When The Protector Becomes The Abettor: Police Brutality Amidst The Lockdown

By Amrashaa Singh

Police brutality finds its roots in the colonial government that ruled India for more than two hundred years. They resorted to ‘lathi charge’ ( use of baton to beat people) to curb the protests against the British Government. One of the most high-profile cases from that time is when Lala Lajpat Rai was hit with lathis and eventually succumbed to injuries. The Britishers left the country but left their legacy behind. The current Police Act is based on the colonial Police Act of 1861.

The ruler may have changed but the means of controlling the people have not changed much. The police still choose to use force rather than other peaceful methods to dismiss people or gatherings. When the lockdown was abruptly announced with a four hour notice, thousands of migrants were left stranded in other states without jobs. The hand to mouth earners were left with no means of buying food.

Under such circumstances, those who tried to go out with the hopes of jobs had to only become victims of the arbitrary and out of proportion measures used by the police. Instead of explaining to the people about the implications of going out, they were made to do sit-ups, frog jumps and/ or were beaten by the policemen. Despite the migrants travelling on foot to their hometowns as the public transport had come to a standstill they were subjected to such high handedness by the police. The people who were going out to buy the daily necessity items were also subjected to the brutality. The beatings were a way to teach them a ‘lesson.’ The Telangana Chief Minister also blatantly said that he would issue “shoot at sight” orders for anyone violating the lockdown. To top it all, such videos were passed around as funny videos on WhatsApp. These are the same people who were ‘enraged’ by the death of George Floyd in the US.

It is saddening to see that the policemen, instead of helping the people who have lost their jobs overnight and have no means of reaching home are torturing them and making them crawl in the scotching heat.

The essential services providers like medical and health care professionals, food grain providers, media personnel were exempted. But another incident was highlighted where a doctor was going for her night shift and the policemen stopped her, slapped her and dragged her with her hair. It is shameful  that these are the same people who are putting their lives at a risk to save us. On the other hand,Yogi Adityanath, who was himself chosen by the Prime Minster, Narendra Modi as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh was attending a religious ceremony in Ayodhya (he resides in the state capital Lucknow). He was shameless enough to tweet about it. This was after the nationwide lockdown was announced. No action has been taken against him so far.

There are no clear laws governing the use of police force on people but Section 129 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) states that the police can use force to disperse an ‘unlawful assembly’. An unlawful assembly has been defined as a gathering of five or more people in the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Furthermore, such use of force should only be used after a magistrate or the police officer who is not below the rank of a sub-inspector allows the use of force against such unlawful assembly. The High Courts in various cases have laid down clear principles and guidelines still, they are ignored and not followed. The Indian Supreme Court has also remarked that the use of excessive force leads to violation of human rights and personal liberty. Pocket book on International Human Rights Standards for Law Enforcement and Expanded Pocket Book on Human Rights Standards and Practice for the Police also lay down guidelines regarding the use of force by the police. The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials has also highlighted the fact that the use of the police force should be keeping in mind the human rights and they should therefore use non-violent ways first and avoid the use of force as much as possible. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative also issued a set of guidelines for respecting Human Rights while enforcing the lockdown, which were not paid heed to.

Suggested Solutions:

The major problem is the number of police officers that are hired. India’s police personnel ratio- the population ratio is 144 to 1,00,000 while the UN recommended ratio is 222. This puts a lot of pressure on these officers. They have to handle a lot of people and they choose the easiest way out. They choose to put fear in the minds of the people. Therefore, the government should train and hire more police officers. It would also create employment opportunities for the highly unemployed youth of the country.

Another factor is that there is  low prestige attached to their posts. While they work hard, they do not receive recognition. Since they have low accountability with how they deal especially during a crises, they feel that they can make anyone beg and growl in front of them. So, they use this power to achieve that satisfaction of sitting in an authority. They should therefore be psychologically trained since they have a lot of work and political pressure on their shoulders. They should have regular training about how to deal with the pressure since at the end of the day, it ends up affecting the citizens of the country.

Furthermore, these officers are not taught about human rights or any guidelines whatsoever. They are made to believe that brutality is an inherent role to their jobs. The topic of human rights is only touched upon during their training. They should be informed about the guidelines by the UN and the various High Courts and the Supreme Courts. During the lockdown, many videos have shown that there were no such instances of unlawful assembly Individuals were subjected to the humiliating techniques for enforcing the lockdown.

Conclusion:

The Government should thus hire more officers and put less burden on the officers currently hired. This would put less work pressure on them and make them psychologically relaxed. Furthermore, they should receive proper training so that they are properly informed about the guidelines and do not themselves end up violating the law. India is also a signatory to the 1979 Code of Conduct for the Law Enforcement Officials which are clearly not being followed. The citizens should be properly educated and explained the implications of their going out since the situation is unprecedented. The police officers clearly harassing the citizens are caught in various videos. Serious actions should be taken against them and inquiry should be set up. Violence is never the answer. They are already in fear because of the unprecedented crisis corona virus has presented in front of us.

Amrashaa Singh is a third year student at National Law University Odisha, India. She has a keen interest in human rights laws and international issues.

Cover Photo is by Dying Regime and licensed under CC-BY 2.0