NEW DELHI: The Indian army has evidently succeeded in compelling the Narasimha Rao government to hold an enquiry into an incident involving torture and humiliation of a serving lieutenant colonel at the hands of the Chandigarh police headed by Sumedh Saini This is for the first time that India is seriously enquiring into the conduct of a police officer regarded close to the prime ministers house In fact officers handpicked by the Central Indian government are given sweeping powers in Punjab and Kashmir. Complaints made by even the state’s governor are brushed aside. The incident that shook the Indian army happened about a fortnight ago. Lt Col Vats who lives in Sector 7 was picked up by the Chandigarh police headed by Sumedh Saini and was confined in police station beaten up and tortured. His only crime was that he tied to persuade the police to deal tactfully with a crowd collected in the wake of a shootout at the residence of a Chandigarh police head constable who allegedly shot dead his wife and daughter and spread the story that he had been attacked by militants. Saini later alleged that Lt Col Vats had tried to interfere in the police functioning. But Saini was in such a foul mood on that day that he even misbehaved with a group of Indian Express newsmen and the doctors on emergency duty at the P.G.I. More than 90 journalists issued a statement criticizing Saini’s behavior while the P.G.I doctors went on a lightning strike. But the Indian army reacted in a sober manner Lt Col Vats reported the incident to his superiors who in turn took it up with the army high command. What upset the army was not Saini’s misbehavior but the larger issue of army police relations in the context of several similar incidents in Punjab and Kashmir in recent years. The army has been bearing indignities at the hands of the police and there have been numerous incidents of similar nature. The government never took any serious action to redress the army’s repeated complaints consequently the army felt humiliated. Resentment against the Indian government had been building up. The anti-Saini enquiry is the culmination of the growing bitterness. Among the ranks and officers of the Indian army’s western command. That the army is taking the proposed enquiry seriously is indicated by the fact that a Brigadier Ashok Chaki has been picked up from the central army command to serve on the proposed enquiry committees. The Punjab government has been asked to nominate a police Deputy Inspector General for the purpose. The enquiry committee will comprise two officers. In a Surprise move the army has put forward the condition that Saini should first be removed as Senior Superintendent of Police Chandigarh to ensure that he does not influence the course of the enquiry. The army high command has told the Indian government authorities that by holding an impartial enquiry they want to send across a clear message to the army officers and Jawans functioning in the sensitive states of Punjab and Kashmir that they will be protected against police excesses. Meanwhile senior police officers are keen on saving Saini’s face A proposal has been mooted that Saini should be promoted to the post of Deputy Inspector General and pulled out of Chandigarh gracefully Otherwise it is stated his subsequent transfer and humiliation will demoralize the police officers.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 13, 1992
