Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A basic tool man devised to preserve his common rights is the police. It is an
irony that most incidents of human rights violations have their roots in the police. This is
The reasons are many. The most important lies in the police culture itself-its
inability to look beyond certain barriers it raises around itself; its failure to see a human
being as he; its incapacity to see its relevance to the common man outside the power
structure; its inveterate indulgence with powerplay; its deviant interpretations of its role
in the rule of law and, above all, its scant respect for means (in achieving the end) The
result is the police siding with the wrong-doers in the clashes between individual and
Right thinking people are aware of the predicament and sufferings of their
violations have become a highly sensitive issue, with the human rights commissions at
the regional, national and international levels on their toes to detect, investigate, report
and protest. The factual reports have embarrassed Governments and their police
outfits. It is distressing to note that developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin
America prominently figure in these reports; and the record of the countries in the
Indian sub-continent, including India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, is not inspiring either.
The basic question is whether human rights violation is sine qua non with
safeguarding national and the larger social interests. The second is whether such
violations are justified in the cause of such interests. The third is what are the limits
within which violations are confined, and who imposes these limits and by what
mechanism. What would be the situation if the police who indulge in human rights
violations to protect national, and social interests are thoroughly corrupt, immoral and
India’s human rights record is particularly bad in Punjab and Kashmir. Its record
has never been satisfactory in the North –East or with the naxalites.
Where does one draw the line between the larger interests of the country and the
violation of human rights? Blame is shifted from one level to another whenever the police
is pulled up for human rights violation during action. The top brass blames the field
officers for excess while the latter blame the bosses for exerting pressures to show results
The truth is that the police, at all levels, and its administrators are to be blamed,
that none among the police and their administrators really bother about human rights and
their violations, least of all during actions which expose them to tremendous risks. It is a
do-or-die situation. Once on a dangerous course of action, the sole aim of the police is to
succeed in the operation by whatever means. Moral questions such as human rights
violations and the public agitation likely to follow do not matter, considering the dangers
they face in carrying out the task. It is a crisis and the tendency is to somehow
overcome the situation irrespective of what the future might hold. The administrators
know that excessive checks and moral fears blunt the killer instinct in the policeman and
affect the chance of his success in the field. The authorities up the hierarchy also
believe in succeeding somehow rather than play by the rules. This is the crux of the
Human rights take precedence over national and social interests and transcend
religious and moral issues. Human rights become a sensitive issue only when they clash
inter se and invite a decision on basic issues. The question is who is to judge such basic
issues. Certainly the decisions cannot be left to the whims and convenience of the police.
The human rights is the spine of policing must be made an integral part of the
police culture. This is absolutely necessary. Only such emphasis restrain the police from
indulging in violations.
Human rights are the natural rights of the human race as well as the laws that
help make social life possible. This gives a legal slant to the issue. The legislature, in a
democracy, decides how much of such rights could be surrendered in common interest.
The legislature by promulgating laws and the courts by interpreting them delineate what
natural rights constitute inviolable human rights violations are an issue between the
legislature and the judiciary on the one hand and the executive, which is the police, on the
other. For the fear-struck citizens, it is an issue between the helpless them and the arm-
twisting Government. In simple terms, human rights violations involve violating the
basic rights of life, liberty and human dignity beyond the limits of the law. The
basically the use of power beyond the scope of law for certain ends and is not committed
for any noble end. Such violations are common in secret service operations; in emergent
The police indulge in human rights violations on suspected elements to bring the
situation under control either by eliminating them or by forcing them to reveal their
plans. Fake encounters were first contrived and staged by the Indian Police. Crime
investigations account for a large share of human rights violations in the developing
countries where third degree methods are employed in the interrogation of the people
detained. Death, rape and torture in custody are common in many developing countries.
controlling a troubled situation? The answer is no. A temporary lull may be created, but
in the world of organised crime, the illegalities of human rights violations have either
no impact or have just the opposite impact. The criminals are mentally and physically
prepared to face any threat to their basic rights. Devising alternative plans to counter
police action is only a minor diversion in their massive operations. In fact, they enjoy
fighting the Government on equal terms with no legal or moral inhibitions. Their resolve
to fight the Government with all the resource at their disposal is only strengthened. It
becomes a no-hold barred fight then onwards, the law-enforcers losing their initial
have an electrifying impact on the common man whose sympathies are in favour of the
victims. The legal and moral relevances become immaterial to the citizen. A well
organised outfit actually contrives to create a situation to earn the sympathy of the public.
HARDENED CRIMINALS
Another reason why acts of human rights violation will not put an end to crimes is
the criminals get hard and wish to take revenge and embarrass the establishment. This is
how resistance grows. This is what happened in Punjab, in Kashmir and in Vietnam in
Another impact of the violation of human rights by the state is the loss of fear and
respect for the authority of the state. Once subjected to third-degree methods during
interrogation, a petty criminal comes out as a hardened criminal. A government devoid
Secret services indulge in dirty tricks involving human rights violation in national
interests, though law and morality demand that such violations in any form and for reason
are bad. Criminals have their own code of conduct. Secret service is a world apart and
its dramatis personae are inveterate in criminal games, with the official sanction to play
them. The danger lies in committing excesses that endanger the safety and the well-
being of innocent people not involved in the game in any way. It is left to each state to
draw the line depending on the sensitivity of each problem though it cannot openly
declare that it is promoting and guiding the secret acts even remotely. Yet it is a cardinal
Another dimension of human rights violations is its commission for personal ends
in the garb of fighting a social cause. In the atmosphere of violence, individuals from
enforcement agencies as well as terrorist outfits may take advantage of the situation and
indulge in killings, extortions and rape. India saw it happen in Punjab and Kashmir and
The tragedy about Indian law –enforcers is that they are keen on the immediate
show of results to earn the appreciation of the higherups, in the process relegating to the
oblivion the need to find lasting solutions. That is why the violation of human rights is
on the rise as efficient and ingenious policing is less preferred. This is true about
Laws are formulated and promulgated by the government keeping in sight the
needs of the country and the responsibilities of its enforcing machinery. The need to go
lawless in order to enforce laws arises only when the law-enforcers perceive that the laws
are inadequate or their abilities are inadequate to meet the challenges in the field. The
laws being what they are, framed from time to time, to suit the needs of the field, the only
conclusion one can draw from rampant human rights violations is that the enforcers are
utterly devoid of professional skill and the instinct to do effective policing and hence
corporate , organisational or social, or the rights of the nation for survival. Protection,
prevention and investigation are the tools available for achieving these ends. Human
rights make up the essence of the privileges man enjoys in the social setup. The police,
entrusted with the responsibility of protecting rights, are doing a disservice to the
profession and humanity in violating human rights in the discharge of peripheral duties.
But this is not unique to Indian police. The police and the governments of almost
all the developing countries suffer from the syndrome, the problem being acute in non-
democratic countries.
The problem is laying the emphasis on results irrespective of the means.
Committing an injustice in the name of justice cannot be called a service in the cause of
justice. In policing, each means is an end by itself. Policing by its very nature, involves
extreme measures such as detention, arrest, search, seizure, impounding, forced entry,
taking possession, controlling movements and the use of weapons. These methods when
not employed discreetly and moderately, do great harm to individuals and society.