Sunday, May 14, 2006

Shame on the Uniform

The real face of the Mumbai Police has come to the limelight again yesterday in Azad Maidan . No amount of follies by the Police department can justify the blasphemous acts they have done.

All started with the brutal and uncivilized force that the police used to clear the protesting students out of Azad maidan. In the name of providing security to the masses, the police has shown utter disrespect to the democracy and the silent protestors.

Whatever be the cause of protest- the police should have showed that they are a disciplined force first. If not what is the difference between them and the thugs on the streets?

I got the shock of my life when the media shows the police beating the medical students - who were protesting silently ( They were not creating any nuisance to the public or damaged any property - unlike many other protests and processions which Mumbai is used to ), the Police Commissioner A.N.Roy had denied the lathi charges.

As an eminent doctor from IMA has commented " Either he is blind or he is a blatant liar". Is it needed for a Police Commissioner to be excoriated like this in public? Why he could not discharge his duties unbiased? Is there any pressure from the political corridors to keep an upper hand on those protesting against quota? Is he not to be a person - away from political parties to discharge his duties? Given this mess, Is he not the first person to be fired out of the force?

There were female protestors in the group. Not a single female constable was there to regulate the situation. All these female students were dragged and beaten by the thugs in uniform. I have no words to call them as police constables. There were guys NOT IN UNIFORM, but beat the protestors with lathi. Who were they? Why they were not in uniform? To which force they belong? Any answers , Mr.Roy?
How come , those who ordered the lathicharge did not see that the women in the group are to be handled by women? Why do they have a women wing in their force? The students were beaten and were detained for 4 hours -no reason given. Later, in the night they were released "without " any protection. Can they just tell, where the female students would go in this insecure Mumbai- where the police cannot even be trusted?Will they do, for their own children?

What can you expect from a police force which rapes the women in the police chowkies? Today it is the medical students.. tomorrow it can be anybody - you , me , our brothers and sisters.

Are we having a tyrant like General Dyer as the police chief ? Is this a police or a force trained for political suppressions?

Where is the Chief Minister? He has not spoken a single word about this incident.

The IMA has given 24 hours to the government to respond . It is high time for the Governor and the Chief Minister to sense the gravity of the situation and respond.

I am ashamed that I still live in this city - where the rules are twisted for political gains, where there is no respect for democracy, where there is no rule of law.

Is there any taker for a family of three to move in- as refugees?

disillusioned,
K.Sudhakar