Patricia Mukhim
Let’s face one truth. Our Paradise is shrinking. Every incident of crime in our city and our state is marked by exposure, furore and a quiet demise. The public forgets it, the police are on to another crime and only the victims and their families are left to lick their wounds. Then the next crime happens and the cycle repeats itself. Meanwhile public confidence in the policing system dips. Politicians indulge in bluster and grandstanding that “the culprits will be found,” but no, the culprits are never found; much less punished. Even those who have killed and burnt individuals alive and lynched in full public view, years ago are still out there somewhere having the last laugh. But that is not surprising.
It is not without reason that the first statement from the recently appointed Director General of Police (DGP), Assam, Kuladhar Saikia is that he would establish a research wing to study the emerging trend of crime in the state. This is a priority not just in Assam but also in the state of Meghalaya where crimes of rape and murder are spiralling. There have also been a series of petrol bomb attacks in some parts of the city but not a single arrest has been made so far. It makes us, the public wonder if the Intelligence Branch normally called the Special Branch, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and those in the Forensics Science Laboratory (FSL) are working in tandem and if so why is police unable to track down the criminals. When crime detection flounders, criminals have a field day. And why is crime detection and conviction at an all time low? Mainly because of shoddy investigation! Even when charge-sheets are filed they are ridden with holes and are blown to pieces by a smart criminal lawyer. Recently the Chairperson, State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR), Meena Kharkongor, rued that there are at least 400 cases of rape against minors pending in different courts.
The police in Meghalaya have tackled militancy without the involvement of the army. This is a rare feat. Hence it shows that some policemen have given their best shot when it mattered. But perhaps they are a diminishing breed. Policing today is just another job, a profession when actually it requires special skills and an acumen that is not everyone’s forte. A policeman’s mind is supposed to be sharp as a whip and enable him to think on his feet (please note that the words he/him are gender neutral here). Policemen should be able to take the stress that the job involves and above all be dedicated to the task. Alas! There are policemen in Meghalaya that have no qualms about owning coal mines in the names of their immediate family members. Isn’t that a conflict of interest? Doesn’t that compromise their policing? It is also a sad commentary on the poor policing skills of the Meghalaya Police when they have, till date, not been able to arrest the killers of their own fellow officer, Sub Inspector PJ Marbaniang, the officer in charge of Patharkhmah police outpost. He was evidently bumped off for detaining 32 coal laden trucks carrying coal illegally. Such is the travesty of criminal investigation in Meghalaya!
Ironically, police are also hyper-sensitive to criticism. One reason is because they feel they are on the job 24×7, with little public or state support. But it is also a fact that for decades now, state police in Meghalaya and across the country have been appointed not because of their special capacities which merited them their jobs but because they paid money for their appointments. Those who have done so know it and know that they are doing a poor job and are just biding time but meanwhile making hay while the Meghalaya sun shines. A few IPS officers have been exemplary but they are a diminishing breed, unfortunately. Others have simply slipped into a comfort zone and whether they produce results or not they still carry home a handsome pay packet. Quite a few also have their political affiliations and serve their political masters like their personal butlers. This is the bane of policing in our state!
So what do the public want from its police force (which is paid from the public exchequer)? They want to see crime prevented through a series of interface with local communities who should actually be their eyes and ears. Gone are the days when police officers were visible on the streets and in the localities. Today they are pushing files and have become so insulated from the real world that they only hear what is reported by their junior colleagues. And most of those junior colleagues don’t have their ears to the ground. If they did they would have been able to prevent many crimes before they are committed. It is demoralizing for members of the public when criminals get away with acts of arson, murder and a range of other crimes and when police are clueless about who the perpetrators are. This gives the deviants the upper hand and they continue with their dark deeds.
There are of course some systemic problems such as the archaic laws framed in 1861 with few, if any, subsequent modifications. Philosopher, Thomas Paine had famously said, “Societies exist in an eternal now. That something has existed for ages tells us nothing new about its value. The past is dead and the living should use their powers of analysis to sweep away existing arrangements when necessary and begin the world anew.” Thomas Paine even suggested that laws should expire after 30 years, so that each new generation could begin anew. And look at our policing system. The men in khaki are trying to solve the problems of the 21st century using the methods of the 19th century!
The police need to remain in step with technology and be constantly trained. But politicisation of the force, corruption and criminalisation of law-enforcement services and the lack of internal checks and balances has turned the police force impotent. Investigative capabilities are poor and sub-standard. Some times it is painful to see that standard operating procedures are not followed while collecting evidence at a crime scene.
Of course things are exacerbated by the Indian criminal justice system itself especially during the prosecution stage and while delivering judgement.
Unless the police selection procedure is strengthened and training on basic responsibilities, laws and investigative processes are better designed and professionally implemented we will be left with a structure that is not aligned with the responsibilities it must shoulder.
Several state governments including perhaps our own have violated the seven binding directions of the Supreme Court in 2006. These directions address core issues like transfers, tenure, separating the investigation and law & order functions of the police, unwarranted influence or pressure by state governments on the police and mechanisms to deal with complaints against the police. These directives, if implemented, could improve the performance of a vital institution of the country. The State Security Commission is meant to insulate police from the state’s political machinery. In fact the Supreme Court is on record saying, that “many of the deficiencies in the functioning of police had arisen largely due to an overdose of unhealthy and petty political interference.”
There is something to be said about credible leadership. After all the police is trained to obey orders down the line. If the top is creaking the bottom cannot be robust. That would make the supposedly invincible pyramid collapse. In a democracy the police are accountable to the public; not to the government. But that public needs to be informed, alert and engaged and not remain silent critics. We are fortunate that militancy is on the decline. That should have freed the police to focus on crime per se.
We the people need to ask what is ailing the Meghalaya Police!