SIGHT & SOUND
Police at its ugliest
Amita Malik

After all, they are our children", said Pranab Mukherji, addressing the media on television after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on the student protests about reservation. A sentiment which most Indians would also feel. The sight of young students, some earnest-looking and wearing spectacles, being mercilessly beaten in full view of TV cameras, sent a chill through us. Particularly nauseating were two sights, both from Mumbai. One was of a man in a bright blue shirt and not in police uniform, mercilessly raining lathi blows on a young unarmed student on the ground.

The other, also in Mumbai, was of a policeman proudly coming up to the cameraperson to allow him to shoot his face in close-up, and then displayed his name on his badge with a "I care two hoots about your shooting me" smile on his face. It was literally the face of the Indian police at its most ugly.

Why I am describing all this in detail is because in the last few days television has done a great service to the country by shooting such scenes and providing material for yet another commission to look into the improvement of the attitude of the police in a modern democracy, which India claims to be.

I have lost count of the number of police commissions headed by eminent people of experience and recognised integrity.

One commission, I remember, was headed by Dharam Vira, a highly respected administrator. But after all that, we see policemen behaving as if they are in medieval times. We saw them in 2002 in Gujarat, fundamentalists to the core, and shooting to kill members of the minority community and the same more recently in Vadodra. Obviously they had political backing but that does not exonerate them. The savagery with which the police operate in the field and in the thanas, where deaths in police custody seem to be accepted as routine, certainly gives every right-thinking Indian the right to protest.

Also chilling was the bland face of Arjun Singh, who apparently did not contribute to the "after all, they are also our children" school of thought. This time, it was the face of the righteous politician.

Again, the point I am making in a media column is that TV has done a valuable service in exposing several ills in society and pinned down people, like Police Commissioner A. N. Roy of Mumbai, who kept on denying that his police had been brutal even when confronted with visual proof.

May I make a suggestion that all the TV channels get together to pool their footage of police atrocities in the recent past, and present it to the central government for yet another commission, hopefully a more effective one this time.

It is, however, a credit to the integrity of the media that most channels also focused on the sufferings of patients and also inducted pro-reservation people, including doctors from the underprivileged classes, to present their point of view.

And the human-interest aspect of the reservation story also made channels keep their perspective in sight and they did not allow the post-election fever to swamp it.

The post-election coverage on the media had its lighter side with each channel claiming exclusives, firsts and all the other gimmicks of the rat race. Even as the happenings in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu were easy to follow, Kerala’s involved politics had most of us confused. And thank heavens that poor old Assam provided some less complicated but equally exciting political manoeuvres.

And all of us loved the sight of the Pondicherry Chief Minister arriving on his motorcycle, as usual, to cast his vote. It appeared as colourful as Tarun Gogoi’s Assamese headgear and the congratulatory gamcha on winning.

Truly is India television country. Little Budhia’s problems in Orissa get the little marathon runner and his intrepid coach as much prime time as reservation issue and elections. Indian TV is maturing fast.