The escalation of lawlessness in Uttar Pradesh has to do with the mindset of the ruling Samajwadi Party which believes in posting officers on the basis of caste rather than merit and maintaining its writ by force rather than rule of law
Uttar Pradesh is fast descending into chaos and lawlessness. Gruesome rapes and violent political murders are being reported from different districts of the State. It seems that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s Government has lost the plot. It is not in a position to stem the tide of lawlessness engulfing the State. The anarchic situation in Uttar Pradesh has been aptly compared to a matsyanaya — a situation wherein the big fish devour the small ones.
This descent is not a new phenomenon. The situation was on a downward spiral and the State Government has only itself to blame for this calamitous deterioration. The previous regime, led by Ms Mayawati, was corrupt, and misgovernance was its common characteristic. Yet, law enforcement was better because there was less external interference in police administration. District officers, by and large, were given a free hand to contain crime and violence. But the Samajwadi Party, after coming to power, started meddling in police administration with a vengeance, and eroded the morale of the senior officers as well as the discipline of the force.
Chief Minister Yadav is now quoting National Crime Records Bureau figures, based on police statistics, to argue that crime figures in Uttar Pradesh are better than many other States and that the media’s criticism is unfair and unfounded. But facts speak otherwise. According to the figures of the NCRB, 23,561 cases of violence against women, including 1,963 incidents of rape, were reported in 2012 in Uttar Pradesh. Only Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan fared worse on crimes against women. Moreover, police statistics, however reliable, reveal only the tip of the iceberg. A large number of cases goes unreported and unregistered. On a conservative estimate, the true incidence of crime must be 25 times more than what is reported to the police. It has now become impossible in Uttar Pradesh, as reported in the Press, to ensure that police draw up a First Information Report and register a case when a complaint is made. Burking of crime by police is a gargantuan problem in all States, but the situation in Uttar Pradesh in this respect has become monstrous. Police just refuse to register criminal cases, more so those which are reported by the weaker sections of society, often leading to tragic consequences. Filing of an FIR is often governed by the dynamics of caste and economic situation.
Senior police officers and their political masters are also keen to see that crime figures remain low, as on the basis of police statistics, the performance of the State Government in the maintenance of law and order is judged on the floor of the State Assembly and Parliament. A Chief Minister will frown upon free registration of cases, showing sharp escalation of crime, as that will show his Government in a poor light.
Another unwholesome development responsible for this unprecedented lawlessness is the injection of brazen casteism in police administration by the ruling Samajwadi Party. In the larger districts of Uttar Pradesh, nearly 60 per cent of police stations are headed by Yadav police officers. In Badaun, where two girls were recently raped and hanged, 16 out of 22 police stations were headed by Yadav police officers. One leading newspaper called it the ‘Yadavisation’ of the Uttar Pradesh Police.
The Chief Minister and his advisers may have calculated that posting of pliant officers on caste considerations in police stations in the districts will further their political interests. But this has boomeranged. The administration cannot be run by posting unworthy favourites at important charges. Most of the district chiefs assign Yadav officers to important police stations to curry favour with the ‘First Family’. In the process, the chain of command and control has snapped and most of these officers, with direct access to their political masters, don’t care two hoots about their senior officers.
Further, there is an erosion of confidence of the common people in the police. So, they do not come to report cases. Apparently, the abduction and rape of young girls is quite common in some districts of Uttar Pradesh. But the people do not report such cases to the police out of fear. In Badaun, the dastardly crime came to light only because the two sisters were murdered. Efforts of the police chief to palm it off as an honour killing are very unfortunate.
To nail the concocted crime statistics of the police, there is need for a victimisation survey. This will provide a better idea about the incidence of crime. In many Western countries, victimisation surveys — where victims are interviewed by researchers to know the incidence of unreported crime — are considered more reliable than police statistics. Victimisation surveys also provide valuable insights into public attitudes towards the police. Many criminologists justifiably regard victimisation surveys as more reliable than crimes reported to the police.
It is a fact that many sex offenders are repeaters and these anti-socials should remain under surveillance of the police. Unfortunately, the police often turn a Nelson’s eye to their anti-social activities because they enjoy the patronage of the local politicians. This is happening in many of the districts of Uttar Pradesh. The outcome is lawlessness and disorder engulfing the State. The answer is insulation of the police from extraneous pressure and influence.
Uttar Pradesh Police also suffers from other basic constraints. It is severely handicapped by the shortage of staff. In India, there are approximately 122 policemen per one lakh of population, which is far below the police-population ratio in peaceful and advanced countries of the West. In States like Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, it is less than 100. The ratio improves markedly for urban areas but the rural remains neglected. NCRB statistics show that against the sanctioned strength of 3,15,912, police personnel in Uttar Pradesh, the actual strength is 1,51,912.
During the previous regime of the Samajwadi Party in the State, between 2004 and 2006, about 22,000 policemen were recruited. But several irregularities in recruitment, including waiving of police verification of candidates with criminal records and forging of examination papers, came to light. The BSP Government that followed cancelled the appointments and took the matter up to the Supreme Court. When the Samajwadi Party came to power in 2012, it withdrew the matter from the apex court.
Sociologists point out that the rise of regional casteist parties is often accompanied by escalation of crimes and violence directed against the weaker sections of the society. Bereft of ideology, these parties rely on lumpen elements to bolster their authority and bear down on other groups that challenge their hegemony. Uttar Pradesh is witnessing this unsavoury phenomenon.
(The writer is a former Director General of the National Human Rights Commission and former Director of National Police Academy)