This is what has happened to the Indian police over the last decade or so, especially in some of the northern states. Encounter killings, custodial torture and even deaths, indiscriminate arrests, demolitions, forcible evictions, illegal deportations, voter suppression, selective prosecution, the patronage of criminals and excessive use of force (as witnessed during the July Jantar Mantar protests) — all these have become the norm. Jamia Millia, Kathua, Hathras and Lakhimpur Kheri no longer make news.
The Indian police had never really shed its khaki, colonial character, but its retrogression under the present governments, both at the Centre and in the states, has been rapid and alarming. There are three clear indicators of this.
One, the excessive use of force and the curbing of civil liberties and rights, often beyond the mandate of the law, without any accountability. Examples include the brutal use of force against protesting youth on 20 July this year in Delhi and Bihar; the large-scale registration of cases and arrests following the northeast Delhi riots in February 2020, most of which have subsequently failed to stand judicial scrutiny; and the physical persecution and prosecution of those protesting against environmentally destructive projects, such as bauxite mining in Niyamgiri in Odisha and the Siang hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh.
Encounter killings have become the norm in some states. According to official NHRC data, there were 813 encounter deaths between 2016 and 2022, but not a single police official was convicted. Custodial deaths, both in judicial and police custody, also occur in frightening numbers. Once again, NHRC figures show 1,606 such deaths in 2021-22, while the minister of state for home affairs informed Parliament on 26 July 2022 that there had been 4,484 such deaths over the two-year period of 2021-22.
‘Bulldozer justice’, demolitions of religious structures and the homes of suspects and accused persons, arbitrary invocation of the NSA and UAPA, arrests over alleged ‘conversions’ and forcible deportations — all these have become a sickening daily reality, notwithstanding repeated warnings and strictures from the courts.
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