Case of hunter now being hunted : Throwing their weight around
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 07 2018 -

A case of the hunter now being hunted.

This should sum up the way in which a number of police personnel have been charge sheeted by the CBI/SIT under strict instructions from the Supreme Court of India to crack the whip and get down to the business of nailing all those involved in the over 1000 case of alleged fake encounters underway at the apex Court.

Things have certainly come full circle and from the days when the men in khaki ruled the roost and went about throwing their weight around, barking out orders and shooting to kill in alleged scripted yarns, it is now the turn of some of them to tuck their tails between their legs and surrender before the Court of law.

Things have certainly come a long way and one cannot forget those days when the sight of the men in khakis in the dead of the night was more than enough to give anyone the jitters.

Forget about the clinical precision in which some of these personnel shot to kill, but even venturing out after dark was something strongly advised against by the elders of the family.

Manipur knows that every year, unfailingly, Independence Day (August 15) and Republic Day (January 26) are boycott days, with the public generally staying away from the road and preferring to stay within the confines of one’s home, but in a way the real drama/boycott generally starts before the boycott and bandh call given by the underground outfits come into effect.

It is in the evening just before August 15 or January 26, that is one day ahead of these dates, that police personnel are out in full strength ostensibly to ensure that nothing untoward happens.

In reality, it means that people hurry home much before the boycott and bandh came into force, because no one wanted to be confronted by the cops who are out there to maintain law and order !

As professionals in the media houses, one can very well recall the days when going back home in the dead of the night on August 14 and January 25 meant tense moments, always on the look out for the hoarse barking voice to boom, halt.

Or the power packed flash lights that used to be beamed straight on the face of the media persons going back home, never mind that they are driving two wheelers.

So alleged staged killings on the one hand, and goondaism in uniform in full display on the other.

Both combined beautifully to create such an environment that there was no such thing as police-public relationship.

It was the arrogance, the haughtiness and the devil may care attitude of some of these men in uniform that today the news of the Supreme Court breathing down hard on the neck of some of these cops are read, discussed and digested with a sense of satisfaction by the public.

Somewhere down the line the State police came under the impression that policing means throwing their weight around and harassing the public and instilling fear in the minds of everyone.

How and when such a mindset came to roost is a point which all concerned should study.

Or maybe it will help if some research scholars can do an in-depth study on this.

For the moment, the hunters with the license to bump off anybody under an alibi are being hunted, all underlining the point that the law can and will catch up with anyone.