Retributions  

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

The police must work towards improving its credibility
Let’s face it: If Mohan Chand Sharma had not died battling the terrorists in Jamia Nagar, questions would have been raised over the authenticity of the Jamianagar encounter. Sharma’s unfortunate death has not prevented some fringe elements from questioning the encounter but at least the mainstream media has largely supported the police version.

This is a sad state of affairs. The police cannot be expected to sacrifice their men just to prove that encounters are authentic. They usually have the advantage of surprise and of numbers; and one hopes they are better trained and armed then the terrorists they confront. They should be expected to stage successful encounters without suffering a loss of limb or life.

No doubt, the police shares a large share of the blame for the common perception that they are ”goons in uniform.” Governed largely by the archaic mentality, if not the laws of the colonial era, danda still remains their weapon of choice. The stories of police brutality are too common to be repeated here. Political interference and widespread corruption has discredited them in the eyes of the common man. Police reforms are urgently needed to safeguard their independence but it would be meaningless if it is not accompanied by a change in mindset: The police must adapt to the demands of the times they operate in.

The media has also played a duplicitous role. Either it eulogies trigger happy cops–dubbed encounter specialists–as modern Robin Hoods rescuing the hapless aam aadmi from gangsters and terrorists even if the means adopted by such cops are not exactly lawful or, in order to prove it independence, it starts questioning every police-criminal encounter. There is no middle ground. There is no scope for dispassionate analysis–tough but fair minded.

This disenchantment with police is dangerous in a country grappling with terror. If citizens of the country lose faith in police, it would find it extremely hard to tackle terror especially its homegrown variant. The police needs to realize that they have limited ‘credibility capital”. Fake encounters and embellished claims may result in the short term gains but they won’t help address the problem of terror. Even in the present case, as Prakash Singh had pointed out in CNN-IBN, it seems that police claims of cracking the case were premature. One successful terror attack and the doubters would surface again. In this scenario, should not be police more careful with their claims?

Righty or wrongly, there is a perception in the Muslim community that the police deliberately targets them. It needs to be urgently addressed. Successful policing demands the cooperation of every citizen–including Muslims. Undoubtedly, there are some communal elements in the police who need to be weeded out.

Having said that, one thing must be clear here: The state cannot be perpetually on trial. Moral equivalence between the state and the terrorist is dangerous, unacceptable and portends ill for the country. What constitutes transgression for the state is the norm for the terrorist. The state must be hammered when it crosses the line, but in ordinary circumstances it must get the benefit of doubt.

In this light, Muslim thought leaders must reflect: Do articles of this kind help? Do they help in lowering the communal temperature? Or do they just end up promoting the (wrong) perception held by some that all Muslims are sympathetic towards ”their” terrorists.

Adopting a permanent persecution complex and blaming others for every ill plaguing the community will not make the spectre of terror go away. Neither will ridiculous claims like that Delhi terror attacks could not have been the handiwork of Muslim terrorists merely because they chose to operate during the holy month of Ramdan.Or the equally ridiculous claim that Muslims cannot attack Mosques. Or the even more fantastical claim that Indian Mujahideen is a creation of RSS.

Indeed, it is disappointing to note that a blog like Indian Muslims which could function as an opinion leader in the Muslim community increasingly embraces conspiracy theories.