Arrogance in uniform

Often the uniform of the policeman or jawan, instead of inducing a sense of social responsibility in those who don it, appears to have the very opposite effect. It becomes a badge of arrogance, not honour. A licence to bully, intimidate or terrorise the powerless as the horrific attack on passengers by jawans of the security forces demonstrated. The hapless passengers were thrown out of the train for daring to board an empty compartment occupied by some ten-odd jawans. Five of them paid for it with their lives.

Life on board our more crowded trains is pretty raw. On occasion, things reach a point of total breakdown when muscle power and intimidation replace every rule and regulation. Incidents of passengers being hurled out of running trains are not uncommon. Many of these cases do not even make it to the public sphere because no case is registered and the victims themselves are clothed in the great anonymity of the voiceless. Early last year, one incident did create something of a stir but that was only because the young student — who was thrown out of the Chhattisgarh Express between Mathura and Kosi stations by lumpens for trying to stop them from harassing some women travelling in a general compartment — had happened to be the grand-nephew of then prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But even the prime-minsterial connection could not ensure that the miscreants were brought to justice. The fact that the criminals can get away unpunished only encourages more incidents of this kind. The railway police now promises to take prompt action against such behaviour. But who will police the railway police? Just the other day a railway police constable was alleged to have kicked a baby to death while conducting a raid.

Systemic reform in the training of armed service personnel is badly needed in an age when the sense of service and sensitivity towards the ordinary citizen is all but missing. We need more men like those army personnel who risked their own lives in order to rescue several women and children from the burning Golden Temple Express in May 2003. They proved true to their uniform.