A Violation To Human Rights Or A Robin Hood Mission To Curb Crimes
A Grim Reality
“Have you ever seen the statue of justice? What people usually fail to notice is that the right hand of the statue holds a sword. That sword is the policemen of our country.”
~ Talvar [2015]
What is an encounter killing? Why does it happen? Is what they say on the news true? Or is this ‘extrajudicial killing’ very important in our democracy?
Encounter culture, existing in India since the late 20th century, is said to be an extrajudicial killing [killing of a person by any individual without the sanction of any judicial proceeding] which is not an offence with respect to IPC Section 96 [things done in private defence.] 1 The basic storyline that comes to our mind when we use the phrase ‘encounter killing’ is a group of policemen one of whom kills the accused on the name of private defence. Private defence is like
“he grabbed the constable’s gun, fired two bullets and tried to run out of the vehicle when the inspector shot him in defence.” There is some difference between private defence and self defence. The latter one is only to protect self while the former can be done not only to protect self but other people [even a stranger] and things as well [like property].
If you walk in a crowd and ask anyone, be it educated or uneducated, mostly all are on the side of the policemen. Instant death of the accused is what everyone is in favour of. Very few people want to know the back-story or get in the depth of the matter and I personally believe that half knowledge is indeed dangerous. The first real encounter killing that India knows of is the encounter of a powerful underworld gangster- Manya Surve. This encounter is what you can call
as a ‘Robin Hood mission to curb crime’. He was very much a dangerous person who was involved in a number of illegal activities. Manya Surve’s killing can’t be remarked as a bad move, even though this extra judicial killing is not in favour of the rightful procedures of the law.
1 Section 96, The Indian Penal Code, 1860
There are some police officers who have crossed the 50th mark of encounter and one has even crossed the 300th mark. Crossing big three digit numbers is an enormous issue leading to
controversies. To say that all these encounters were done in the name of private defence seems to be unrealistic and tricky. It is definitely possible that all these accused were dangerous and had connections like those of a man in the underworld but it is also possible that the accused was/were not involved in any illegal or wrong business and were caught because of misidentification or other reasons. This could be absolutely baneful and toxic for the victim’s family and more essentially to the justice, the law, the constitution of this country. Leo Tolstoy
has wonderfully remarked, “The wrong doesn’t cease to be wrong because the majority have a share in it.”
There is a term that many authors, journalists and editors like to use, ‘fake encounter’. I would like to explain a fake encounter as a drama scene like that on a theatre stage. The difference would be only one character or only one party plays both the roles: protagonist as well as the antagonist. Fake encounters can again be included in the possibility of the accused being involved in illegal activities or the accused is misidentified as the wrong person. Sometimes, encounters are done by police officers as a Robin Hood mission for promotion, or fame and
sympathy of the citizens of our country because this would be considered as a noble work for the crowd. This becomes police brutality. An encounter burns the bridge that connects us to justice. It violates the spirit of our constitution and takes wrong advantages of it some in cases as we know. It does seem a mere violation of human rights. Even in the name of private defence we need to understand that a person is being killed. Taking away a life is not a light issue.
Even when it happens in the heat of the moment, we fail to understand that be the person good or bad, someone was killed. It should be a moral obligation to not be very insensitive. Moreover, when this extrajudicial killing is taking place, it hampers the right lawful procedures that should be executed for a crime.
If encounter killing seems to be as a very noble act of destructing the devil then why wasn’t Ajmal Kasab encountered on spot when assistant sub inspector Tukaram Omble and his valorous colleagues caught him? He could be encountered easily that time but he wasn’t. It was because a trial and later execution was necessary. With just capturing the accused there is much more
information that can be gained by the police. Killing the accused also blocks the way of obtaining more information and other details. For what Ajmal Kasab did, none of us could ever forgive him, but he was driven by the feelings of hatred and he felt it as an obligation to do whatever he did. In the end when he was executed, that was when the true sparkling light of justice reached the corners of our world. It is a cardinal principal of the law; no accused should be punished unless his guilt is proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Do you all recollect when Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation had withdrawn non- cooperation movement after the chauri chaura incident? In the chauri chaura incident an angry mob of people had burned down a police station which killed 22 police officers inside that station after some officers had clashed with some people participating in a protest against high food price and liquor sale. Gandhiji had withdrawn the movement because he didn’t believe in
obtaining anything through violence. I imagine if he was present between all of us today, what would have he said about the encounter killings? What would have he said when he would see the ashes of the burned bridge? He was a staunch believer in doing what is right. If there is one thing that is true to its nature, and provides what it aims for- justice, it is the judiciary system of
India.
Sitting on the top of the graveyard of morality it is there,
Crippling the innocent spirit and joyous behaviour like that of a child it is there,
Like thick, dark layer of clouds that brings darkness,
Like a good mother’s nightmare,
It sits on the devil’s head like crown.
Like the sinking titanic
Giving us chills of a deadly cold air.
He and she have forgot that it’s still there,
But it is there existing like a strong brave man,
It’s the wrong you do, it’s the wrong you think, it’s the wrong you didn’t care about, it’s the
wrong that lives in you.
Remove it before it gets more late,
Or it’s going to be there even after you take a last breath.
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