Shuimo
08-23-2009, 11:45 AM
A very sober-minded look at the security situation of India today if what is reported in the story is true! It is the same with China!
By Bijo Francis
Column: Incredible India Published: August 20, 2009
Geneva, Switzerland — Seven-year-old Juni Kumari was found missing from her house in Ghagni village in India’s Bihar state on Aug. 12. Three days later her body, with head shaven and sandalwood paste on her forehead, was found abandoned in a sugarcane field near her village.
Finding her daughter murdered, Juni’s mother filed a complaint with the local police. Investigations revealed that the girl was a victim of human sacrifice conducted by some Hindu priests in the village. The police reportedly arrested a priest, the prime suspect in the case.
On Aug. 17, in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat state, Muslim and Hindu communities started an armed riot over the petty issue of a religious procession passing by a Muslim school. The police had to resort to firing guns to disperse the fighting mob, which in a matter of hours destroyed buildings and looted properties and business establishments.
On July 23, in a fabricated “encounter” – an incident in which police intentionally shoot a suspect or accused person under the guise of self-defense – police commandos in the city of Imphal, capital of Manipur state, killed Chungkham Sanjit, a 27-year-old youth. In the same incident a woman, seven months pregnant, was killed, while five other civilians were seriously injured.
Justifying this atrocious incident in the state legislature later that day, Chief Minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh informed the state and fellow legislators that terrorism in the state could only be controlled by firm police action. In a single statement Singh not only justified the irresponsible police action, but also declared the two innocent civilians killed were terrorists, denying their families even a simple apology.
Despite the many internal threats like those cited above, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his Independence Day address to the nation on Aug. 15 said, "Terrorism and border infiltration from the neighboring countries is the greatest threat the nation faces."
External threats have been and will remain a threat to India's internal security. However, such threats are not unique to India or for that matter to any particular state. Threats from outside the nation's borders gain seriousness in a country where internal stability is weak.
It is similar to the human condition; a person becomes more vulnerable to infection when his or her internal defensive mechanism is compromised. In such a condition, any sensible physician would first attend to the patient's immune system rather than focusing on removing external pathogens over which neither the patient nor the physician have much control.
The prime minister of India plays a role similar to that of a physician. If the focus is merely on external threats over which the country or its government has no effective control, it cannot improve the country's security.
The biggest threat to India's internal security is its own law enforcement agencies. Atrocious acts involving serious violations of policing standards – like what happened in Imphal – have isolated law enforcement agencies from the people. A law enforcement agency that lacks the support and confidence of the people can neither enforce the law nor be of any help to them.
There is no legislative or normative framework in the country to control its law enforcement agencies. Accountability and transparency are unheard of within India’s law enforcement community. Officers are notorious for corruption and the use of arbitrary force on suspects rather than seeking real solutions to crime.
In India, the use of torture and the practice of extrajudicial execution are so rampant among the police that the term “law enforcement” has become a misnomer when referring to them. But neither politicians like Singh nor other policymakers in India are interested in addressing this issue. Instead, the rhetoric is about threats from outside the country.
In reality, focusing on external security threats is like placing a scarecrow in a paddy field where worms left unattended have already eaten the grain.
-- (Bijo Francis (http://www.upiasia.com/columnist/Bijo_Francis/) is a human rights lawyer currently working with the Asian Legal Resource Center in Hong Kong. He is responsible for the South Asia desk at the center. Francis has practiced law for more than a decade and holds an advanced master's degree in human rights law.)
http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2009/08/20/internal_instability_is_indias_worst_threat/4777/
By Bijo Francis
Column: Incredible India Published: August 20, 2009
Geneva, Switzerland — Seven-year-old Juni Kumari was found missing from her house in Ghagni village in India’s Bihar state on Aug. 12. Three days later her body, with head shaven and sandalwood paste on her forehead, was found abandoned in a sugarcane field near her village.
Finding her daughter murdered, Juni’s mother filed a complaint with the local police. Investigations revealed that the girl was a victim of human sacrifice conducted by some Hindu priests in the village. The police reportedly arrested a priest, the prime suspect in the case.
On Aug. 17, in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat state, Muslim and Hindu communities started an armed riot over the petty issue of a religious procession passing by a Muslim school. The police had to resort to firing guns to disperse the fighting mob, which in a matter of hours destroyed buildings and looted properties and business establishments.
On July 23, in a fabricated “encounter” – an incident in which police intentionally shoot a suspect or accused person under the guise of self-defense – police commandos in the city of Imphal, capital of Manipur state, killed Chungkham Sanjit, a 27-year-old youth. In the same incident a woman, seven months pregnant, was killed, while five other civilians were seriously injured.
Justifying this atrocious incident in the state legislature later that day, Chief Minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh informed the state and fellow legislators that terrorism in the state could only be controlled by firm police action. In a single statement Singh not only justified the irresponsible police action, but also declared the two innocent civilians killed were terrorists, denying their families even a simple apology.
Despite the many internal threats like those cited above, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his Independence Day address to the nation on Aug. 15 said, "Terrorism and border infiltration from the neighboring countries is the greatest threat the nation faces."
External threats have been and will remain a threat to India's internal security. However, such threats are not unique to India or for that matter to any particular state. Threats from outside the nation's borders gain seriousness in a country where internal stability is weak.
It is similar to the human condition; a person becomes more vulnerable to infection when his or her internal defensive mechanism is compromised. In such a condition, any sensible physician would first attend to the patient's immune system rather than focusing on removing external pathogens over which neither the patient nor the physician have much control.
The prime minister of India plays a role similar to that of a physician. If the focus is merely on external threats over which the country or its government has no effective control, it cannot improve the country's security.
The biggest threat to India's internal security is its own law enforcement agencies. Atrocious acts involving serious violations of policing standards – like what happened in Imphal – have isolated law enforcement agencies from the people. A law enforcement agency that lacks the support and confidence of the people can neither enforce the law nor be of any help to them.
There is no legislative or normative framework in the country to control its law enforcement agencies. Accountability and transparency are unheard of within India’s law enforcement community. Officers are notorious for corruption and the use of arbitrary force on suspects rather than seeking real solutions to crime.
In India, the use of torture and the practice of extrajudicial execution are so rampant among the police that the term “law enforcement” has become a misnomer when referring to them. But neither politicians like Singh nor other policymakers in India are interested in addressing this issue. Instead, the rhetoric is about threats from outside the country.
In reality, focusing on external security threats is like placing a scarecrow in a paddy field where worms left unattended have already eaten the grain.
-- (Bijo Francis (http://www.upiasia.com/columnist/Bijo_Francis/) is a human rights lawyer currently working with the Asian Legal Resource Center in Hong Kong. He is responsible for the South Asia desk at the center. Francis has practiced law for more than a decade and holds an advanced master's degree in human rights law.)
http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2009/08/20/internal_instability_is_indias_worst_threat/4777/