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: The connection between media headlines on the latest twist in the Bofors armaments bribery scandal and what took place between police recruits and junior doctors in Uttar Pradesh may not be clear. The former episode involves the issue of whether the Central Bureau of Investigation was more loyal than the king or just gave way to orders from above on removing the freeze on Ottavio Quattrocchi’s London bank accounts. The episode in UP is about police recruits thrashing doctors on a train when the latter allegedly objected to the jawans occupying berths without reservation. Serving policemen on duty appeared to have watched the fun or joined in the thrashing; four have been suspended and a hunt is on to identify the recruits. That was after protesting doctors blocked rail traffic, lifting it only after various assurances that the law would be enforced.
For our passive and cynical citizenry—that includes all of us—both items illustrate the reality. Which is that the police force in India inspires little confidence or trust, being regarded, with excellent reason, as answerable only to those in power or to themselves. Certainly not to the law, which is why the doctors felt they had to stop rail traffic and strike work to extract a promise in this regard. As for the Prime Minister’s statement that no one gave the CBI any orders or even signals on what to do, few Indians care whether it is true or not. Most would, if pressed, say it is rubbish, but they wouldn’t care much either way. No one believes any Indian probe on Bofors, because no police or prosecution agency in India is trusted for an impartial and effective probe.
Our rulers have no interest in changing this. The late Indrajit Gupta, as Union home minister in 1997, wrote to state governments to review their lack of action on the National Police Commission recommendations of 1979-80. Not one even acknowledged his letter; the Left governments, too. Till the system is reformed to free police and prosecution powers from ministerial control, our polity is fundamentally impaired. Only sustained public pressure can change this.
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