12-03-2008, 07:05 AM
<b>All are guilty of this culpable homicide</b>
By Kiran Bedi
Enough is enough.
Never for so long have the media and the ârich and famousâ collectively questioned and spoken in one voice on police reforms. This was a subject not for them but the very few (considered crazy) who were fighting in the Apex Court, or speaking and/or writing at the same time â all at their personal cost. I was categorically told by more than one boss to âstop speaking and writing on police reformsâ. I did not.
I recall when the Supreme Court judgment on police reforms was delivered, in September 2006 and January 2007, it did not get due attention for wider dissemination, though it actually merited banner headlines. I personally tried to provoke our leading TV news channels to have some intensive discussions on the issue. But they were by and large evasive. They could not spare time for the Apex Courtâs directions to make the impact and create opinion amongst the masses. Interestingly, these were also being opposed by the respective state administrations and the police leadership, including the one in the capital.
For the last 60 years, Indian policing has remained stuck in its pre-Independence state. By this I mean enslaved, hierarchical, scared, ill-trained, ill-equipped, ill-paid, ill-led, ill-resourced, obedient, at places equally indisciplined, law-breaking, rich and powerful oriented, and non-accessible to the poor while losing personnel each year.
Why did this situation come about? Who is responsible for this state of affairs? Primarily the following six, collectively and individually: The politicians, the bureaucrats, the judiciary, senior police leadership, the educated class and the media. Let me explain as I understand it:
* The Politicians: This class (barring a few exceptions) was invariably of the belief that police was and is part of their fiefdom, always to be at their beck and call. The Police Act of 1861, still in force, places the police under the executive control of the political executive. Over the years it got stretched to negative political interference in investigations, law and order management, postings, transfers and promotions, across all ranks.
* The bureaucrats: This is the least accountable class. They are the persons (again, barring some exceptions) who use the politicians. They are the ones who are status quo-ists. They have successfully blocked police reforms and I have seen this happen first-hand. This class has successfully stalled the spread of police commissioner system in our metropolises, as also having more police officers well versed with operations in the home ministry.
* The Judiciary: It took the courts more than 10 long years after a public interest litigation was filed by Prakash Singh, former DGP, on police reforms, to finally deliver the judgment in 2006. The ball is still in the Apex Court as several states are daring to defy the directions given in the judgment. It is to be seen how the honourable court takes the recalcitrant ones to task.
* Senior Police Leadership: There has been a gradual decline of courage in the higher echelons of the service: The courage to lead and the courage to represent the rank and file before the powers that be; As also the will to show the way, by way of innovation and winning publicâs trust. (Isolated cases of raw courage notwithstanding).
* The Educated Class: Moved more towards becoming âgated communitiesâ by increasing private security arrangements in order to secure themselves, rather than becoming powerful voices to question policeâs inadequacies. Actually, they just gave up on the system!
* Last but not the least, the media: Had the media been determined to force the change, they could have doggedly followed the police reform judgment as a mark of respect for the Apex Court. They did not. But now they are planning to. For now it is a case of ânow or neverâ. Because now âenough is enoughâ.
The âMumbai terrorâ was preventable, just as all the earlier blasts were. If we had placed internal security reforms at par with economic reforms, if the quality of our intelligence gathering, response time, resources, laws, training, coordination and leadership had all been in place, neither the Taj, nor our sartaj, Indiaâs Parliament, would have been bloodied. Thousands of precious lives would not have been lost. Damage to precious property and our economy, resulting in huge loses, would have been avoided. Instead, this money could have provided for better weaponry, bullet-proof jackets and vehicles, better wireless systems, trawlers to patrol the coastline and more personnel. All found missing as the world watched live! A true embarrasment for the emerging economic superpower!
<i>Kiran Bedi, now retired from the IPS and a social activist, was the first
woman officer in the Indian Police Service</i>
By Kiran Bedi
Enough is enough.
Never for so long have the media and the ârich and famousâ collectively questioned and spoken in one voice on police reforms. This was a subject not for them but the very few (considered crazy) who were fighting in the Apex Court, or speaking and/or writing at the same time â all at their personal cost. I was categorically told by more than one boss to âstop speaking and writing on police reformsâ. I did not.
I recall when the Supreme Court judgment on police reforms was delivered, in September 2006 and January 2007, it did not get due attention for wider dissemination, though it actually merited banner headlines. I personally tried to provoke our leading TV news channels to have some intensive discussions on the issue. But they were by and large evasive. They could not spare time for the Apex Courtâs directions to make the impact and create opinion amongst the masses. Interestingly, these were also being opposed by the respective state administrations and the police leadership, including the one in the capital.
For the last 60 years, Indian policing has remained stuck in its pre-Independence state. By this I mean enslaved, hierarchical, scared, ill-trained, ill-equipped, ill-paid, ill-led, ill-resourced, obedient, at places equally indisciplined, law-breaking, rich and powerful oriented, and non-accessible to the poor while losing personnel each year.
Why did this situation come about? Who is responsible for this state of affairs? Primarily the following six, collectively and individually: The politicians, the bureaucrats, the judiciary, senior police leadership, the educated class and the media. Let me explain as I understand it:
* The Politicians: This class (barring a few exceptions) was invariably of the belief that police was and is part of their fiefdom, always to be at their beck and call. The Police Act of 1861, still in force, places the police under the executive control of the political executive. Over the years it got stretched to negative political interference in investigations, law and order management, postings, transfers and promotions, across all ranks.
* The bureaucrats: This is the least accountable class. They are the persons (again, barring some exceptions) who use the politicians. They are the ones who are status quo-ists. They have successfully blocked police reforms and I have seen this happen first-hand. This class has successfully stalled the spread of police commissioner system in our metropolises, as also having more police officers well versed with operations in the home ministry.
* The Judiciary: It took the courts more than 10 long years after a public interest litigation was filed by Prakash Singh, former DGP, on police reforms, to finally deliver the judgment in 2006. The ball is still in the Apex Court as several states are daring to defy the directions given in the judgment. It is to be seen how the honourable court takes the recalcitrant ones to task.
* Senior Police Leadership: There has been a gradual decline of courage in the higher echelons of the service: The courage to lead and the courage to represent the rank and file before the powers that be; As also the will to show the way, by way of innovation and winning publicâs trust. (Isolated cases of raw courage notwithstanding).
* The Educated Class: Moved more towards becoming âgated communitiesâ by increasing private security arrangements in order to secure themselves, rather than becoming powerful voices to question policeâs inadequacies. Actually, they just gave up on the system!
* Last but not the least, the media: Had the media been determined to force the change, they could have doggedly followed the police reform judgment as a mark of respect for the Apex Court. They did not. But now they are planning to. For now it is a case of ânow or neverâ. Because now âenough is enoughâ.
The âMumbai terrorâ was preventable, just as all the earlier blasts were. If we had placed internal security reforms at par with economic reforms, if the quality of our intelligence gathering, response time, resources, laws, training, coordination and leadership had all been in place, neither the Taj, nor our sartaj, Indiaâs Parliament, would have been bloodied. Thousands of precious lives would not have been lost. Damage to precious property and our economy, resulting in huge loses, would have been avoided. Instead, this money could have provided for better weaponry, bullet-proof jackets and vehicles, better wireless systems, trawlers to patrol the coastline and more personnel. All found missing as the world watched live! A true embarrasment for the emerging economic superpower!
<i>Kiran Bedi, now retired from the IPS and a social activist, was the first
woman officer in the Indian Police Service</i>