Skip to content Skip to navigation

Lock down or lock up! Brimful misery for commoners

New Delhi: The nation wide lock down is more a reign of terror and less a measure to keep a virus at bay if a section of the observation of a country's legal fraternity is to be believed.

Be it in the case of police excess or the absence of essential commodities, the 21 days Pan India lock down seems to have been crushing the spine of millions of the people living in abject penury across the nation life never before. 

The worse has yet to come. This has forced a New Delhi based lawyer to write to the Chief Justice of India for immediate intervention before the situation goes from bad to worse.

Here is the letter of Gaurav Jain,  the lawyer, who has been relentlessly confronting with a set of  "anti people" policies, for the last couple of years. 

Gaurav Jain, lawyer
Gaurav Jain, lawyer 

---------------------------

To,
The Hon'ble Chief Justice of India,

I am Gaurav Jain, an Advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi. And as an officer of the court, I consider it my duty to bring to your notice a grave Injustice happening at this very moment on such a massive scale that if left unchecked, it will grow so big and scary, that it will be extremely difficult to contain it later. It's only the 3rd day of the pan-India Lockdown and if we do not act now, more people will succumb to this evil than Corona Virus in the remaining 18 days.

The evil I am talking about is : Police Brutality.
In their over-enthusiasm to strictly enforce the "janta-curfew" and now pan-India Lock-down, police officers, of almost all states and UTs, are mercilessly beating people they find on the road without first asking - even once - the reason why they had to step out of their homes.

Many people, involved in the essential services have to bear the brunt of this callousness and heavy-handedness of the police. It so happens that most of these people are from the lower-middle class and the class below it.

Agreed that the lock-down has been declared by the PM to take on the COVID-19 Pandemic and it's important that everyone cooperates for it to succeed but that does not give Police the license to resort to such barbaric cruelty and unleash such shocking violence on people who may have very genuine and pressing reasons to be out.

By swinging its Lathi before even hearing the other person, the police may succeed in enforcing this lock-down but it will also succeed in demolishing the Rule of Law, the Principles of Natural Justice and people's fundamental right to live with dignity. I don't think you can ever let this happen.

And here's a basic question: what's the point of publicly beating, even killing, someone to 'save' him from Corona Virus? Reports are surfacing that a person from West Bengal has died after allegedly getting beaten up by the police. His crime : Stepping out of house to buy milk.

Hundreds of videos which are mushrooming on social media demonstrate the blood-curdling brutality of police being unleashed on ordinary people all over India. The intensity and scale of this violence is shocking, which cannot truly be described in words. And that's why I thought it wise to attach a small sample of videos with this mail so that you can see it yourself. (please find annexed Six Twitter video links)

What will truly shock the conscience of the court - it did shock mine - is the fearlessness and utter nonchalance with which these police officers are going about thrashing people. To do so in these times and age when there is a camera in every person's hand, one really needs to be completely convinced that there would be absolutely no consequence to one's actions.

While I certainly don't want a coward police force, I definitely want this much fear in their hearts that they know that if they commit a crime and that crime is captured on camera, they WILL have to face severe consequences; more severe than an ordinary person.

This 'virus' of violence has infected virtually all police forces across India, and the officers deployed on the ground are in 'serious condition'. There is a need to immediately sensitize them on what role they have to play as a responsible public servant, before they lose all perspective and cause irreparable loss of human-lives and state's credibility.

Therefore, I would request you to take suo-motu cognizance of this extremely critical matter. You are humbly requested to urgently issue strict orders/directions to the Home Minister of India, all Chief-Ministers and the DGPs/CPs of Police Forces of all the States/UTs to warn their officers on ground to immediately cease and desist from unnecessarily beating people in the streets and resorting to any cruelty during this lockdown period. They should also be sensitized about their role and explained the importance of kindness and empathy.

Sure, sometimes police is constrained to use force/violence but if found involved in any incident of brutality or unprovoked/disproportionate use of force, the officer will have to face steep financial as well penal consequences. I leave it to the wisdom of Your Honour to include things in the order so that a strong deterrence can be created for these errant officers who see a global emergency as an opportunity to unleash their evil side of personality.

So far, our judiciary has led India's fight against coronaVirus. And therefore I am extremely hopeful that you will, once again, come to the rescue of millions of innocent poor and middle class people who are not only up against a deadly virus but a brutally violent police force. Usually police is their first line of defense. But in this case, you are their first and probably the last hope.

Cordially,
Gaurav Jain
 

Comments

Dr Krishna K Prasad's picture

Yes, it is happening, but will such a ruling by SC really work in the present pendamic situation and too amidst the present arena of unprecedented unique sort of power game ?

