AVENGERS OF THE STATE

Are the police forces working for the rulers of the day and not for the law of the land? Recent instances point to a worrisome trend in India.

- Vipul Mudgal

A disturbing template of policing is emerging in India: one of selective and disproportionate action against some, deliberate inaction against others and collusion with a section of troublemakers. All these at the cost of neutrality and fair play. If there is something ominous about the way the police have tackled recent protests in some states, it is this: India cannot stay united and democratic if its police lose their sense of detachment and professional integrity and the criminal justice system works only for some.

In a functioning democracy, it is not easy, even for the compromised elements among the police, to wreck the public order which they are duty-bound to protect. But it may happen, as we are learning, when the police forces are made to work as private armies of politicians in power. When revenge, rather than restitution, is the guiding principle of reinstating public order, it is not unusual to blame the victim for the violence while the perpetrator walks free. Is this what is happening to India of 2020? Are the police forces working for the rulers of the day and not for the law of the land?

Well, not completely as yet, but we are getting there fast. And precisely to avoid such a thing from happening, most advance democracies keep measuring their forces’ detachment and professionalism, especially in the areas of crime and crowd control. It is in these areas that the efficiency of the police and their selective or excessive use of force can be nailed and valuable lessons are learnt. It is common for the government systems in the US and EU, for instance, to conduct surveys of citizens’ trust in the police and the levels of their impartiality. After all, their obligation, as the most visible face of the state, is not only to control crime and maintain peace but to do so in an unbiased and even-handed manner.