Since Independence, the police have been an unaccountable and corrupt lot that turns a deaf ear to the plight of aggrieved citizens as they remain almost wholly complicit in thriving nefarious activities.

An existing anomaly in the absence of a full statehood of Delhi is that the city’s police are answerable only to the Union Home Ministry through the lieutenant governor and not to the state government.

A few minutes of Google search will indicate the state of law and order in the city and official figures clearly reveal a rising trajectory for occurrences of crime in the capital as 54,287, 53,353 and 51,292 cases were reported for the years 2012, 2011 and 2010 respectively.

Though Indians are known to have a high tolerance for corruption the horrific Nirbhaya rape case on December 16, 2012, shook the country out of its inertia and brought them to the streets to demand swift justice.

Referring to this case in an annual report, the then Delhi Police Commissioner, Neeraj Kumar conceded, “The inability of the people to correct the system, more so the criminal justice system, and in a quick manner was largely responsible for the people’s anger spilling on to the streets.”

Supporting his party colleagues in the latest dharna, senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav says, “The protest was launched to fulfill party’s promise to the people in its manifesto. The necessity of this unusual protest, for a Chief Minister to resort to a sit-in, arose from the continuing saga of troubles faced by the public at the hands of police officials who have become corrupt, inefficient and are just not answerable to people, particularly towards women. The people want a quick solution and as elected representatives, Kejriwal and his elected colleagues are duty bound to act per the concerns of the citizens.”

Further he has accused other political parties including the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not listening to the ‘voice of the people’ and being “double faced” on the issue.

The first day of the two-day dharna was largely peaceful as protestors raised slogans against police atrocities and Kejriwal cleared files at the venue as a deployment of 4,000 policemen encircled them with barricades and shut down four metro stations.

But on the second day when more people tried to join the protestors matters went out of hand and the police resorted to lathi-charge (caning) that left about 15 people seriously injured going by testimonies of three doctors on voluntary service.

However, a central government popular for fiddling and fumbling over serious matters was visibly rattled when Kejriwal announced, “Each time a rape happens some police officers need to be suspended to bring down crimes… I have come prepared for 10 days to protest. If there is any chaos during Republic Day, then the central government will have to be blamed. I had earlier tweeted asking people not to join us for the protest. Now I am calling all of you to join us in the cause. And I appeal to all honest policemen to take leave and join me in this fight for justice.”

Backroom negotiations between the lieutenant governor and the center let to Center agreeing to send two police officers on paid leave on the evening of January 21 after which Kejriwal proclaimed, “This is the first step towards our goal of achieving full-statehood for Delhi and we apologize for causing inconvenience to general public by the shutting of the metro services.”

Reacting on the outcomes of this protest Yadav says, “What appears to be a partial success today might prove to be a turning point in the history of Delhi’s governance. This is just the beginning of delivering what we had promised. Our words will never change. We were fighting for Aam Aadmi (common man).”

Reactions. The protest found widespread support among social activists like Medha Patkar. Political scientists and citizens, especially the lower classes thronged the venue much unlike in other political parties-led protests where freelancers are hired to make for the numbers.

Social networking sites reported a mixed response but lashing criticism for Kejriwal’s methods came from large media bastions, elite classes and of course across the political spectrum who called the protest a ‘gimmick of self-styled vigilantes.’

Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Home Minister, called Kejriwal a “mad Chief Minister” and BJP leaders termed AAP leaders a bunch of “misguided missiles.”

Former Karnataka Lokayukta, Santosh Hegde denounced Kejriwal saying, “I was happy when AAP formed Delhi government, but now I am very disappointed. You can’t take the law in your own hands. Just because Mahatma Gandhi did it you can’t do it in the 21st century. This is pure and simple arrogance of power, not political immaturity.”

Mahatma Gandhi who is considered the Father of the Nation had staged mass non-cooperation and disobedience movements to free India from the clutches of the British Raj.

BJP senior leader Arun Jaitley was more uncharitable in his remarks when he called Kejriwal an anarchist and asked for an immediate resignation of Delhi government and questioned the Congress support to Delhi dispensation.

But this is not in the interest of Congress which would do everything to keep the BJP out of Delhi after they lost four states to the latter in past assembly polls.

