Police disregard for civilians exposed

BY Satya Prakash

The custodial deaths of Jayaraj and his son Fennix Emmanuel, arrested for violation of Covid lockdown in Tuticorin by the Tamil Nadu Police, have once again exposed the brutal manner in which cops deal with unarmed civilians in India.

The anger that has spilled out on the streets of Tamil Nadu is but natural. The fact that the father-son duo was arrested and bashed up for having kept their mobile store open beyond the permitted time during the lockdown only compounds the gravity of criminal behaviour on the part of the police.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Rather it’s a part of a disturbing trend witnessed across India. The Centre told Parliament in April 2018 that during 2016-17, 1,616 people died in judicial custody while 145 people died in police custody while the figure for 2017-18 was 1,530 and 144 respectively.

The brutality unleashed by the police in various states on helpless civilians, mostly migrant workers, for alleged violation of lockdown norms reflects on the mindset of the police who have least regard for citizens they are bound to protect. The police across the country registered thousands of cases against people, including migrant workers walking back home on foot along with women and children, and beat them up for alleged violation of lockdown.

But for a delayed intervention by the Supreme Court, the cases would have gone on. On June 9, the top court had asked states/UTs to consider withdrawing criminal cases lodged against migrant labourers for alleged violation of lockdown and treat them in a humane manner.

It’s a tragedy of Indian democracy that even after 73 years of Independence, police continue with a colonial mindset and treat citizens as lesser mortals who can be pushed around, bashed up, tortured and even killed. There must be a fair probe into the matter and those found guilty be given exemplary punishment.

At the macro level, the nature of relationship between the State and the people in general must change to reflect the transition from colonial rule to a representative democracy which guarantees a set of fundamental rights to its citizens. The usual excuses that police are underpaid, overburdened, ill-trained and ill-equipped won’t work anymore. It’s time to act to avoid a US-type ‘defund the police’ movement in India.