Forgetting Our Floyds

Police brutality victims rarely find justice here because there’s little systemic acknowledgement

- Agnidipto Tarafder

When President Joe Biden in his statement on the George Floyd hearings (and the conviction of police officer Derek Chauvin) called systemic racism a ‘stain on our nation’s soul’, it was an epochal moment for race relations in the US. The killing of George Floyd last year sparked protests across the country demanding an end to police atrocities against racial minorities. A Minnesota court found Chauvin guilty of murder, ultimately sentencing him to 22.5 years in prison.

President Biden’s statement is significant because it was an admission by the head of state of deep-rooted systemic bias against minorities. That similar statements in solidarity were made cutting across the political aisle is equally significant. Police atrocities are a manifestation of prevalent social attitudes towards race, and the near-universal acknowledgment of the fact is certainly a step towards justice.

What lessons does the Floyd trial have for India?

The first must be in demanding accountability from the powers-that-be. Police brutality in India isn’t rare, with highly publicized encounters making front-page news. About five people die in custody daily in this country, the home ministry’s submissions to Parliament indicate, but few of them are thoroughly investigated.

Rarely do such cases lead to convictions or the apportioning of responsibility. An analysis of NCRB data reveals that about 7 in 10 custodial deaths in the past decade were attributed to illness or suicide, which while reflecting poorly on prison infrastructure seem to obfuscate the possibility of custodial torture as an underlying reason.