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On police & policing

15 June 2006, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Mohammad Zaman, On e-mail
15 June 2006, 18:00 PM
"Never get tangled with police!" When growing up in rural Bangladesh, we often listened to this wise advice. We eyed the khaki-clad, from a distance, with a weary awe. This unfortunate relationship is a continuation of the colonial mindset, developed during the centuries of Union Jack, where police was akin to an extension of the white flagellum. For long, the white is erased, but the flagellum remains, still bent to tame the people. A remnant of colonial mindset, this adversarial relationship needs to be mended, if one desires to make the police effective and accepted.

Apart from this unfortunate mindset of adversarial relationship, there are other issues. Police is generally portrayed to be corrupt and brutal. Our police being in such a precarious pit of disgrace, a rescue mission is in order. This heavy lifting needs a political will and commitment of resources on the part of the government.

And this has to be a multi-pronged approach addressing three primary issues:

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a) Building a bridge of good will between police and people:

This can only be achieved through education and re-orientation of the police, as to the noble mission of policing.

b) Uplifting police morale by a fair pay structure:

Nothing is more important than a fair pay scale that can provide a decent living for all members of the police force. They should be able to afford modest housing, education for their children and an optimal status commensurate with their education, experience and expertise. With the current pay structure, blaming police for being greedy and less than moral is rather immoral on the part of tall-talking politicians.

c) Non-interference from politics at large: This issue needs no explanation. This has a lot to do with police inertia in apprehending the bad guys. What is the point of apprehending a criminal only to see him getting back to the street through the backdoor?

Without the benefit of an effective and honest judiciary, effective policing is doomed to degenerate into a fool's utopia.