Opinion Our right to revelry
The police in India tries to regulate 21st century culture with 19th century laws and a 15th century mindset.
Abhinav Kumar
The turn of the year festive season draws to a close, and as it is with most festivities, it was a time of high alert for most police forces across the country and indeed around the world. As a serving officer, one wishes the fraternity the very best in dealing with the sudden influx of large crowds of inebriated and exuberant revellers that inevitably descend on our metros and most important tourist centres all over the country. While it is a testing time, I believe it is also a tremendous opportunity to earn goodwill and showcase our professional competence and progressive leadership.
Unfortunately, as the recent intervention by the Mumbai High Court shows, we are not doing so.
Policing revelry in India is still held hostage to past dogma and a mai-baap mentality that is anachronistic and deeply offensive to present-day democratic sensibilities. The writ in the Mumbai HC against the decision of the Mumbai police to clamp down on New Year’s Eve celebrations, and the court’s rejection of the stance of the Mumbai police is a case in point. What I am suggesting is perhaps against the prevailing sentiment in the IPS fraternity, but I think this is the worst kind of high-handedness that shows us in a poor light and is simply against the tenets of policing a liberal, democratic, aspirational society.
It is also a sad commentary on our stunted growth as a tolerant society that we in the police see it as our natural right to tell the public how they shall entertain themselves. Of course, the police exercise this regulatory function in all societies, but in India we seem to do it with a peculiarly sadistic mindset. As it is, 21st century urban India is starved of regular forms of accessible, affordable public entertainment, other than cinema and cricket. Concerts, gigs, performances and exhibitions that citizens of most civilised societies take for granted as a matter of right, are a luxury and a privilege in India. Out of reach for the common citizen due to their high price and limited occurrence and of course also due to our in-built intolerance for the offbeat and the provocative. And then, to add insult to injury, we have the police trying to regulate 21st century culture with 19th century laws and a 15th century mindset.
To my mind, the priority for the police on occasions such as New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day and any other occasion that has been enthusiastically embraced by our young urban citizens should be the following: first, ensure the safety and dignity of women in public places, irrespective of what they are wearing and what or how much they have had to drink. Second, ensure public order, especially clamp down on drunken brawls and curb misbehaviour mainly by those who take pride in obnoxious displays of power and position. Third, zero-tolerance for drunk driving and rash driving. Fourth, ensure silence norms in designated zones and prevent loud public nuisance, especially in residential areas.
The trick is to do this without coming across as killjoys and puritans who take a perverse delight in flaunting their powers to curb the general public’s desire to let their hair down and enjoy themselves. I don’t see how enforcing a curfew order of 1.30 am, or even later, without consulting the stakeholders in a transparent manner really helps us achieve any of the above objectives. It is true that we are overworked and understaffed, but this is a petty way to make this point. Especially when we know that our enterprising juniors will ensure that these curfew orders will be given a go-by for a price. All we do achieve by such decisions is to reinforce our reputation for high-handedness and corruption. The message that we are sending to our most well-educated and affluent citizens, who form the bulk of these revellers, is that we are either incapable or unwilling to ensure that the above objectives are met in a manner that is both effective and acceptable. No wonder that in turn we refuse to gain their support on issues that are critical to us, such as reforms and autonomy.
At the risk of breaking ranks with the IPS fraternity, I am delighted that the Mumbai HC did not uphold the views of the Mumbai police. The rights of our citizens to enjoy themselves should not be trampled under our jackboots. Had the court ruled otherwise, it would have been a Pyrrhic victory. Neither the rule of law nor our credibility would have gained much. At best, it would have been a temporary victory for the law as laid down by us, the self-proclaimed Lords of Police, but a setback for policing through legitimacy and the informed consent of our citizens.
Hope that after this rap, in future, better sense prevails in police jurisdictions across the country. For all my pride in the uniform and the IPS, I really don’t want to live in a society where my right to revelry without endangering the well-being and safety of others is decided by the diktat of any police commissioner.
The writer is a serving IPS officer. Views are personal.
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