There is no doubt that Julio Ribeiro's remark "bullet for a bullet" when he
took over as, I think, DG of Punjab Police, caused lot of political upheavel.
It was a out of character remark possibly made in the heat of Punjab cauldron
of terrorism.
It is not a policeman's job to kill those who kill but rather to bring them to
justice. A policeman can ONLY kill when he or she is threatened with killing.
Punjab presented a difficult case those days with the Khalistan movement in
full force.
It is, therefore, no surprise that "encounter killing" has now entereed the
lexicon of India's police. The Supreme Court has taken cognizance of such
illegal acts by the police and, if I remember correctly, a known "encounter
killer" from the Delhi police was charge-sheeted.
Though Julio set off the counter-attacks against the terrorists, KPS Gill
perfected it. One difference was that Gill did not make a public statement of
his intention on how to bring the terrorist situation under control unlike
Julio.
In a way both succeeded in curtailing terrorism in Punjab, then the badland of
India. It also put a damper on the Khalistan movement. In all probality, the
Khalistan movement has been consigned to the heap of history.
If I remember correctly, Julio lost his post and was made special adviser
(security) to the Punjab governor. He was then made Ambassador to Romania.
In Romania he was shot at by a Sikh as the Sikhs could not forget his role in
Punjab. I think Julio is in Z-catergory of security, the same as accorded to
the PM, Sonia and other top leaders.
I must admit I have not read the Wiki piece.
Eugene
