Abuse of police to suppress people's agitation

Dr B R Ambedkar challenged the then Home Minister to prosecute the police officers who were involved in firing and killing of Bombay textile mill workers in 1939. Speaking on a motion in Bombay Legislative Assembly, Ambedkar questioned the inquiry report, which justified the firing. "Is he (home minister) prepared to prosecute in an ordinary court of law the police officers who indulged in this firing in and get the finding given by this Committee sustained by a judge or a jury?" he questioned.

He quoted Constitutional Law Professor Dicey, who said 'the law is that if a police officer or a military officer does not obey the command of his officer when he is told to fire, he may be hanged by a court martial; and if he obeys it and kills an innocent man, he will be hanged by a judge or a jury. His case must stand by the necessity of circumstances. His case must stand on whether he has used excess of force'.

"Sir, I am informed, and very reliably informed, and I put this information to the Home Minister, that the Manager of the Spring Mill in the vicinity of which the firing took place at 6.30 or so on that day, sent a sum of Rs. 200 to be distributed as a reward among the police officers who took part in this firing. Sir, I like to ask whether it is not justifiable to say that the firing was resorted to not because there was violence but because the Mill Manager told the police officers to do their job thoroughly. This is a very scandalous state of affairs."

Referring to Home Rule movement during the late 1930s, Ambedkar said, "and if Home Rule means nothing else, our own Minister can shoot our own people and the rest of us merely laugh at the whole show, or rise to support him because he happens to belong to a particular party, then I say Home Rule has been a curse and not a benefit to all India."

When injured, arrested and abused Telangana agitators were narrating woos before the Praja Court, looking at how the Chalo Assembly was illegally suppressed, we get a doubt, are we benefited by Independence? Is this the same Congress which fought British against violation of rights? Depositions before Praja Court revealed that the State just tapped all the cell phones of JAC members and their friends, linked to loudspeakers and were listening to conversations with impunity. Based on that intelligence, they ordered the police to swoop down on the houses of ordinary people, workers of the TRS, members of the JAC, or any person who says "Jai Telangana", any woman who they suspect would march towards the Assembly building on June 14.

They searched rooms without caring about privacy or rights against unwarranted search. None can be bound over without a criminal history, but thousands of Telangana activists were asked to report either to a couple of police stations or the RDO which are far away so that whole day they will be roaming around these offices. They call it 'bind over' which is worse than illegal arrests.

From 10th or 11th of June, the Police continued surveillance during nights and early hours over ordinary houses, summoned the household women, children and aged persons to police stations at odd hours, not allowed them to go back for hours together, got signed papers stating that they would not be found near the Assembly building on 14th June. They were asked to come to the police station or arrested again for no reason.

The second part is brutality, utter disregard and disrespect for human beings, their rights, their sex and age. None other than Professor Kodandaram deposed that some hands pressed his neck, some hands lifted him physically, some twisted his hands, and then he was thrown on ground. He felt breathless and thought of getting killed until some friends came to his rescue. Those hands in mufti were police, he later recognized. He saw dozens of police personnel surrounding one beating him up, kicking on private parts saying they would render them impotent, and using filthy language for raising slogans for Telangana. They were thrown into police vans and shifted to different police stations till late night of June 14th ensuring that none was able to go to the Assembly building.

'All of us were under instructions from superiors, we have no role, Sir', this is what was stated to Kodandaram after the injuries were inflicted. When the arrested demanded a warrant, the reply was 'we are implementing orders from higher-up officers'. Thousands of police officers were chosen from non-Telangana region, and they exhibited their venom against agitators, besides violating all rights. MLAs were arrested without either intimation or permission from Speaker when the Assembly was in session. They were not allowed to do a mock assembly in Golconda PS, where they were kept. Media was not prohibited. They are happy about it!

A housewife, Sumalatha Sarma, was asked to attend Police station in early or late hours; when she pleaded for time for cooking and worshiping at home, they waited for her around the house and ultimately took her to the police station where she was kept till late night and then asked to come next morning also. Yakub Reddy from Warangal, who suffered severe injuries to his spinal cord when ruthless heavy Andhra police stood over him, said he was so weak that he could not stand even for 10 minutes.

The police violate court orders with impunity. Even as the apex court prevented the police from entering Osmania University campus, they continued to fire from the compound walls. They used expired teargas shells and left them on ground so that cricket-loving children might get amused first and injured next, even after two days of clash in the Osmania University.

They don't care if children suffer fractures but blame them for 'negligently' handling explosives, without acting against the police for negligently leaving them on the ground. Some police inspectors say 'do you raise slogans against local MLA' and indiscriminately beat a disabled person in Sanga Reddy. There were unending incidents of brutal acts with filthy language and concealing the identity as police officer, building plethora of barricades preventing ways of life, not allowing a single person to board train or bus towards Hyderabad till June 14th.

Qamarunnisa Begum and Raheemunnisa Begum from Hanamkonda said that men lifted them, pressed and hit at unspeakable places violating and outraging their modesty. All along Muslims were not allowed to pray at mosques en route to Assembly. Hundreds of false cases were foisted against them. It is not just violation of civil rights, something more than that, a repression with vengeance, as if fighting opposite faction to please the anti-Telangana Government leaders.

It cannot be said that the police are just functioning in good faith to maintain law and order. It is acting at the behest of political bosses like their subordinate illegal armed force. No rule, no law, no rights no remedies. Ambedkar could have said "�our own (Chief) Minister can shoot our own people and the rest of us merely laugh at the whole show, or rise to support him because he happens to belong to a particular party; then I say Home Rule has been a curse and not a benefit to all India".

Chalo Assembly was suppressed not because it was violent, but because the Congress Government wanted it. As Manager rewarded suppression of agitation by Bombay Mills workers, Seemandhra police must have been rewarded for suppressing Chalo Assembly.

(The writer is Professor and Coordinator, Center for Media Law & Public Policy, NALSAR Hyderabad).