Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Who will Police the police?

I know..I know..cliched and oft used sentence. But it does make sense. Who will do it? It is a question that needs to be answered, especially in today's world, where you can be attacked while having a coffee with a guy or for wearing jeans. Or even talking a walk with a guy is considered against 'Indian Culture'. Who taught them Indian culture anyway. Ask them who was Akbar's son and chances are 10 out of 10 will not know it. Or ask them what Gandhi did for a living, I'll bet they don't know. They have a distorted version of what is right and what is wrong and are hell bent on imposing their archaic views on the rest of the world, the brunt of which is being borne by women.The police in India, in my opinion have been spending too much time dragging women by hair in public on Valentine's day to pay attention to real issues.
Bangalore has recently witnessed a spate of murders of old people staying who were alone home. Most of these incidents occurred in broad daylight and in areas which are busy. So far there has been no breakthrough in any of these murders. It's like the police have wiped their hands off the issue. In another incident, when there was an accident and the people were getting beaten by drunk drivers, six policemen who were nearby refused to come to help, saying, it is not my problem. Not your problem?????? You are the police for goodness sake. It's your job to break up violence, not be a mute witness to it voluntarily. These are the same police who are more than happy to break up a party claiming such 'rave' parties are filled with drugs and liquor. But surprise! surprise..there were no drugs in the party, probably only liquor. I think it was just a normal party. The organisers should not have let it get as loud as it did because it was the complaints of the neighbours about the noise which bought the ' oh so responsible' police to their doorstep. Then they are at it again, moral policing, seems like that is the only thing they are good at.
You are robbed and you still dont want to go to the police station because you think it's of no help. This speaks volumes about the trust the public has in the police. These are the same people who will provide security for IPL. The same pot- bellied, old, most of the times unhelpful police. I love cricket and IPL but I think this IPL will just end up being a nightmare for the public.
Dont get me wrong, I think the police force is filled with amazing men and women who are brave, courageous and go out of their way to serve the country and the public and sometimes even give their lives while doing so . But for every one great police officer, there are 5 more who refuse to help a woman who is being felt up saying, there's nothing we can do, or saying probably she deserved it. Unfortunately, that is the kind of police one encounters on a daily basis. These are the very people who will run away at the first sign of trouble.
What does one do when the very people who are supposed to protect you turn against you. What does a woman do when a police officer is the one who raped her, where does she go from there? What does a man do when a police officer stands there watching him and his family getting beaten up by drunks and doesnt come to help? Cant there be a law to suspend such people from duty or subject them to a similar crime. They need to understand that when they chose to be in the police force, they have taken a oath to help and protect. I know most policemen are underpaid and overworked, so are millions of other people, for that matter most people in China. That is not an excuse, nor does being a police give them the right to be the moral police. They do not have the right to go ahead and preach something they do not practice. We have politicians for that. Atleast from them, we dont expect anything. Is there any way public and police cancome together to make a responsible, attentive and sensitive police force? What do you think?

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