Author: Abhinav Kumar
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: October 2, 2008
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/youre-either-with-us-or-against-us/368483/
Introduction: India's reflexive suspicion
of the police and refusal to confront its real enemies makes defending the
country a thankless job
Inspector M.C. Sharma of the Delhi Police
succumbed to injuries on September 19, after an encounter that also resulted
in the deaths of two terrorist suspects.
An officer with multiple awards for gallantry,
Inspector Sharma died a martyr for the nation.
As a police officer, what is especially distressing
to see were media reports about locals protesting the episode as another fake
encounter. They were joined by social organisations and NGOs, then vice-chancellors
and Union ministers, and now the mainstream media is carrying stories of how
it doesn't all add up. This episode covers all the professional dilemmas that
face our police forces as we attempt to take on one of the most significant
and well-organised threats to internal security. There is no denying that
the modern Indian state faces a very peculiar problem with militant Islamism,
especially the home-grown variety. The strategy conventionally used to fight
terrorism have to deftly negotiate the minefield that is the politics of religious
identity in India. When every act of commission and omission by the police
is analysed through the lens of communal politics then the already difficult
task of fighting terrorism becomes well nigh impossible.
Listen to the questions being raised one despairs
for the fate of a civil society that is unable to distinguish between its
violators and defenders. Why were two terrorists killed? Why was one arrested?
Why and how did two of them escape? Why did Inspector Sharma die? Why wasn't
he wearing a bulletproof jacket? Let us add up the worst of the conspiracy
theories and we get the following scenario. Delhi Police was under pressure
from the media and the Government to do something. So they made elaborate
plans. A house was rented in a Muslim locality close to a mosque. Three innocent
youths were picked up from different places and brought there at some unspecified
time which would be corroborated by a 'local eye witness'. Then two of them
were shot dead and the third was arrested so he could testify as an eyewitness
against the cops in the murder case that ought to be registered against Sharma
and his team. To make the story more believable Sharma was shot dead by his
own colleagues. How paranoid does one have to be to believe this theory?We
will believe the worst about our men in khaki based on conjecture and propaganda
because it is our democratic right and duty not to trust them. And the terrorists
whose murderous deeds have been splattered across our TV screens deserve all
the benefit of the doubt.
It seems to me that the life or death of a
policeman is the cheapest commodity in our public life. Unfortunately due
to a shameful post-Independence history where the police were not firm with
dealing with communal violence and often became a direct party to them, and
because of endemic corruption and incompetence and resource constraints, our
credibility as upholder of the law stands badly dented. There can be no denying
that the real and perceived bias of the police apparatus in India has directly
contributed to creating a generation of radicalised Muslim youth. But what
is equally obvious is that they are now linked to a transnational militant
ideology that aims to weave together the narrative of global revenge for local
injustices. Getting rid of this institutional bias is important to win the
trust of all minorities though it will not wean back those already radicalised.
There is no denying that the national response
to jihadist Terror would entail making difficult and decisive choices, not
least between the need for public safety and civil liberties. But one hopes
that before it is too late, our civil society can find it within itself to
trust the professional police leadership with a key role. Police forces all
over the country would need to be backed by a cross party political consensus
and a nationwide mandate for action. Perhaps even the constitutional contours
of our federal structure would also need to change. Can a national threat
be met by a piecemeal response? Our capabilities for targeted surveillance
and general monitoring will need to improve, minorities need to be recruited,
language skills improved, hitherto absent analytical and profiling capabilities
developed and inter agency co-operation regardless of the political differences,
would have to become second nature.
Like any other proud police officer I salute
the sacrifice of Inspector Sharma. I am sure that he knew, like all of us
do, that his khaki uniform may one day ask him to lay down his life in the
line of duty. But I am equally, and sadly, sure that the significance of his
sacrifice lies immersed with his ashes.
- The author is a serving IPS officer. These
are his personal views