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Not a
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A macabre practice Witch-hunt must be dealt with severely In the 21st century modern India, witchcraft ought to be simply a word best confined to films or books. That remnants of the macabre practice are alive and kicking and women are branded as witches and killed is shockingly benumbing. No doubt, it is tempting to dismiss news reports about women being burnt alive or beaten to death on the suspicion of being witches as aberrations. According to the National Crime Record Bureau figures, witch-hunting was attributed as the motive behind the killing of 160 women in 2013, of which 54 were from Jharkhand alone.
Undue
impasse on Delhi assembly
A friend
with fists of stones
How to
make the police people-friendly
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A macabre practice In
the 21st century modern India, witchcraft ought to be simply a word best confined to films or books. That remnants of the macabre practice are alive and kicking and women are branded as witches and killed is shockingly benumbing. No doubt, it is tempting to dismiss news reports about women being burnt alive or beaten to death on the suspicion of being witches as aberrations. According to the National Crime Record Bureau figures, witch-hunting was attributed as the motive behind the killing of 160 women in 2013, of which 54 were from Jharkhand alone. While Bihar was the first state in India to pass the Prevention of Witch
(Dayan) Practices Act 1999, Jharkhand too had its own Anti Witchcraft Act in 2001 when it was carved out of Bihar. Despite the law 400 women have fallen victim to the misguided belief and mass hysteria since then. While single women, especially widows, are the obvious targets, in one particular incident even a nine-year-old girl was branded as a witch. Like many other crimes, witch-hunting too is used to settle scores with women. Often it's the
Dalits, adivasis and other poor women who have to bear the brunt. It would be simplistic to presume that witch-hunt is rooted in superstition alone. It's not merely the ‘back-to-dark-ages’ mindset that drives men and women to target hapless women. Often property disputes are behind such heinous acts. Witchcraft is too evil a practice for individuals alone to tackle it. Like many other problems ailing India here too the answers lie in good governance. Access to proper healthcare can go a long way in checking the barbaric practice. For often the outbreak of diseases and deaths caused even by curable illnesses are attributed to women deemed as witches. Witch-hunt is a cold-blooded murder, irrespective of whether an entire community sanctions it or a few individuals instigate the crime. Low conviction rates point out that we have not fully understood the gravity of the crime.
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Nobody loves a woman because she is handsome or ugly, stupid or intelligent. We love because we love. —Honore de Balzac, a French novelist
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Indians and the war ALL military officers, whether of British or Indian services, now on leave in England, are being recalled to India, so that in the event of Imperial Government's asking for troops from this country, divisions may mobilise with full compliment of officers. EVERY one is doubtless asking on the present occasion, "What is the attitude of Indians in the face of this unparalleled crisis?" There is but one answer to it and that answer is given by all without a moment's hesitation. It is one of passive and trustful loyalty to the person and Throne of the Sovereign, irrespective of all our differences and irrespective alike of the approval or disapproval by various sections of public opinion of the policy that has commended itself to His Majesty's responsible Ministers. "Danger to Mother
Ganga" THE cry that is raised is that of danger to Mother Ganga. The Hindus feel as much aggrieved by this interference of the Canal Departments as by the thrusting of a dagger into the body of a celestial maiden. They brush aside all considerations of profit derived by the irrigation canal. The memorial of the Hindus points out how Sir Aukland Colvin gave up a similar scheme of arresting Ganges water above Hardwar out of respect for Hindu sentiments. They also quote the opinions of Col. Cautley who similarly abandoned the idea of "taking liberties with the Ganges" as he characterised. They point out how Their Majesties the King Emperor and Queen Empress were pleased to visit the Har-Ki-Powri at Hardwar when they visited the place as Prince and Princess of Wales and how Viceroys and Lieut. Governors have done so and made offerings of flowers and milk to the sacred river.
