Disturbing questions
B. LAKSHMINARAYANAN
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The police need to realise that modern times demand a humane and effective way of handling violence
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The recent protests by the Gujjars in Rajasthan and elsewhere have plainly brought into focus the outcome of the deadly combination of wilful violence, police apathy and the moral bankruptcy of the politicians. While each of these has prospered due to a culmination of years of administrative indulgence, the combination showed clearly the way the public were held to ransom for a week, with no means of redress.
If the Supreme Court had not come out with its withering criticism of all that happened, our cup of woe would have been really and truly full.
We must thank the electronic media for the brutal view we had of the violent actions of the protestors. One could actually see the glee and satisfaction on the faces of the protestors, as they systematically burnt and demolished public and private property.
Level of preparedness
I have always wondered at the level of preparedness of these violent demonstrators. They have any number of lathis with them, enough fuel for acts of arson and in this case, they even had enough number of swords which they showed proudly to the TV cameras. Where do they get these weapons of destruction?
If I wanted to buy one lathi, I would not know where to buy one! And swords? A blacksmith has to make these swords and it takes time!
All this shows pre-meditation for violence and I am not able to understand how a blacksmith is willing to make hundreds of swords knowing fully well that these swords are not being bought for godly purposes. For that matter, how is liquid fuel available so easily? How is it that they know how to set things on fire? Arson needs expertise. The protestors had even the implements to remove parts of the rail track at many places.
The deft way they used their lathis to break window panes of rail bogies through the protective iron bars indicated their prowess in such matters. In short, the protestors were truly well prepared. These are very disturbing questions indeed.
Inept handling
Whenever I see scenes of street violence on the TV screen, the one thing that strikes me is the totally inept way in which the police handle such situations. They seem to have no clue as to what they should do, short of throwing back stones at the protestors. The only way they seem to have been trained is the ruthless wielding of the lathis on unarmed persons, including women. There seems to be no strategy except to resort to lathi charge or shooting. Surely, ruthless handling cannot be the only way of handling such moments.
A serious question arises as to how the police train their officers and men in crowd management. Is this subject given sufficient importance? Does this aspect need to be reviewed? The police need to realise that modern times demand a humane and effective way of handling violence and that lathis are remnants of an earlier era.
Gutless behaviour
The other disturbing trend is the behaviour of the gutless politicians. No politician of repute condemned the senseless violence and the sadistic destruction of public property. Every one was busy protecting the so called ‘vote banks.’ What a miserable show! Hundreds got stranded for days at wayside railway stations for no fault of theirs. Who is to compensate them for the loss of time, comfort, convenience and lost opportunities? Where are forums for redress? Should not the Gujjars and the governments of Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh be forced to pay compensation to those afflicted?
I know that all the questions that I have raised as a law abiding citizen will remain questions only, as all these questions are very embarrassing and call for accountability, a term not applicable in our society. I see only one ray of hope in the entire mess — the statement of Col. Bhaisla, the leader of the Gujjars, who apologised for the violence in front of the TV cameras, an attitude which has never been shown by any politician so far.
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