INDIA: Police an impediment to security
There is no doubt that security to life and property is a fundamental
right of every Indian. It is equally the duty of the state to protect
it. The safety of a nation is directly proportionate to the collective
notion of security of every citizen of that country. The single
largest entity that is directly and immediately responsible for the
security of the people in India, like in any other country, is the
local police. However in India, the Asian Human Rights Commission
(AHRC) is of the opinion that it is this very executive organ of the
state that forms the single largest impediment to the security of the
country. (Picture courtesy: Magnifying Glass, The Great Indian Police
Constable, Article available here
Organisations like the AHRC have repeatedly called upon the
government of India that the government must bring the much-needed
reforms to the current state of policing in the country. Indians who
are aware about the state of affairs of the country's police would
agree in one voice that the country's police today suffers from a
series of problems, including but not limited to corruption;
unwarranted political interference; widespread use of torture;
nepotism of all forms; lack of infrastructure and training; absence of
required cadre strength; and above all, deep demoralisation. Yet the
country's governments, state and central, have been keeping reforming
the police as one of its last priorities.
Police officers who are willing to speak privately agree that all of
the above issues, collectively and individually, have damaged the
police beyond repair at the moment, that unless a serious attempt is
made to revive the police from this abysmal downward spiral the
institution has been stooping into, no matter what is being done to
improve the state of internal security of the country, its police
service will not be able to cope up with the security requirement of
the time and will remain the single largest stumbling block to the
country's safety. These officers agree in one voice that in the modern
state, India, there is no place for a police force, as it exists and
functions today. In that, today's Indian police cannot rationally
coexist with the requirements of a modern state and that of its
people.
The cancer of demoralisation that has advanced into the system is of
such nature that many police officers do not think twice before using
their uniform to sell themselves for private gains. The incident
reported from Kerala state last week, where a Circle Inspector of
Police, wearing a sarong and was found loading a lorry with contraband
goods assisted by several of his constables, of which one was named
Satypalan (vernacular for 'guardian of truth') is an example to this
scenario. The local people secretly video graphed the entire incident
and leaked it to the media. It is only after the media exposure of the
incident that the state government reacted against the corrupt and
shameless officer. The general public had filed scores of complaints
over the past several months against the officer, but until last week,
the government had preferred to ignore the complaints. Even today,
none of the complaints are investigated or acted upon. It is the video
that pushed the administration to act, not other genuine complaints.
The AHRC has noted with concern that in India the government will
take action against a police officer only if it has no other option to
save its public image. Unfortunately in all cases the complainant who
dares take a video of a corrupt police officer need not be so
fortunate. The case reported from Tamilnadu state in October this year
is an example. In this incident, a shopkeeper videotaped a woman
police Circle Inspector demanding and accepting Rs. 10,000 as bribe.
Then the shopkeeper called the vigilance cell of the Tamilnadu state
police. The officer on call responded by arriving at the scene. All
the while, the woman police officer was found pleading her guilt to
the shopkeeper and asking him not to report the matter to anyone, in
particular to the media. But as soon as the vigilance officer arrived
with a team of police officers, the officer asked his colleague, who
was caught on video accepting bribes, to leave from the place. Then
the officer assaulted the shopkeeper asking him how dare he video
record the deeds of the police. The entire incident was recorded, and
the police officer was aware that it was being recorded. Yet the fact
that the officer did not hesitate to assault a citizen who dared to
bring to light and report police corruption in full view of a video
camera that the officer knew was recording his deeds as well as audio,
shows the extent of the perception of immunity police officers enjoy
in India. Unlike in the Kerala case, there was no action against
police officers in Tamilnadu.
A random search in the Internet will yield hundreds of results where
police atrocities have been 'caught on tape' in India. Unless there is
an immediate surge by the media by reportage and comments on the
incident, in most cases there would not be any corrective action. In
fact the state of affairs in the Indian police is far beyond the scope
of correction by punishing a police officer here or there.
The entire institution requires an overhaul. Conservative estimates
suggest that more than 40 percent of the police officers in the
country are unfit to serve, out of which 90 percent are persons with
criminal backgrounds. For instance in Kerala, as many as 391 police
personnel, including a Superintendent of Police, a Deputy
Superintendent of Police, a Circle Inspector, 19 Sub-Inspectors and 55
Assistant Sub-Inspectors who are involved in criminal cases, are still
working in the law and order wing of the police. None other than the
Chief Minister of the state, Mr Oommen Chandy, revealed this. Replying
to questions in the State Legislative Assembly on 10 October, the
Chief Minister said that in the state police there are 536 police
officers involved in criminal cases. But this is however the tip of
the iceberg since these are police officers against whom the police
itself have registered cases. Those officers who have managed to stay
clear of any criminal charges despite of their involvement in crimes
should be much higher than those facing prosecution. Above all, the
most alarming scenario is that all the 536 police officers are still
in service! Yet it is not a matter of concern in India.
It is an open secret today that officers for everything, from
appointment to transfer and promotion, pay bribes to politicians and
as it is in the case of Manipur, even to the Chief Minister. The
qualification to be appointed as a police officer in that state is not
intellect, integrity or physical fitness, but the rate of bribe the
candidate is willing to pay to the Chief Minister, his political party
or to its nominee. The AHRC has confirmed information that today, the
rate of bribe to be paid for appointment as a police constable in
Manipur is Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 800,000 and for the post of Sub
Inspector of Police is anything beyond Rs. 1,400,000. What is the
guarantee that these police officers will not accept money or favours
for 'looking the other way' when they come to know about a terrorist
or disruptive activity? In that, the security scenario in Manipur will
drastically improve if corruption in administration and in particular
the state police is checked in that state.
In countries where the government consider its police force to be a
disciplined and serious state agency, worthy of the task they are
entrusted to discharge, allegations against police officers will be
taken seriously. Adequate measures would be put in place that
corruption within the police, if not ruled out is kept at a minimum
level possible. In these countries the public entertain a high
standard of trust in their police and the police officers have a high
degree of morale.
However in India, a police officer is perceived as a criminal in
uniform. Officers and policymakers alike believe that it is only
through fear that law and order could be maintained. What is been
avoided to be acknowledged is the knowledge that fear alienates people
from the police, and visible and widespread ineptitude and corruption
among the rank and file of the police officers cut them into a poor
show of uniformed officers willing to steal even from the beggars'
bowl for whatever it is worth.
Often in every other crime reported in the country, there is a foul
police officer or an entire team of them aiding the suspects. The AHRC
is aware that in states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, police
officers openly run brothels and engage in human trafficking. In the
national capital, New Delhi, a substantial number of police officers
run private businesses, including the plying of contact carriages in
the city. Unfortunately the security of the country is largely
dependent upon these police officers and the governments are in no
mood to listen. What is alarming however is the banality of it.
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia,
documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional
reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The
Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
POSTED BY ; VIPUL KOUL EDITED BY: ASHOK KOUL
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