hidden image

BIASED POLICE PROBE: Delhi Police goes berserk and takes the country to colonial days

Joseph Maliakan Joseph Maliakan
28 Sep 2020

The Delhi Police has been excelling in lawless behaviour for quite some time now. They very cleverly facilitated the brutal attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University students early this year. They stood like mute spectators when a mob attacked students and teachers and vandalised property. Incidentally, the members of the mob were wearing masks even before the coronavirus lockdown. 

In another brutal incident from earlier this year, the Delhi Police forcefully entered the Jamia Millia Islamia campus and attacked students, grievously injuring several of them and destroying university property.

The actions of the Delhi Police have been so blatantly unconstitutional that 10 retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officers led by Julio Ribeiro, former Mumbai Police Commissioner and Director General of Punjab and Gujarat Police, in a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner S.N .Srivastava on September 14 described the police investigation into the February 2020 Delhi communal riots as totally flawed. I consider this a very mild indictment because an analysis of the latest actions of the Delhi Police reveals an absolutely colonial mindset that is totally opposed to constitutional values of freedom and democracy.

As a reporter who has covered communal riots in North India in the 1980s and 1990s for the Indian Express, I can say with certainty that communal riots and killings take place in India only at the instigation of political leaders and with the connivance of the police and even the local administration. The February North East Delhi riots were no different. The police actively connived with the rioters or looked the other way.

The riots were, as is now well-established, directed against the Muslim community and the vast majority of those killed were Muslims. Initially the Muslims did retaliate but were soon outnumbered. The police openly sided with the Hindus and even obstructed movement of ambulances carrying injured Muslims to hospitals.

There is nothing very unusual about the narrative so far. Total marginalisation of Muslims has been the aim of instigating communal disturbances even during previous Congress regimes. But what is very special this time is the weaving of a conspiracy theory and the arrest of young individual activists under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The UAPA has been on the statute books from 1967. But what has made it a lethal weapon against all kinds of dissent, free speech and protest is the 2019 amendment. Prior to the latest amendment, only organisations could be designated terrorist. Under the latest amendment, any individual without any prior notice could be designated a terrorist and arrested.

As against maximum of 15 days police custody in arrests according to other laws, an individual arrested under the UAPA can be kept in police custody for 30 days. Similarly, judicial custody under the UAPA can stretch up to 180 days as against a maximum of 90 days in other cases.

And though the Act does not bar the grant of bail by the courts, Safoora Zargar of Jamia university is the only one booked under the UAPA who has been given bail. Even she was granted bail by the Delhi High Court on humanitarian grounds, not on merit.

Initially 18 people, mostly young activists, were arrested by the Delhi Police in the conspiracy case. An offence under the UAPA has been made out against all of them – mostly PhD students from JNU and Jamia – to ensure that they remained in jail for a long period like those booked under the UAPA in the Bhima Koregaon case in Pune.
And as the time limit of 90 days for filing a charge sheet in the conspiracy case approached, the police on September 13 arrested Umar Khalid, a former JNU student, and charged him for offences under the UAPA, sedition and several other sections of the Indian Penal Code. This has been done to keep those who are being investigated in custody for 180 days pending filing of the charge sheet. Thus, the police have intentionally subverted the intent of the law.Investigations and trials take too long. Cases are not even sent to trial for a long time. At the end of 2018, of the 2005 cases under the UAPA only 317 have been sent to trial. Under the circumstances, even an acquittal at the end of the trial will mean very little to the arrested young students, some of whom are women.

Now the question is can the courts remain silent spectators when basic freedoms of the citizens are being blatantly trampled upon by the police. The courts must step in without any further delay.


 

Recent Posts

The Emergency must be remembered, not as a tool to target a political party but as a lesson against authoritarian excess. Yet, we cannot ignore that worse violations of democratic norms and human righ
apicture A. J. Philip
30 Jun 2025
Fifty years later, India faces a chilling déjà vu with an 'undeclared' Emergency. Freedom of speech is stifled, dissent is suppressed, and institutions are compromised. True democracy demands resistan
apicture Cedric Prakash
30 Jun 2025
Amit Shah's claim that those who speak English will be ashamed evidences that the BJP-RSS is trying to bring down the populace and push India into another Vedic dark age where ignorance and superstiti
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
30 Jun 2025
The NSE's ?1,400 crore settlement with SEBI raises critical concerns about India's financial markets. Any perceived regulatory capture risks eroding trust.
apicture Jaswant Kaur
30 Jun 2025
Christian education in India has had a profound influence on democracy and social justice in the country. It played a pivotal role in challenging caste oppression, promoting inclusivity, and fostering
apicture Fr Soroj Mullick, SDB
30 Jun 2025
"The spread of digital culture, particularly evident among young people, is profoundly changing their experience of space and time; it influences their daily activities, communication, and interperson
apicture Joe Eruppakkatt
30 Jun 2025
Welcome to the Happy State of Emergency: Where freedom is carefully curated, minds are pre-cooked, and Big Brother doesn't need to frown—he just raises one eyebrow... and we salute…!
apicture Robert Clements
30 Jun 2025
The North-South divide reflects India's broader regional and cultural tensions. The progress of Southern states in health, education, and development contrasts with the Hindi belt's struggles on devel
apicture Thomas Menamparampil
23 Jun 2025
India's 2027 census and ensuing delimitation will redefine its political landscape. As northern states gain influence due to burgeoning population, southern states will face reduced representation des
apicture Dr John Singarayar
23 Jun 2025
For India to become a global healthcare power, it must democratise medical education—revise outdated rules, invest in public institutions, expand seats, embrace technology, and ensure affordability. A
apicture A. J. Philip
23 Jun 2025