Coping with fury

There is more bad news from Bihar. With the suspension of 60 more inspectors and sub-inspectors and the dismissal of the general secretary...

There is more bad news from Bihar. With the suspension of 60 more inspectors and sub-inspectors and the dismissal of the general secretary of the Bihar Police Association, the ongoing confrontation between the state government and the agitating Bihar policemen has taken another ugly turn. The total number of policemen placed under suspension since 18,000 members of the BPA proceeded on a week8217;s casual leave from Sunday night has mounted to 260; deputy SPs and constables are also threatening to join the strike in solidarity.

As the impasse continues, and as stands become more intransigent, one thing is clear: the Bihar Police Association has clearly crossed the line. It is unacceptable that the uniformed services should breach the discipline they are pledged to abide by in this manner. Having said that, the BPA8217;s 13-point charter of demands deserves a closer look. The release of ex-gratia payment to dependents of policemen who have died in service since 1995, construction and renovation of police buildings, and insulation of the force from political interference in postings and transfers there is much in that list that needs to be addressed, and urgently. The fact is that the Bihar police is a force severely under strain and the ongoing strike is a symptom.

The policemen must contend with the daily violence perpetrated by Naxalites and assorted caste-based private armies as well as the relentless crime in a society riven by caste conflict and chronic underdevelopment. They are underpaid, they don8217;t get their salaries on time, and are forced to work for inhumanly long hours. The force is also buffeted by the pulls and pressures exerted by a political class that is itself criminalised. The Bihar police has the unenviable task of enforcing the law in a state where the line between the law-breakers and law-makers is stretching increasingly thin.

In much of this, of course, the police is not merely the victim; it is also a colluder. Down the years, the police in Bihar has not remained entirely unspoilt by the bad politics, corruption and criminalisation that have so deeply corroded public institutions in Bihar. What is needed is structural reform. It is time, perhaps, to unearth the recommendations of the National Police Commission. Set up in 1977 by the JanataParty government to examine the basic structure of the police and their functioning as impartial agents of law, its recommendations were sent by the Centre to all state governments in March 1983. They have only gathered dust since.

The most significant of the NPC8217;s recommendations was the institution of a statutory State Security Commission which would lay down the policy guidelines for the performance of the police and annually review its functioning and to which it must be accountable. Constituted under the chairmanship of the chief minister or the home minister, as the case may be, its members would include an MLA each from the ruling and opposition parties apart from individuals nominated by the government from the academia, retired members of the judiciary, and senior administrators. Another significant proposal was that of a fixed tenure for the police chief. Ultimately, the agitation in Bihar is a call for attention the system can ignore only at its peril.