If the police cannot nab criminals, at least they should not make scapegoats of e innocent citizens
The shocking report of a Police inspector getting a body massage from the mother of a rape accused in a police outpost in Saharasa district has once again underlined the grim reality that the difference between the criminal and police is fast getting blurred. The Inspector has been placed under suspension after the video went viral. But everyone knows what happens in cases of such suspension. An inquiry held, bribe paid, and the culprit exonerated. By then the media forgets the epoxide and the victims are terrorized to remain silent. Such police atrocity does not take place only in far-flung places of states like Bihar. But Delhi, which takes pride in its policing, has its own black sheep. A fortnight ago, the Delhi High court sought a status report on a vigilance inquiry in a case of police atrocity that led to spinal injury to a victim. The inquiry found that the charges of police atrocity were true. The police actively frame innocent citizens to brush up their own records, too. Take the infamous case of Liaqat. The 46-year-old Liaqat Shah of frontier district Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir was arrested on March 23, 2013, at the Indo-Nepal border as a “suspected” Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terrorist. Later, it was established that the police had created fake documents and shown fake seizures of weapons from him to frame him up. Liaqat was returning home from across the border of Kashmir along with his family. He wanted to take advantage of the rehabilitation policy for those who had crossed over to the Pakistani side of Kashmir in the early 1990s and now wanted to return home and live a dignified life.
But sadly successive Governments, both at the Centre and states have done nothing to make the police accountable. The police have been given such caste blanche to play with the lives of people, only because people in power need them to execute their designs. When we are talking about freedom, liberty, the right to equality, Ram Rajya, and national pride, it’s time we guarantee the self-respect and dignity of the common man from the law enforcement agencies. If the police cannot nab criminals for a variety of reasons in many cases, at least they should not make scapegoats of innocent citizens.
Make police accountable
If the police cannot nab criminals, at least they should not make scapegoats of e innocent citizens
The shocking report of a Police inspector getting a body massage from the mother of a rape accused in a police outpost in Saharasa district has once again underlined the grim reality that the difference between the criminal and police is fast getting blurred. The Inspector has been placed under suspension after the video went viral. But everyone knows what happens in cases of such suspension. An inquiry held, bribe paid, and the culprit exonerated. By then the media forgets the epoxide and the victims are terrorized to remain silent. Such police atrocity does not take place only in far-flung places of states like Bihar. But Delhi, which takes pride in its policing, has its own black sheep. A fortnight ago, the Delhi High court sought a status report on a vigilance inquiry in a case of police atrocity that led to spinal injury to a victim. The inquiry found that the charges of police atrocity were true. The police actively frame innocent citizens to brush up their own records, too. Take the infamous case of Liaqat. The 46-year-old Liaqat Shah of frontier district Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir was arrested on March 23, 2013, at the Indo-Nepal border as a “suspected” Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terrorist. Later, it was established that the police had created fake documents and shown fake seizures of weapons from him to frame him up. Liaqat was returning home from across the border of Kashmir along with his family. He wanted to take advantage of the rehabilitation policy for those who had crossed over to the Pakistani side of Kashmir in the early 1990s and now wanted to return home and live a dignified life.
But sadly successive Governments, both at the Centre and states have done nothing to make the police accountable. The police have been given such caste blanche to play with the lives of people, only because people in power need them to execute their designs. When we are talking about freedom, liberty, the right to equality, Ram Rajya, and national pride, it’s time we guarantee the self-respect and dignity of the common man from the law enforcement agencies. If the police cannot nab criminals for a variety of reasons in many cases, at least they should not make scapegoats of innocent citizens.
