The magistrates in Punjab have called off their 3weekold strike following their partial victory vis-à-vis the Indian police. The government has agreed to transfer a Superintendent of Police from Jalandhar and suspend an Inspector for arresting and humiliating two magistrates in early August. The Indian state’s puppet regime in Punjab headed by Beant Singh had been resisting on behalf of his masters against any such transfer or suspension. The magistrates continued their strike for three weeks. The strike by this class of officers is unprecedented, The P.C.S. officers have been the backbone of all state governments all these decades, But for more than 10 years this position of prominence has been occupied by the police who are now eyes and ears of the government. There have been instances when even a stale governor could not have an Inspector of police transferred from his place of posting despite grave charges of human rights abuses. In other words, the effective power in Punjab all these years rested with the state police chief who was directly answerable only to the Indian prime minister, of course, through officers around him, The only other instance of a departure from this reality was provided by the shifting of Sumedh Saini as S.S.P of Chandigarh a few months ago. That was done after the Indian army compelled the prime minister to take action or face displeasure of the main armed force of the country. Saini’s transfer became necessary because he had beaten by a serving colonel of the army. The humiliation of the colonel in the past and the maltreatment of the two P.C.S officers in the instant case were not the isolated instances of the police misconduct vis-à-vis the ordinary citizens or other service groups of the Indian state. Mere transfer or even suspension of an official is not regarded as a punishment even in terms of the Indian Service rules. But such an action against any police official in India is unthinkable unless the Indian government at the top has certain compulsions behind it. That speaks volumes of the kind of highly regimented system prevailing in India notwithstanding it being the world’s largest democracy. It should be kept in mind that India took action in the two instances mentioned above only because on the opposite side was the army in the one case and the magistracy in the other. But where such demands emanate from the common man, action against the police in India is just rarest of the rare.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups have been seeking action in custodial deaths and other widespread human rights abuses in India without any success. The Indian rulers are postmasters in putting off the human rights groups and the world public opinion. They played on the song “We are inviting Amnesty International” for more than three years, Then they began the theme: “We are seeing up a human rights commission.” This has been going on for more than two years, The draft of the constitution of the proposed commission is never made public. There is a cloak and dagger approach towards the commission issue, Meanwhile, India not only refuses to dismantle the vast militarized state and fall in step with the world by Scrapping all nuclear weapons program but has actually been trying hard to obtain Knowhow from Russia and other former Soviet states to develop modem means of human destruction and delivery.

All key political positions in Punjab, Kashmir, Assam, Thipure and many other states are being given to the serving of former defense or police personnel. Only this week, another retired military officer Lt. Gen V.K.Nayar has been made governor of Manipur state. There is talk of Punjab police chief K.P.S.Gill being appointed governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The present incumbent to this post in the disputed state is also a former military officer. The process of militant nation of the Indian state through these ‘appointments has been quickened.

But even more alarming is another facet of the working of the Indian political system. The present prime minister is encouraging plain thugs and goondas to muscle their way through the corridors of power. Take the case of the appointment of a block bully like Beant Singh as Punjab’s chief minister or an urban bad character like Manindesjit Singh Bitta as president of Indian Youth Congress (I). He is dutifully talking in terms of organizing squads to wage a war against communal forces (read BJP) in the context of Indian ruling party’s scheme of things. Another matching plan has been unfolded by the ruling party’s chief himself when he says that a special session of the Indian parliament would be called to pass a law banning communalists (again read BJP) from contesting elections. This law will be to the BJP what is antiterrorist law is to Sikhs, Muslims and other Indian minorities. The only difference is that members of the BJP will be kept out of power without being imprisoned. Only last week, Indian prime minister nominated one Mahinder Prasad as a member of the upper house of Indian parliament This gentleman is a landlord who maintains in central Bihar a private militia. Even Rajiv Gandhi had denied him nomination on the ground that his private militia had massacred the most poor Dalits in Gaya and Jehanabad areas of Bihar and had damaged the ruling party’s image among the people there. But no such inhibition for the present prime minister, In this nomination, even the Indian president Shankar Dayal Sharma has reportedly felt unhappy. This is how in India the regime is being built ‘brick by brick as one for, of and by the military police goonda nexus. In this Scenario, the P.C.S’s partial victory is welcome although it does not offer any hope for the restoration of the rule of law in the country.

Article extracted from this publication >>  September 3, 1993