The Kathua and Unnao cases starkly expose the fault lines in our policing system. What these cases and others show is the lack of independence and the capture of the police in our country—its political capture, capture by the elites, its majoritarian capture, and capture by dominant groups and dominant ideology. The police are tools of the political and class elite, and torture and violence are used as tools of punishment, control and retribution. It is time we treat the moral abyss that is policing in India with the seriousness, urgency and immediacy the victims, and our people, deserve. Urmila Pullat is a lawyer and researcher and runs the India desk for the Asian Human Rights Commission (Hong Kong).

Source: Mint April 18, 2018 20:48 UTC