Human Rights for Police – A welcome move
A few weeks ago, in June ’09, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission passed an order with far-reaching consequences that (unfortunately) went largely unnoticed.
In response to a petition filed by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini’s Centre for Human rights Studies and Awareness (CHRSA), the Commission decreed that the Police (and by extension, all paramilitary forces and armed services personnel) also have Human Rights and the concerned Commissioners (or Senior Officials of the force deployed) are responsible for their protection.
The CHRSA petition followed an investigation into the killing of two policemen by a riotous mob in July ’06 in Bhiwandi. The policemen were reportedly tortured and hacked to death by the mob*.
While this is no doubt a welcome move, I wonder whether this order applies across India (I am reasonably certain that it does not). If it does not, will the National Human Rights Commission take note of this and consider passing a similar order for the rest of India?
Unsurprisingly, while there is a lot of information and detail on the web (and in the media) about the number of people killed in police firing (and in custody) over the past few years, I had to struggle to find names/details of policemen killed by mobs and in riots during this period.
In fact, it is only recently that the NHRC has begun to take note of policemen and paramilitary forces killed in anti-Naxalite operations.
Better late than never, I think…and a commendable job by CHRSA.
*A summary of CHRSA’s investigation into the incident can be found here (pdf file) and hard copies of the report as well as the Human Rights Commission’s order can be requested from Ravindra Sathe, Executive Director, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini by emailing him at ravis AT rmponweb.org
Slightly unrelated to the main topic – There needs to be a fund or NGO that should bear cost of education of children of all policemen and Army Jawans who have lost their life in riots or fighting terrorists in Kashmir or Naxalites in Naxal areas.
Shantanu, are you aware of any such group or NGO.
Since it was about guaranteeing the rights of police and not terrorists, it went unnoticed.
normal, no?
@ Anupam: I do not know about the police but the Army has a Central Welfare Fund which assists families of soldiers and officers killed on duty.
See comment # 7 here for more details.
Having gone through the report (http://www.rmponweb.org/new-pdf/riotes-bhiwandi.pdf) in detail, I see that one of the root causes is the existence of Ghettos: areas thickly populated with predominantly one religious group or race or clan.
This is not good in any urban area. Ghettos cause problems such as this. We should start using the National Census to identify ghettos and work towards reducing concentration.
In Singapore there are policies and laws in place to ensure that there is a fairly even mix of ethnicities / race in the population in the so-called “HDB estates” where the Housing Development Board controls flat ownership. I think this is a great innovative and visionary idea, which they should be applauded for ! Can something similar be applied to urban areas in India ?
> Can something similar be applied to urban areas in India ?
Yes, but we may not have the data.
Singapore’s HDB have a multi-culti residency pattern that is set, by the government, based upon the country’s total ethnic mix and the mix in the society at the time of moving from slum/ghetto to a proper HDB.
In india we may just not have the data. we’re doing social justice without facts and figures!