Bangalore: An edit page article in Karnataka's leading English newspaper 'Deccan Herald' by its senior editor and one of the state's well respected journalists Ramakrishna Upadhya expresses concerns that the police administration has collapsed in the state. He writes, "The need of the hour is to restore the confidence of the police by respecting the hierarchy and giving senior officers the independence to act. The state government should stop meddling with the transfers and postings of all ranks including the inspectors, sub inspectors and constables. They should be made answerable to their seniors and not their political masters. The deteriorating law and order situation is the direct result of a system that has been allowed to rot for a far too long a period. The onus is on chief minister Siddaramaiah, who came to power on a popular mandate, to quickly initiate corrective steps."
These words sum up everything that is wrong with the policing in Karnataka and its capital Bangalore. Even the top police officers in the state admit that the force is highly demoralised in the past few years. The slow 'death' of the police force started during the previous BJP regime led by three different chief ministers. But it seems to have gone from bad to worse in the past one year after the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government came to power in May 2013 assembly elections.
Siddaramaiah has been a total disappointment in the first 15 months of his rule. His own party leaders admit that the government has not taken off and the chief minister is incapable of taking any major decision in the interest of the public and the party.
The police department feels that the Chief Minister is not concerned about its image. His Home Minister KJ George is considered a light weight and is being seen as a dummy home minister.
Four major incidents have happened in the state capital, Bangalore, concerning the police in the past two months. An Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), P Ravindranath, has been chargesheeted for clicking the pictures of a woman at a coffee shop. Instead of taking strict action against him, Siddaramaiah succumbed to caste politics. Just because the accused police officer is a Dalit, Siddaramaiah used Dalit politicians to handle the issue and treated the accused with a kid glove angering both public and some upright police officers.
Raghavendra Auradkar, Commissioner of Police, Bangalore, had to face some tense and embarrassing moments because of the mishandling of the whole affair by the state government. Auradkar is known as an honest and efficient police officer. According to insiders he is not being allowed to take some tough decisions by the government.
A few days after the ADGP Ravindranath incident, Bangalore woke up to another controversy involving a powerful Congress MLA Vijayananda Kashappanavar. The MLA and his friends had allegedly manhandled the staff of an upscale pub for asking them to leave after the 11:30 PM deadline. Instead of taking action against the MLA, the government and party chose to go slow on him. The city police was not allowed to handle the issue without any political pressure.
A few days later, the rape of a young woman in a moving car shook the city. The victim and her male friend alleged that the local police inspector had tried to hush up the matter as the rapist is from his own community and his father is a local BSP leader. After some public protests, the concerned inspector was placed under suspension. But the damage has already been done.
The latest horrific incident of a six-year-old girl child raped in her own elite school has exposed the rot at the heart of the state administration. Even after such a terrible incident, the state government kept quiet and did nothing to address the issue.
The government came under attack in the state assembly by the opposition parties. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was seen sleeping in the assembly during the debate on the incident. The newspapers promptly carried that picture, the next day triggering protests across the state.
According to a senior minister in the government, Siddaramaiah looks totally disinterested and his attitude is also angering the people. A top corporate leader who knows Siddaramaiah well said, "He sleeps even in important meetings. He is highly casteist and encourages his coterie. He is not open to any new ideas and thoughts. He has a closed mind. He is a total failure and disappointment. If the Congress high command replaces him with some energetic person, they can save their most important government in a very important state."
The failure of the state police is Siddaramaiah's personal failure. He can't escape from the responsibility. Unless the state government respects the police hierarchy, it can't expect them to perform well and instill confidence in the minds of the people.
As a distinguished police officer and former police commissioner of Delhi, Ved Marwah says "It is terrible. It will be counterproductive, and lead to demoralisation among the police force. Police has a disciplined force where it follows a command and control system. No government should ignore it or disrespect it."
The top priority of the government should be restoring the credibility of the Karnataka Police. It can still ignore the police at its own peril.
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