MY MASTER'S WISH...

In a disturbing trend, the police are seen as working at the behest of political masters, leading to the arrest of innocent people and muscle-flexing. There is a need for operational independence to ensure an efficient police force

- Ashutosh K Sharma

THE word police is derived from the Greek word polis, which means city. It was used as politia in the Latin language, which means civil administration. Basically, the dictionary meaning of police is, the civil force of a state, responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and maintenance of public order. The police are the most ubiquitous organisation of society and are expected to be the most accessible, interactive, and dynamic organisation. They play twin roles in society maintaining law and order.

Any police official must have qualities like humanity, integrity, professionalism, and courage. It must work fairly with the right approach and its main aim is to ensure the safety of the public at large.

However, in a disturbing trend, this organisation is often misused by ruling parties to score their own goals and the police end up working under the influence of these parties. When the police and politicians scratch each other's back, citizens always suffer. Every democratic nation is expected to have independent police machinery and not tolerate any political interference. Unfortunately, this expectation is belied in most nations, including India.

In the present era, no political party in power will give up its grip on the police and this is being misused on selected individuals or segments that are not in favour of the rulers. Misuse of power to settle personal scores with political rivals is nothing new. However, this trend is on the highest curve in recent times. Every political party which had formed a government in any state or centre is guilty of vendetta politics. There are several instances of high voltage political drama and each time, ruling parties have misused the police machinery, which takes the oath to uphold constitutional values and safeguard the public.