The Delhi mob violence has claimed 41 lives. It will take a long time for the area of North-East Delhi to return to normal. What’s worse is that the rioters set ablaze a school in the Shiv Vihar locality and burnt down furniture and books. Later they used the school as a base to launch attacks in the locality for nearly 24 hours. The attackers used ropes that were hung from an adjacent building (also a school) – to enter the school premises. They smashed blackboards, set school furniture and the library on fire on Monday afternoon. Dharmesh Sharma, the administrative head of Shiv Vihar’s DRP Convent School, where about 1,000 children study, is stunned and dejected. Images of torn copies and textbooks lying on the floor makes parents weep. The students, who had appeared for an exam on Monday, had left before the mob attack. Mr Sharma, who has been working with the school for 25 years, said the school kept burning for about 24 hours. The Fire brigade never arrived. Apparently fire officials were also attacked. It took police three days for police to respond and that after the National Security Advisor had visited the place.
Burning schools is a sign of rabid hatred against one community and a calculated attempt to deprive the children of that community from getting education. Indeed those that attacked Chand Bagh and its adjoining areas had very sinister motives and received the blessings of the central government. Never before has a riot been allowed to continue while the police looked on helplessly. The Union Home Ministry’s response to the Delhi killings was muted. No police personnel seemed to know how to proceed to quell the violence. The absence of a standard operation procedure (SOP) or a drill that police constantly have to go through makes it difficult for them to respond to emergencies.
Many television debates and discussions by retired police officials point to a huge lacunae on the part of Delhi Police because acting according the SOP is of the essence. The Delhi Police at every level should have acted without waiting for a nod from the top. Maintaining law and order is their constitutional brief and they cannot fail in that mandate without being held accountable. Communal clashes are commonplace in India and an inactive police force seems to repeat past mistakes whether it be Delhi 1984, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh in 1992 and Godhra 2002. Rioters always get away with it because they are never identified and because FIRs are filed against unknown persons. The time is ripe for modernizing the state police not just by way of better weapons and technology but by effecting mindset changes so that they work conscientiously.