of two years;
4. Set up a Police Establishment Board, which will decide all transfers, postings, promotions and other service related matters of police officers of and below the rank of
Deputy Superintendent of Police and make recommendations on postings and transfers of officers above the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police;
5. Set up a National Security Commission at the union level to prepare a panel for selection and placement of Chiefs of the Central Police Organisations (CPO), who
should also be given a minimum tenure of two years;
6. Set up independent Police Complaints Authorities at the state and district levels to look into public complaints against police officers in cases of serious misconduct, including custodial death, grievous hurt or rape in police custody; and
7. Separate the investigation and law and order functions of the police.
Only the states in the North East have followed these directives. Delhi and the biggest states (WB, TN, Andhra, MP, UP, Mah, Guj) have all refused to follow this directive.
Gujarat says, there is no influence on the Police by the Politicians (wow....)
Tamil Nadu says a complaints commission will demoralise policement (or will it put the politicans in a spot?)
The present rules governing the Indian Police were drafted in 1861, in the aftermath of the 'Sepoy Mutiny'. The objective - keep the populace in control. We are now an independent country, but politicians refuse to implement reforms simply because they will lose control over the only mechanism which can be used to put fear in the hearts of their 'subjects'
Last month, the Supreme Court threw out the petitions by various states to scrap the implemenation of these suggestions. Despite that, no progress is being made. However, things are progressing in the right direction. With the Supreme Court ensuring that states implement reforms, it will be a matter of time before atleast some reforms are implemented. And, like the RTI act, this will work towards making India a much safer place.
Until then, here is a small piece of my mind - either stay clear of the police, or make sure you have the support of the father of the nation - preferably the red-pink 1000/- support
The police are not to be blamed. It's not their fault. They are simply doing what the buyer asks of them. Most of the policemen in India are poor. They have no protection from the unwanted elements of society simply because those elements have political support. What should the helpless policeman then do? The answer is simple. Put themselves up for sale to the person in power. And this has reaped ugly returns. Police are often used for personal gain by politicians. We saw the role of the police in Gujarat and Mumbai during the riots. Even now, policemen simply refuse to register FIRs against people in power.
Policemen are for sale for pretty much anyone who wants to buy them. Right from 50 bucks to overlook a traffic incident to lakhs of rupees to ignore rapes and murders of children in Nithari to the murders of muslims in Gujarat. As long as you have deep pockets, you can buy any of their services - from murder in Kolkata, to kidnappings and ransom notes in Patna to covering up murders of dalits in Maharashtra.
What then, is the solution?
The solution was proposed by the Supreme Court. On 22nd September 2006, the Supreme Court of India delivered a historic judgment, in Prakash Singh and Others Vs Union of India and Others, laying down six practical directives to kick-start the police reform process.
1. Constitute a State Security Commission to (i) ensure that the state government does not exercise unwarranted influence or pressure on the police, (ii) lay down broad policy
guidelines, and (iii) evaluate the performance of the state police;
2. Ensure that the Director General of Police is appointed through a merit based,transparent process and enjoys a minimum tenure of two years;
3. Ensure that other police officers on operational duties (including Superintendents of Police in-charge of a district and Station House Officers in-charge of a police station)
also have a minimum tenure of two years;
4. Set up a Police Establishment Board, which will decide all transfers, postings, promotions and other service related matters of police officers of and below the rank of
Deputy Superintendent of Police and make recommendations on postings and transfers of officers above the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police;
5. Set up a National Security Commission at the union level to prepare a panel for selection and placement of Chiefs of the Central Police Organisations (CPO), who
should also be given a minimum tenure of two years;
6. Set up independent Police Complaints Authorities at the state and district levels to look into public complaints against police officers in cases of serious misconduct, including custodial death, grievous hurt or rape in police custody; and
7. Separate the investigation and law and order functions of the police.
Only the states in the North East have followed these directives. Delhi and the biggest states (WB, TN, Andhra, MP, UP, Mah, Guj) have all refused to follow this directive.
Gujarat says, there is no influence on the Police by the Politicians (wow....)
Tamil Nadu says a complaints commission will demoralise policement (or will it put the politicans in a spot?)
The present rules governing the Indian Police were drafted in 1861, in the aftermath of the 'Sepoy Mutiny'. The objective - keep the populace in control. We are now an independent country, but politicians refuse to implement reforms simply because they will lose control over the only mechanism which can be used to put fear in the hearts of their 'subjects'
Last month, the Supreme Court threw out the petitions by various states to scrap the implemenation of these suggestions. Despite that, no progress is being made. However, things are progressing in the right direction. With the Supreme Court ensuring that states implement reforms, it will be a matter of time before atleast some reforms are implemented. And, like the RTI act, this will work towards making India a much safer place.
Until then, here is a small piece of my mind - either stay clear of the police, or make sure you have the support of the father of the nation - preferably the red-pink 1000/- support
1 comment:
Great work.
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