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Undue impasse on Delhi assembly
ON Tuesday the Supreme Court issued a directive, judiciously mixed with a mild snub, to the Union government that merits a hearty welcome. Hearing a petition by the Aam Aadmi Party praying for an immediate dissolution of the Delhi Assembly, now in a state of suspended animation, to be followed by fresh elections, a five-member Constitution Bench tersely told the Central government to come back to it within five weeks with a “positive response”. Their Lordships added that the matter should not be looked at from AAP's point of view but from that of every Delhi citizen who wonders why all of the capital region’s MLAs are “sitting at home and drawing their salaries”. Before approaching the Supreme Court, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal had gone to the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi, Najeeb Jung, with the same request but had drawn a blank. For, Delhi is a Union Territory, and its L-G has therefore to act with the sanction of the Union Home Ministry. With its full and firm control at the Centre the BJP is in no hurry to do anything about Delhi's suspended assembly. In all fairness it must be said that what the saffron party is doing now has been done for decades by whichever party or coalition has been in power. With her overwhelming majority Indira Gandhi had imposed presidential rule at least a hundred times, more than half the times unjustly. It was the higher judiciary which, through its judgments, put some restraint on her. The Bomai case, for instance, was particularly restrictive. Furthermore, any government in New Delhi enjoying the requisite majority in both Houses of Parliament was free to decide whether it wanted to dissolve the state assembly together with the proclamation of presidential rule or keep it in suspended animation until this served its political purpose. Here again the judiciary came forward with a remedy. It decided that no assembly could be dissolved until Parliament had approved the proclamation of President's rule. However, even this did not end the misuse of the power to dissolve an assembly that was in suspension. Soon after the Congress-led UPA came to power at the Centre, in Bihar the assembly was so fractured that neither the Congress and its allies nor their opponents, led by Nitish Kumar, were able to muster a majority. Buta Singh, a former Union Home Minister and a hatchet man of successive Congress prime ministers, was the Governor of Bihar. Discovering one fine morning that Nitish Kumar was close to winning over a majority in the assembly, Singh reported to the Centre that the assembly should be dissolved instantly. The Manmohan Singh government had a problem. President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was away in Moscow. New Delhi sent him the relevant file by fax. He signed it and sent it back the same way. The Bihar Assembly was thus dissolved just a few hours before it was due to meet. Inevitably, the matter went to the Supreme Court, which held that the actions of both the Prime Minister and the President were “unconstitutional”. The court also passed some strictures against the Governor and But Singh had to resign. It is against this broad backdrop that all the manoeuvring about the Delhi assembly needs to be discussed. In three successive polls to it since 2003, the Congress, under the leadership of Sheila Dikshit, had won with a comfortable majority. In the December 2013 elections, however, the Congress got a drubbing even worse than in three other states that had gone to the polls at the same time. The Congress strength plummeted to mere eight in a House of 70. The BJP was the largest party but did not have a majority. The most dramatic outcome of this election was the spectacular debut of the AAP, which was the second largest party in the legislature. To everyone’s surprise, Kejriwal had defeated the three-time Chief Minister, Sheila Dixit, in her constituency by 25,000 votes. Presumably no one wanted a re-election at a time when the country was involved in the vastly more exciting run-up to the high-stake Lok Sabha election. With the “support from outside” of the eight Congress MLAs the AAP’s leader was able to form a government and make extravagant promises to the people, such as free supply of water, halving the electricity bills, passing of a Lokpal Bill (for which the state assembly had no authority) and so on. At one time he even staged a night-long dharna at the height of Delhi's winter. The activities of some of his ministers were even more bizarre. No wonder then that Kejriwal’s government lasted only 49 days. While resigning, he advised the L-G to dissolve the assembly. But because his majority had collapsed, his advice was not binding. There was no justification for keeping the fragmented Delhi assembly alive but there was one powerful, if also disingenuous, reason to do so: Whichever side won the Lok Sabha poll might be able to cobble a majority through the time-honoured technique of horse-trading. No wonder shortly after the massive Modi victory word went round that several Congress MLAs were willing to defect to the BJP in return for a few crores of rupees each. These rumours could have been totally baseless. But they were widely believed because this disgraceful sale and purchase of political loyalties has gone on for too long. Since, given the composition of the present composition of the Delhi assembly, no viable government can be formed, some are arguing that the assembly should, of course, be dissolved but instead of holding fresh election Delhi should be placed under President’s rule for at least six months. Why? Heed instead the wise words of Justice H. L. Dattu, who headed the Bench: “The citizens will like to be ruled by a government of elected representatives rather than the Lieutenant-Governor”.
