The other side of policing: Politics, mind games
Aasim Khan / CNN-IBN
Published on Wed, Apr 02, 2008 at 14:59, Updated on Wed, Apr 02, 2008 at 18:16 in Nation section
Tags: On The Beat, Police , New Delhi
New Delhi: On a fateful November morning in 1984 – a day after Indira Gandhi’s assassination – a mob gathered outside Sis Ganj Gurudwara. One lone officer stood in the line of duty and ordered the policemen to fire.
“When mob was advancing, I gave them a warning, but when they did not heed, I ordered fire,” recalls former Delhi police commissioner Maxwell Pereira.
Many lives were saved but it did little for the career of Maxwell Pereira. After a silence of 23 years, Pereira has now spilled the beans in his book, The Other Side of Policing.
“What was shocking was I gave a message saying I have opened fire but control room would not acknowledge. They were silent,” he says.
What Pereira did was a brave act in 1984 but there were few others who could resist the political pressure.
No wonder 1984 was not the last time when the hand of law failed to help the victims.
It’s been 18 months since the Supreme Court moved to give functional autonomy to the police (Prakash Singh Vs Govt of India Case) but so far only 10 states have accepted the directives.
Most of them small states, but most big states, notorious for police-politician nexus, have simply ignored them.
Prakash Singh, a former Chief of the Border Security Force, says politicians are not keen on implementing the judgement because it takes away their powers to transfer any cop anywhere , anytime.
“It’s a very strong instrument to show I can influence your future and career,” he says.
For most in police the fear of transfer and punishment posting still weighs too heavy.
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