Setting the home in order : Men in Khakis and Olive
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 28, 2012 -

Verification under progress as part of search Ops on January 14, 2012 :: Pix - TSE

Home Minister Gaikhangam has his task cut out and the test starts now, if he really meant what he said some time back about refurbishing the image of the State police.

Two IRB personnel are among the four accused in the rape of a housewife at Bishnupur district on March 22 and while it is the Court which should settle the matter, it nevertheless calls for the Home Minister to seriously get down to the business of setting his house in order.

Come to think about it, refurbishing the image of the State police may just be a misnomer, for they never had an image in the first place. Or if image can be equated with notoriety then yes we may say that they have a notorious image and there is nothing innocent about this.

This is not the first time that some IRB men or for that matter anyone in the State forces have been caught on the wrong side of the law and this should be understood not only within the context of molesting/raping women, carrying/serving demand notices, engaging in fake encounters but other activities which have been given some sort of an official stamp of legitimacy, but which nevertheless go against the law.

For Mr Gaikhangam to the make the State police more people friendly, it is important to drill sense into the heads of the top brass that being friendly does not have an adverse impact on efficiency.

Likewise, arrogance which has become the hallmark of the police personnel can never be equated with efficiency. It is this mindset that needs to be changed and the change should start from the very top.

For far too long the efficiency of the police has been equated with how effectively they can throw their weight around, harass people in the name of sanitising an area or in dispensing with their duty or even while escorting their political bosses on the roads of Imphal.

There can be nothing more demeaning to the sense of dignity and self respect of the common people than to be shouted at, glared at or shooed away on the congested roads of Imphal just so that the VIP they are escorting can have the right of way and enjoy a smooth ride.

This is nothing but arrogance of the political class and executed to near perfection by the men in Khakis. This is not efficiency but arrogance. The new Home Minister may have the best intention in mind, but it will need more than a statement to reverse the mindset which has taken deep roots down the decades.

Flamboyance goes well with rock stars or film stars or even starlets from the movie world, but it sticks out like a sore thumb when this is associated with the police force.

It just does not make any sense for some high ranking police officials to move around the roads of Imphal with a long convoy with their security escort blowing the whistle and waving the lathis to make way for their boss. This does not come nowhere near the understanding of efficiency or being people friendly.

This has to stop and the best place is to demonstrate the change on the roads of Imphal and the other districts as well.

August 15 or Independence Day and January 26 or Republic Day are dates/days which have become synonymous with the general strikes called by various underground outfits operating in the State and ironically it has been the State police which have been helping in making the general strike that much more effective.

Beefing up security, intensifying frisking exercise, checking passers by and putting the police personnel on round the clock duty in the run up to these two important dates are necessary, no doubt, but a closer look at the ground reality will leave no one in doubt that far from instilling a sense of security amongst the public, it is the presence of these men in Khakis and Olives which scare away the people from the roads and streets.

Growls, shouts, pointing the beams of the torch lights right on the faces of the motorists can be anything but ensuring security or giving a sense of security to the people.

That this has been happening every year, for the past few decades, is something which the new Home Minister should take cognizance of. The examples cited here may sound mundane but this culture has had an adverse impact on the image of the State police and reeks of the arrogance of the men in uniform.

A beginning can be made from this point. Having said this, the Home Minister should have said something on the rape case at Bishnupur. That silence is the better part of valour may just send out a wrong signal here.

The culture and sense of ‘immunity’ granted to the men in uniform could be a big factor in the ‘involvement’ of the two IRB men in the rape case.