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A friend with fists of stones It has been a month since I learnt about his death on December 22, 2013. This knowledge came from one of those calls that I make once or twice a year to friends and relatives who have drifted out of my orbit due to the centrifugal forces of life. We got acquainted when Maddi joined me in the fifth grade in Bathinda’s MHR High School. Looking back at my life, I find it interesting to note that the five different genres of my books so far are reflected in various genres of my friends - ranging from law-breakers to law-makers, intellectuals to down-to-earth ones, millionaires to paupers, politicians to nobodies, fearless to cowards. They all have enriched my life in one way or the other. Maddi was a prankster, both in school and college; and a daring one. Since he helped his father in a small tea stall near a movie theater, he had developed a wiry frame from an early age. He maintained it with his active lifestyle and one big evening meal a day. He never weighed more than 120 lbs. During 1955-59, we played shooting volleyball (hands clasped and no spiking) in the college ground for hours. We were short, but became quite good at it. Honour killing and honour murders were in the culture in which Bathinda was/is steeped in. Maddi had not only fists of stones, but would so turn his entire body into a rock in a brawl. In 1960, he killed a man with a few strategic blows when the man did not stop harassing his younger sister. An elder brother of our classmate, who had just finished his law degree, successfully defended Maddi. He served only a few years. He told me that my prison visits enhanced his ‘prestige’ amongst prisoners and the prison staff. I was a college lecturer then, a rarity during those days of no educational traditions in Punjab. Maddi never married. I heard that because of his dare devilry, he got involved in some clandestine activities across the border between India and Pakistan. Those who live on the fringes of law are like boxers who can hit hard, but at the same time, can take punches on their chins too. Maddi had mellowed down during the last 15-20 years. He lived off tutoring English and mathematics to the 8th graders, as they have to pass a state board exam. There being no room at his home, he walked home to home, tutoring kids. On a given day, he would easily walk 5-6 miles -- rain or shine. Naturally, when he was diagnosed with diabetes, he never took it seriously, and died due to negligence. Diabetes did kill him, but he refused to be beaten by it. During our meetings in India, we would simply laugh, talk and reminisce about ‘good old days’. My two younger brothers and nephews in Bathinda knew him well too. Human life suddenly becomes simple. At the end, the body is draped in a sheet or enclosed in a small coffin. The entire life is summed up in a few lines — surely, a moment for reality check!
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How to make the police people-friendly Indian
police historically, systemically and culturally remain essentially ruler-centric. However, today we are living in times when the society is gradually accepting the principle that police must derive their power from public and must be held accountable to them. The Supreme Court order regarding the constitution of regulatory bodies in the form of Police Boards, Complaints Authorities and State Security Commissions is a firm and decisive step in this direction. These bodies in time to come would decide what has to be done, but the police would have freedom to decide how this is to be achieved, giving the police considerable professional autonomy. In time to come, police would no longer derive their authority solely from their relationship to the political executive and work in vertical orientation but also from the competencies that they develop in the course of their direct contact with the people they serve, which means also working in horizontal orientation. The new mechanism would allow police to put in practice their views, developed by being close to public, on the best way to improve safety. However, it would also place an increased responsibility on the shoulders of the police administrators towards the people. And this can only be shouldered by a professionalised force, enjoying the trust and confidence of the public. To achieve that, police need to initiate steps towards embracing community empowerment strategies such as: Formation of consultative committees, partnerships with community and stimulating community-based compliance, alongwith some measures, within their means, to empower the frontline policemen. How the police can try and be partners with the public While empowering the community, it should be ensured that the communities get a clear charter, there is accountability, there is some training input to the community members, and the culture of the Police Department is also changed so that they collaborate effectively with the community. They should make citizens the focus of police activities and planning. In order to do that, they should: Transform the force This would be the best way to create an environment in which there is public acceptance for empowerment of the police department. As the department is empowered, the process of passing on the powers to the frontline policemen could further be reinforced. And the spiral could continue, in steps, eventually achieving the desired state of policing, wherein an empowered community demands and decides the kind of policing it deserves. More power to the public Without any doubt, working with empowered and communicative communities is likely to become the bedrock of everyday policing in India. Empowering the community can pay rich dividends to the Police Department. This happens because people are more involved, energetic and responsible when they control their own environment than when some authority outside the community does. While the department needs to cater to the needs of the communities they serve, the community in itself can be the best ally for the police. The department needs to appreciate the benefits of this relationship, as the communities score over service bureaucracies as the members are committed and understand their problems. They focus on capacities than on deficiencies, offering of care rather than just service with flexibility and creativity in a cost-effective manner. Therefore, within the