Pressing need for police reform felt
At a roundtable titled, 'Proposed Police Ordinance and Citizens' Thinking', a consensus was reached on Monday among leading legal experts and civil society members for the process of police reforms to be initiated during the tenure of the present caretaker government. Notable exceptions were, however, politician-participants who advocated enactment of the reform bill through an elected government.
Those who are for immediate action on the agenda have argued that successive governments during the last 37 years having failed to bring about police reform, the task now devolves on the caretaker government.
For our part, we have been consistently stressing the point that rather than leaving the agenda like police reform and right to information for elected governments, let these be addressed by the caretaker government on a concrete footing. Our argument in favour of taking this rather unconventional position is three fold: first, since the political governments have used the police as a tool against their opponents to serve their partisan ends, they were the least motivated to reform the police force on truly professional lines. By contrast, the caretaker government being non-political is ideally suited to bring about the changes in the police force. Secondly, the draft ordinance for police reform that is in hand had been put through scrutiny by experts, civil society leaders, senior police officials and media analysts. Granted that this must still be subjected to further public discourse and debate before being finalised, the fact remains that we have a basis to work on. It is from this angle that we welcome the inputs provided by the participants in Monday's roundtable organised by Sujan. Thirdly, after all, the ordinance that the caretaker government passes would have to be ratified through an elected parliament. We are confident that what is good will stand the test of time.
The police is the first and the most obvious face of the state before the people. A well-trained, efficient, public spirited and impartial police force is a multi-dimensional boon for a nation. It is just not a law and order asset but also an asset for stable democracy, economic well-being and sustainable development of the country. We fully endorse the view of a retired IGP that investment in the police should be looked upon as an investment in development rather than a mere revenue expenditure.
Comments