Social activist and ex-police officer Kiran Bedi also blamed the AAP and central government for sending out wrong signals to the people. For past few months Bedi has been seen supporting BJP’s Prime Ministerial nominee, Narendra Modi for 2014 general elections.

The main points of disapproval have been that the year-old AAP could be frittering its gains and setting forth dangerous precedents by mobilizing masses of impatient social sections.

Analysis. Crucial to an immediate resolution to the controversy in the alleged drugs and sex racket in Khirkee village will be establishment of evidential proof of Delhi Law Minister, Somnath Bharti transgressing his legal limits by entering a house or area of trade or business and deliberate racial profiling.

While most press reports blame Bharti, one suggests that Bharti did not enter the premises but had sent a decoy into the house pointed out by locals, and that this decoy was asked to pay Rs.10,000 a night for entering the premises.

Khirkee residents applaud him for listening to their woes after a year long of hundreds of written complaints to the police and lieutenant governor to address the issue yielded no response.

The Delhi Police’s credibility stands demolished in this case as sections of Delhi Police Act, Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act, and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act all have provisions that accord it the authority to arrest and raid without warrant if they can justify their actions in writing to the court that it was cases relating to narcotics and prostitution.

For a fact, drug peddling has become rampant among certain expatriate nationalities and as prostitution rackets prosper under police protection an independent judicial probe can be relied to establish veracity.

As far as vigilantism is concerned, political scientists largely affirm that this propaganda by deed or willful breaking of laws by sections of society are aimed at drawing attention of the state and other social sections, and are symbolic of systemic malaise so deeply set in that the state assumes function of tacit perpetrators of crime, injustice and oppression against the very citizens that it has been authorized to govern.

Though they advise adoption of this method as the last resort, they also caution the state to pay heed to thousands of small revolts, failure of which might explode into a single mass revolution.

How the current protest impacts AAP’s political fortunes is not yet clear.

But with regards to its political ambitions, the party, buoyed by the response of Delhi electorate, has decided to fight in 400 seats in upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Time will reveal if this party can match its “governance” with its “idea” of giving power to the people and only then will its magic among the people remain relevant.

— Priyanka Bhardwaj

Are Vigilantism and Street protests the solution to Prevent Rapes in Delhi?

Strengthening the rape laws early last year was just a way to pacify India’s middle class, which had gone berserk after the infamous Delhi gang rape. There was nothing wrong with the then rape laws of India, it was poor law enforcement, police apathy and most importantly the society’s inability to view women as just equals that contributed to high incidence of rape.

Not surprisingly, the new rape laws have since only acted as placebos and have had no effect on the rape stats.

Now that the rape crisis is back in full swing, the ball of making Delhi safer is in AAP’s court. AAP’s favor rating was swinging like a pendulum from adulation to condemnation after going public on its views on reservations and foreign investments.

Kejirwal may have succeeded in forcing a few junior police officers to go on leave, but that is a textbook example of missing the woods for the trees. And what was the fault of the officers? Being misfortunate enough to be the officer-in-charge of the area the gang rape took place and refusing to follow the diktats of a minister. However good intentioned may be Kejirwal’s demands to suspend the officers, they ironically echo the actions of politicians like Mamata and Akhilesh Yadav.

AAP ministers Rakhi Birla and Somnath Bharati may have had the approval of locals in pressuring the police into conducting an arrest or a raid. But law and order in a democracy depends on rules and procedures that have been put in place to ensure a fair trial and prevent miscarriage of justice. Police procedures such as the requirement of a probable cause to conduct a raid are the very hallmarks of a democracy that distinguish it from an authoritarian state.  Not only is Bharti’s midnight “raid” a crime, coming close on the heels of the Khobragade row, it makes us Indians look as hypocrites.

Instead of negotiating with the center to take charge of the police or creating a special force under the city government such as in Washington D.C., it is disappointing that the Chief Minister made a hasty decision to get on the streets. The knee jerk reaction to amend the rape laws during Nirbhaya agitation has failed to make the city safer. This time again, hasty decisions like street protests and vigilantism are making the recipe for a disaster. There is no denying that police reforms are urgently needed to make Delhi a safer place. However, such changes must be well mediated and procured through democratic process, and the most important change is not about the Delhi Police but the society’s view of women as mere equals.

— Ash Moorthy