| Kerala police and Aristotle | |||
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| Theoretically
and physiologically, this is a fact. But when it comes to actual
policing practice, this proposition is childish; especially in the case
of Kerala Police. Or so it seems. My brother used to tell me this. That
is why he resigned from his police job and got some harmless job, where
he does not need to be corrupted by money or muscle. And there is no
need of an Emergency for our cops to get extra teeth. Think of
Udayakumar of Thiruvananthapuram, the most recent example of police
extra-teethedness. I am sure DGP Ramon Sreevastava would not like this.
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| But
sorry, our police system is like that - though I admit there could be
exceptions individually. Our DGP keeps on saying police should become a
community force. He once said that a time must come when people would
walk in to police stations fearlessly. By saying so, he is admitting
that presently our law-enforcement system is not people-friendly. |
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| The
extra teeth of Kerala Police is not a matter of individual aberration
of particular policemen. Our police system bears that quality. So
Udayakumars would get killed or they would keep on coughing till they
reach the grave with persecution-induced asthma and other pulmonary
trouble like my good friend CK did. Here is an example of how it works. |
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| About
10.45 pm, August 11. A junior journalist, a devout Muslim, and his
senior colleague reach on a motorbike in front of a restaurant at the
traffic roundabout at Palarivattom, Kochi. The junior journalist brakes
the vehicle in front of the restaurant to see a police vehicle come to
a screeching halt just near him (I have seen this happening in Delhi in
the fag-end of the 80s when police would chase terrorists or suspected
terrorists). As the two-some disembark from the bike, the officer
sitting on the left of the police jeep roars to his driver: "Hey, ask
him to come here." |
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| The
driver, a much subdued man, calls the bike-driver to the left of the
jeep. First question: "Have you taken liquor?" As the face is very
close, the officer suddenly understands that the young man could not be
harassed on that matter. He was clean, a God-fearing Muslim, who has
never drunk in his life. So the howl changes: "Where are the papers?"
All the papers are in order. "What about the insurance?" That document
is produced. "What about pollution?" The certificate is produced. |
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| By
now the officer is in total despair. He calls his aide in the vilest of
tones, "Edo, just check whether he is drunk." The constable calls the
young man to the back of the jeep. Obviously, the intention is not to
check for smell of alcohol, because that could be done in front of the
officer, and the officer is already convinced that the guy has not
taken liquor. Both the colleagues walk to the back of the jeep, which
act is not foreseen by the constable or the officer. |
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| Now,
out of wits, the constable asks the young man to blow air right into
his nose: No trace of the desired smell. The constable calls to his
officer in the humblest of tones, "No, sir," as though he is
apologising for an unpardonable crime. The roar comes back, "Check
thoroughly." Again, the constable answers in the negative. The officer,
disappointment writ large on his face, hands the documents back. There
is no advice. As the young man prepares to leave, the officer roars
again at his deputy: "Stop him. It was a mini-lorry. |
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| The
young journalist makes a thorough enquiry the next morning. Was there
any tip-off to the effect that a terrorist, any hard-core criminal or a
drug-peddler was coming that way? No. Was there any special instruction
to the officer to stop all the bike-riders? Negative. |
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| Are
the tyres of police vehicles, bought with public money, meant to be
burned by chasing bike-drivers by a police officer haunted by a
colossal ego? "We don't approve such acts." Can the police violate
rights of peaceful citizens by jumping on them? A top cop of the city
answers that it is not done. Then what was the police officer doing?
Plain harassment, what else? And when such over-teethed officers get a
poor robbery case in their hands, Udayakumars happen. |
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| Community policing, Kerala style. |
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"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
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