Pages

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

MONGOLDOI: One person died and many others sustained injury when police resorted to open firing to disperse a group of protestors who turned violent after a local worker died in police custody at Dhola in Darrang district on Wednesday. The incident took place when a group of local residents staged a peaceful protest in front of the Dhola police station alleging custodial death of the local worker on Tuesday. As the senior police officials' including DSP and OC started talking to the protesters a section of these people suddenly turned violent and started raining stones at the policemen. Police resorted to blankfiring and lobbing of tear gas shells to disperse the mob. But the raining of...
MONGOLDOI: An uneasy situation grips in Dhola near Darrang when an irate mob clashed with police alleging the death of a local worker in police custody. The incident took place on Tuesday when hundreds of local people staged protest in front of the police station alleging that the police have killed one of the local residents in their custody. The senior police officials also initially agreed to talk to the protestors. Just before the talks, a section of the protestors turned violent and starter petting stones at the policemen who resorted to blank firing to disperse the mob. Even after lobbing tear gas shells many protesters kept raining stones at the policemen who had to flee from the...
DIBRUGARH:  Floral Fashion Show has drawn no less response when it was organised I Dibrugarh first of its kind in the state. Held under the guidance of Nasima Begum Lahkar at Chowkidingee Playground, in connection with 5th Assam International Agri-Horticultural Show - 2018 it drew huge response.   Several models of Assam participated in the Show. On this occasion a Workshop on Floral Design was also organised in the event on Sunday where many youths participated and learn about the making of Floral Head Band, Floral Hand Band, Floral Bouquet, Table Bouquet  etc. from Begum.  It may be mentioned that Nasima Begum Lahkar is an international expert trained by the Thailand...
TINSUKIA: Two ULFA -I rebels are believed to have been killed when they had a fierce gun battle with security forces in Tinsukia district on Sunday. The encounter which took place for nearly two hours took place in Lekhapani area on the bank of river Burhidihing at 8 in the evening. Acting on a some inputs, the Assam Rifles jawans along with their counterparts of 15th Kumaon Regiment launched a combing operation in the area where they were locked in a heavy gun battle with a group of ULFA-I rebels in Jagun along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.   The gun battle started when the rebels crossed the river Burhidihing where they had to counter the Assam Rifles jawans with firing...
GUWAHATI:Amid growing attack on Congress over suspicious and mysterious stand on the NRC related statement on Mamata Banerjee, the opposition party on Sunday made it plain and simple that there is no question of opposing NRC. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati party president Ripun Bora and senior leader Pradyut Bordoloi said the party had been supporting an updated NRC and it would keep supporting it. "The updated NRC must be flawless and nobody coming to Assam after the cut off mark must figure in it," said Ripun Bora. Hs said," what Sushmita Dev said is never her party's position. She said it individually. This is not out party's statement," said Bordoloi.
GUWAHATI: BJP president Amit Shah is on a three days visit to the north eastern region three months ahead of assembly polls in Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya. Shah, who landed in Guwahati in the wee hours on Saturday had a close door meeting with Himanta Biswa Sarma at the Circuit House where he was believed to have cleared the road map to ensure poll victory in Tripura. The BJP president visited the Kamakhya temple in the capital city before leaving for Meghalaya where he is holding a huge rally in the afternoon. In Shillong, Shah is scheduled to meet the party leaders in the evening. On Monday, the BJP chief is addressing a rally in Agartala before leaving back to Guwahati...
DIPHU: In yet another bizarre incident that sends huge shock and anger across the state, a minor boy allegedly molested and killed a 6 year old girl in Karbi Anglong district on Friday. Police in the late evening recovered the body from a pit in Omrangsu area where the shocking incident took place. The body was found only after the police picked up the 11 year old boy who is the accused. Details awaited.
Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma launched the Women Economic Empowerment through Financial Inclusion and Entrepreneurship at U Soso Tham Auditorium in Shillong on Friday. In his speech, Dr. Sangma said that the Government has started a very important programme since 2012 to take care of the most vulnerable group of society, which is the women and said that programmes like social assistance to single mothers is done only in Meghalaya to empower women with economic knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment and empower them economically. Because most mothers are not covered under financial inclusion, the aim of the programme is to include all female heads of the state...
Kokrajhar,Jan 5: The United People's Party-Liberal (UPPL) demanded a free and fair NRC across the state. Talking to www.assamtimes.org in Kokrajhar on Friday, Rajya Sabha MP and UPPL president Urkhao Gwra Brahma welcomed the first part NRC draft saying that it was a good job being monitored by the Supreme Court. He has appealed to the citizens not to be panic post publication of NRC draft over inclusion or non-inclusion in the first part draft. He said that first part draft publication indicates good sign while implementing NRC update and all original citizens will be included in the NRC. 'Illegal immigrants should be deported through the proper verification and they must be identified...
GUWAHATI: The Assam Boat Racing & Rowing Association has dispatched three women to participate in the Senior Men & Women National Coaching Camp in Rowing at Army Rowing Node in Pune slate from Sunday to March 3. They would be allowed to participate in the Asian Games in Indonesia. The selected rowers are Ritumoni Rabha, Anita Swargiary and Semim Sultana.