Unless warranted, a common man would never want/ dare to exchange any words with a policeman. And the two words,‘want’ and ‘dare’, elucidate everything. In a democratic setup, wherein we are free to elect our representatives, who in turn are accountable for appointing personnel so as to guarantee security and justice to all, how can even a trivial form of autocracy find any existence? The police force, who has been delegated the task of protecting citizens’ rights and helping them in any and every possible manner, seems to have disremembered the very preamble of existence. Let us try and find the underlying causesof this critical gap.
What is the basic dissimilarity between dictatorship anddemocracy? While in the former, the protectors of justice followonly the directives of the ruling authority; in the latter, theguards of law work under the guidelines laid down by the law of the land, treating all citizens, whether rich or poor, alike. Then what shall we think of the prevailing scenario of our country, wherein the guardians of law, our policemen, rarely care for the common man and adhere to just what is directed by the MPs, MLAs, and other political personalities? For sure, until our police force becomes uncomplicatedly accessible to the general public, the purpose of democracy is not met.
Not for even a day are our newspapers free of any biased/ unlawful conduct of the police. While in many of the news, the report ends with the note that the police have not yet registered the case, in the others we read about the laidback outlook of cops. It is easy to debate over the instance of rape or acid attack; however the pain of the victim, which further enhances when she approaches the police to get the complaint registered, is hard to even imagine. Or for that matter, when a poor villager moves to the police station to list a complaint for a stolen bicycle, he often senses absence of any justice, when the cops abuse him without listing the complaint.
The motive of my writing is not to uncover the sad instances ofunfairness yet again. However, when we are anticipating for high GDP rate, enhanced work prospects, dipped prices, and lowered interest rates, let us also focus on a basic need- certainand unbiased security of all. Why at all has this need arisen is not a tough question to answer. The management of the policeforce lies more or less with the political leaders, who quite often have their distinct vote banks. The policemen, even when theymove towards doing the right thing, are stopped by the power holders. Next is the greed of fetching unauthorized perks in lieu of helping the common man.
And accountable for such a decline is the common man too. It appears easy to escape penalty by bribing a policeman, which in turn sets an evil and unstoppable trend. Tell me honestly what is the first thought that comes to your mind when you break law- For sure, bribing the guardians of law. Indeed, unless the police force is freed from the day to day political snooping, nothing much can be expected. Herein, the directives of the Supreme Court regarding setting up of state security commissions to curb undue pressure of politicians, fixed tenure of police officers, andtransparent appointment of police heads, have to be executed byall the CMs sooner than later.
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