The police play a crucial role in maintaining law and order in times of caste, ethnic or communal violence. If they are impartial, it will be easy to restore peace but if they are partial it becomes all the more difficult to bring back normality. In that case the police too become a party to the conflict.
The record of the police and para-military forces, with honourable exceptions, is found to be partial. Policemen are often found to be quite partial and against the minorities, particularly Muslims. There are serious allegations against them in the January 1998 riots in Coimbatore. Though each riot has to be studied in depth to draw proper conclusions, generally the lower level constabulary has nothing much to cover itself with glory. Policemen are part of society and are deeply influenced by what is going on around them. The political atmosphere is highly divisive - communally, ethically and along caste lines. What is being projected in the media is also of a divisive nature. Sometimes politicians - specially those belonging to communal parties and outfits - make highly provocative speeches and their ideas are imbibed by the policemen also.
The Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) organised a one-day seminar on "The Policing and Alienation of Minorities" on January 5, 1998, in collaboration with the Nehru Centre, Bombay. Top police officers from Bombay and outside participated and Mr. Satish Sahney, Former Commissioner of Police, Bombay, coordinated the seminar. An approach paper said, "though the polity has changed significantly after Independence, the structure of the police has not changed significantly. Caste and communal stereotypes continue to dominate the perception of the police personnel. Though criminal tribes have now been denotified, they continue to face harassment from the police force for crimes and petty thefts committed in the vicinity of their neighbourhoods. Similarly, the police personnel are the victims of gender bias as well as the bias against the minorities. This has led the members of the minority communities to believe that the police perceive them as those whose loyalty to the nation cannot be taken for granted. Such perceptions adversely affect impartial policing and implementation of laws".
"Police personnel are often less sympathetic and insensitive to the protests by the members of the minorities even if their grievances are genuine. The law and order machinery plays its role in dealing with communal riots and in doing so it shapes the outlook of different communities. During tensions, the divide between the communities deepens. On the one hand, the minority community gets alienated from the law and order machinery and, on the other, the majority community considers it its protector. Such biased perceptions of the police by the minorities and of minorities by the Police influence the day-to-day functioning of the system".
How to remedy the situation? Is it necessary to have an adequate number of minorities in the police force through reservation? Are the minorities adequately represented in the force? And if not, why ?... In Uttar Pradesh, though the Muslim population was around 16 per cent, its representation was no more than five per cent ... (Will) coaching for Muslims on the lines for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (help)? (Will) liberalisation of education for them help?
Will professionalism, not combined with strong commitment to secularism, become worse when the atmosphere was surcharged with communalism?
Will reservation for the minorities in the police force help? ... (With it) encourage parochial tendencies, affecting competence and professionalism? Is the attitude of the authorities to blame? Was the inadequate representation due to prejudicial behaviour on the part of the authorities ...
Mr. S.S. Puri, DIG, Maharashtra, said it was necessary to teach ethics in schools to impart a broader outlook to students, some of whom were future policemen. But he opposed reservation for the minorities, saying it would affect the morale of the force and prove counter-productive. Only competent officers should be recruited. But Mr. V.N. Rai said competence should be judged by the effective control of communal or caste riots. Professionalism, he said, did not mean physical fitness or even being educationally qualified. Impartial behaviour was also an important criterion. Mr. Khote, social activist from them understand different religious and cultural practices ... if we give (police) training ...(will) prejudices melt away and with a new approach towards the minorities will develop? (Source: The Hindu, 6 February, 1998)
