With You, For You ,Always- A Fallacy?

By Seikholen Thomsong

New Delhi, April 7: If you have read the motto of the Delhi Police it fills your heart with warmth. You say to yourself, “Oh! Look at how the police force of the capital city of the most populous democracy in the world has sensitized and made itself so humane”. Please do not jump to conclusions because you just might be mistaken. It could just be an image that those jokers donning the khaki uniform cannot just live up to.

Common people like yours truly, under-privileged or without influence or connection to any person of high office become victims of police or official apathy.The police it seems is answerable only to the high and mighty. They dont seem to exist for common citizens.The police force in any civilised soceity is, by principle, there to ensure law and order and to assist the citizens in their time of need. One of its basic duties is to listen and register complaints.However one finds they are not even ready to do that.

My cell phone was stolen on the evening of the fourth of April. I was alarmed to learn that the thief had been misusing it. He had taken particular joy in talking lewd to ladies especially friends and relatives who had called me up. The bastard was audacious enough to not even bother to change the sim card. Friends from as far as Imphal rang me up on a colleague’s phone and told me how a man had abused them when they called up my number.

In the evening I drove into the Police Station, Delhi Cantt, walked up to the duty officer, a lowly two striper and requested him to register a first information report. I was appalled at his reply. He not only refused to register an FIR but went on to chide me saying, “You lost a cell phone and found it convenient to report only now. Come tomorrow!” No doubt it was quite late in the evening but then I had not been able to do so earlier owing to official commitments.

Not one to take things lying down, I told him straight in the face, “Why don’t you tell me straight and say you won’t register an FIR instead of asking me to come again? That would save us both the bother.” He looked at me as if he would eat me up but that was the most he could do. I gave him some more verbal taunts and left him fuming but helpless to do a thing. Not many would be lucky to even be able to express the disdain they have for these clowns in khaki. I was lucky enough to escape being beaten or being manhandled.

This is just one instance of official apathy. There are countless instances where the affected persons would have been helpless and would have remained silent about it.

No wonder day after day there is news of the force being featured in the news for all the wrong reasons, be it rape of a teen at a police outpost in Mumbai or complicity in the murder of a model in Delhi or the various alleged and some proved instances of cold blooded murder in the name of counter insurgency in the North East Indian States.