local environment, mutual trust, relationships and interactions between the police and empowered local communities must be strengthened. Community empowerment involves handing to communities substantial control over the decisions, resources and the tasks of the police. However, many studies indicate that the three components of justice system, the police, courts, and corrections, are reluctant to involve citizens in their operations and many employees view such participation as an attempt to minimise their professional expertise. Community- empowerment strategy in policing would essentially be a three-step process —Identification of citizen needs, empowerment measures from within the means of police department, followed by community empowerment through legislation and institutionalisation. Identification of community needs To begin with, the police should understand what the citizens and the community wants. There are several ways by which this can be done. Citizen surveys can cover an entire community or it could be a targeted citizen survey, random survey or exit survey of the people who have just used the police services. Surveys can be conducted through mail, email, exit survey, etc. Telephone lines and Help Desks help the public not only to get required information, but can also act as a source of feedback. Citizen Suggestion Boxes help collect written feedback from citizens, which can be an effective tool to ensure quality assurance to the citizen. Feedback from front-line policemen who are in direct contact with public can provide useful information on what frustrates public and what changes they desire. Police in Singapore gather insight into citizen needs with the help of meetings and dialogue sessions; focus group discussions and surveys; feedback forms, emails, faxes and letters; telephone hotlines; and media. Having identified the needs and tailored the policing activities to meet these needs, the issue of implementation with sustainability is very important. The common complaint that people make is that the police officers come to listen to the grievances and after attending to the issues raised for few days the matter is forgotten. Job Cards can help To translate public concerns into sustained action police can benefit immensely by simply making 'Job Cards' for field police officers. Job Cards should be specific to each and every deployment location and beat and should contain painstaking compilation of public concerns of the their area for attention by police officers on duty. The next step in community empowerment would be measures such as Collaborative planning, Community-police partnership, Community-based compliance and community-governance bodies. While Collaborative planning, Community-police partnership and Community-based compliance can be initiated by the police department itself, Community-governance bodies would follow through legislation as the trend towards community empowerment is strengthened by positive action from police. Useful tool Collaborative planning is a useful tool of community empowerment. Some of the ways of doing this is with the help of police advisory committees or the neighbourhood-watch groups. Both these methods can lead to excellent participation from the people and police can get ground information and useful suggestions for improved service and efficiency. In UK, Consultative committees offer a formal way for the community to raise concerns about the policing in their area and to offer their views on what the police priorities should be. These committees are made up of local councillors, police authority members, representatives of the police and people from voluntary, statutory and community groups. In most cases, Members of Parliament are automatically offered membership. In some areas, the police have also arranged for consultative group members to be present at major police operations, such as drugs raids, so that they can see at first hand how the police carry out the wishes of the community. In US, Chicago Police holds a so-called beat meeting once a month in every neighbourhood, where local residents themselves report and prioritise problems. People feel that the good thing about taking part in a monthly neighbourhood meeting is that it builds up trust. Moreover, they get a more realistic idea of what the police and other agencies can do. There is no doubt that effective policing can occur only in partnership with this community. Law enforcement needs to address both crime and the causes of crime through cooperation with partner organisations by preventing and deterring offending behaviour, and to catch, convict, rehabilitate and resettle offenders. The joint ventures by police in partnership with the community that share common goals and operations can lead to both the community involvement, resource augmentation, expertise sharing and improved results. In USA, under the School-Based Partnership Programme (SBP), funding has been specifically to develop problem-solving partnerships between local police, schools, and community-based organisations. Making citizens responsible Police can also mobilise citizens by making them partly responsible for the approach of the problem. It is mainly about promoting a certain extent of awareness that the authorities cannot, will not and should not be responsible for each individual problem each citizen encounters. The police should not make population dependent upon them. They should rather stimulate the potential of the individuals and neighbourhoods to solve their own problems. An opposite attitude would confirm the idea that co-operation with the police is unnecessary and that this concern for security and quality of life is only a mission of police services and authorities. To that end, the police must support population, act as a mediator and put their professionalism at population's disposal to control conflicts and solve problems. Community-based compliance is an emerging trend which has been tried successfully by shifting of control over compliance functions to communities in activities such as neighbourhood groups for traffic compliance. This can lead to increased transparency, empathy, augmentation of manpower, and can reduce bitterness between police and the community that the compliance activities inherently breed. The writer is ADG Punjab and author of Policing:
Reinvention Strategies in a Marketing Framework
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