Ravinder Jalali
Recently it was reported and shown on many TV Channels, a police officer hitting a woman with a stone, who suffered some injuries. I am not going into the details of the incident i.e who is responsible or who is at fault. Though there are reports and also video footage showing who picked the stone first and threw on the police officer and she was not wearing helmet and was carrying two children as pillion riders that too without helmets and also crossed the red light and tried to flee. Any way this has prompted me to do some research on the working of the Police Deptt. And also to find out whether there is need for police presence in a welfare society.
What is the purpose of police? Royal Commission on the Police- says “The police in the country are the instrument for enforcing the rule of law, they are the means by which civilised society maintains order, that the people may live safely in their homes and go freely about their lawful business. Without this there would be anarchy. Policemen like everybody else are accountable to the law. They are also law’s agents, and the uniformed policemen have for many years being recognised and accepted as the embodiment law’s
authority.”
Whatever that be, the purpose of police has been changed a lot during the last 50 to 60 years and is changing further now and hence after. No doubt, the police have to enforce the rule of law but how? The laws stated be enforced not in a crude form, but in a manner accepted by the police or acceptable to the people who are the patrons of the police service in a democracy.
Now the million dollar question is do we need police force in a civilised society? Does it serve any purpose? Do they serve common man? May be some of the readers would see it as ridiculous. What here I would like to draw a line between common man (Aam Aadmi) and influential people like politicians, VVIPs, criminals etc.
To me, they serve the influential. what about the Aam Aadmi? This I will leave to Aam Aadmi to ponder over the issue. Because everyone can contribute /share as many as stories/experiences of their own and story goes on and on. And we can write volumes and volumes of it. Even if we debate, it will not end. Here I will quote some of the experiences which an Aam Aadmi does face in a day to day life and one gets surprised, whether we need vast police force! And Aam Aadmi will pay for it, when it does not serve their purpose.
What I personally feel that the police is mostly meant for VIPs etc. and not for Aam Aadmi. Aam Aadmi or gentle person will never like to visit police station. If we will see some of our friends or relatives entering Police Station or in association with police personal, we will definitely ask him, is every thing OK?. Such is the image of the police in our society. Nobody likes to have association with police personnal. It is presumed that the person is in trouble not because of his own but because of police. In majority of the cases the people resolve their issues amicably between them instead of going to police, fearing that going to police means inviting trouble, unlike in other countries, where police is really assistance provider. Here in India simple things get complicated when police is involved and which give rise to corruption. Common man cannot afford to take cudgel with the police otherwise it will be just like showing red rag to bull.
In one of the cases, an individual met with an accident. He received injuries. Police registered case. The vehicles of both the parties were seized. The opposite party contacted us on phone and was desperate to settle the issue without police intervention. Since we were busy in hospital, we could not respond immediately. After a week’s time, when victim partially recovered and went to police to see the progress in the case, it was already decided. The case was registered against the victim and other party who was responsible for the accident was let off and vehicle, which was impounded at the time of accident, was not there. It was already released to the other party. When we enquired from the police station about the other person and his impounded vehicle, there was no proper response. They told that they will be dealing with them separately. This is just an example .People may have many examples that is why I mentioned in the beginning that it will take volumes and volumes to record every one’s incident.
There are other cases of theft and burglary in the homes and in most of the cases, rather in majority of cases; people know how things end up. I once myself went to police station to lodge an FIR in a house burglary case. You will be surprised to know that it was a herculean task and after great persuasion and repeated requests, virtually begging, FIR was lodged.. They were reluctant to lodge FIR initially. I was made to feel as if I am the accused. The SHO even told me that why we are leaving house without leaving behind some attendant in the house. He even sarcastically told me that you should have informed me about leaving so that I could have taken care of your house in your absence. Imagine, if it would have been a case of VIP/influential person, how police would have acted.
Now see the functioning of the Traffic Police. It is no secret. I do not know how many police personnel are involved in management of traffic, but it will be in thousands. How they are functioning, everybody knows as they perform on roads and is visible. Again the basic question, with which I started, is it for common man or VIPs, like bearucrates, politicians, ministers and influential persons. Certainly, like any other common man, my opinion is again that it is meant for VIPs. Take the case of Jammu city itself. You will find these people only at junctions/crossings, roundabouts, where VIPs, heavy weights, politicians are to pass by. I fail to understand the need for so many traffic persons deployed on these places, sometimes 5-10 or sometimes more, which include the officials of the rank of DSPs or even SPs. Not to talk of, ASIs, SIs and Inspectors . Some are seen gossiping, some making through newspapers and some busy in revenue collection (Vasooli) for whom…..!, they know better. Whenever VIP movement is to take place, about whom, they are pre informed, things come to standstill and show utter disrespect to the Aam Aadmi. They harass and humiliate Aam Aadmi till the VIPs get through and the cops gets invisible thereafter. Sometimes I feel surprised that despite the presence of so many cops on the roadside to manage traffic, there is a traffic jam and chaos.
Now let us l go before independence, the police was working as an agent of British Rule and the purpose was that no body raises voice against the Govt. which was under British Empire. After 1947 things should have been changed because the controllers and to be controlled are the same and there is no slave master concept. Even the police in British times did not have Lathis in their hands. It was only after 1857, the first war of independence, Police Act was amended in 1860 and Lathis were introduced in police. Most of our laws are still the photocopy of British Rules and only name changed.
So the quesrion is, do we need police force for a common man in a civilised society and if they don’t serve Aam Aadmi and serve only a few handful of VIPs, then why the poor common man will pay for them. Police personnel, irrespective of their ranks must introspect with in themselves and should understand that they don’t earn themselves or generate any revenue for government, rather they are burden on the society who bears their expenses and if they don’t serve the common man, then why common man will bear the brunt of their expenditure. Let the VVIPs etc bear it all. I am not against police personnel, even our friends and relatives are in police but the question is when they are of no use to common man, what is the use. It is better to send them to barracks or deploy somewhere where they will not be in direct contact with the society and credit their salaries into their accounts without having any adverse impact on their families but at least the common man will be much safer, traffic will be smoother on roads, the society will be less corrupt and Aam Aadmi will have a sigh of relief, than when the police will be on roads.