India's police force is pathetic': Fareed Zakaria

[Yusuf]

Johnee, the police force has become pathetic because of the politicians. The politicians certainly dont want to change that now. Who will serve their interests?

 

[johnee]

Johnee, the police force has become pathetic because of the politicians. The politicians certainly dont want to change that now. Who will serve their interests?

Yes. That is the point I am driving at. Police is pathetic because of Politicians. So, my point is dont blame police when the real culprits are politicians.

 

[Yusuf]

Yes. That is the point I am driving at. Police is pathetic because of Politicians. So, my point is dont blame police when the real culprits are politicians.

Partly it is. Who is asking them to suck up? Why havent they revolted? Its because they are not interested in the job, the real job that is. Right now their only job is to serve the politicians. They are now quite hand in glove with them.

 

[johnee]

Partly it is. Who is asking them to suck up? Why havent they revolted? Its because they are not interested in the job, the real job that is. Right now their only job is to serve the politicians. They are now quite hand in glove with them.

Why just police? Entire nation should have revolted against this system...so why blame one person or organisation?

I am not trying shield the police, I agree they should and could be better. But my point is that politicians, more precisely the ruling regime, will prove to be the first hurdle if and when an officers tries to do his job sincerely.

 

[Yusuf]

Why just police? Entire nation should have revolted against this system...so why blame one person or organisation?

I am not trying shield the police, I agree they should and could be better. But my point is that politicians, more precisely the ruling regime, will prove to be the first hurdle if and when an officers tries to do his job sincerely.

I think we will keep talking the same thing in different threads, but yes, the entire system needs to be changed. It requires constitutional changes.
Who will and how will this be "sold" to 1.2billion people so that they hit the street and demand the change?

I have talked about this just the other day in another thread, fail to recollect which. We need to implement a if not a two party, but a multiparty presidential form of government. People elect the president directly. People elect lawmakers who have nothing to do with any ministries. They are just lawmakers. Separate the executive, legislative and judiciary with a mechanism to check each others powers.

 

[johnee]

^^^my suggestions:
2 tenures per PM, HM, Defence Minister, FM.
If PM resigns or dies, go for repoll.
One contestant can contest only one constituency at one time.
One family(Husband, Wife, Children, Father, Mother, Brother, Sister) cannot enjoy more than one cabinet berth.
Compulsory voting.
Option to vote for 'none of the above' in elections.
If 'none of the above' is voted than 35%, repoll.
Candidate with atleast 10% vote difference or one with simple majority wins. Otherwise repoll.
A candidate who is rejected in 'none of the above', cannot participate in repoll.

 

[Poseidon]

Very interesting insight.

 

[Yusuf]

Very interesting insight.

We would appreciate an elaborate response as well as to what your thoughts are.

 

[Poseidon]

We would appreciate an elaborate response as well as to what your thoughts are.

Well it show's most other Indians or people of Indian origin never have word's of praise for Indian intelligence agencies.

 

[johnee]

Well it show's most other Indians or people of Indian origin never have word's of praise for Indian intelligence agencies.

as compared to pakistanis who seem to be enamoured of their intelligence agencies and security forces...?

 

[Sikh_warrior]

fareed spoke the truth and the truth hurts.....

our netagiri, chamchagiri, babugiri, bhaigiri etc have all made our security forces incompetant and corrupt to the core!

thats how last 6 terror attacks have not been solved yet!

no need to be ashamed of our shortcomings.....now Delhi Police has asked for external help in solving the delhi high court attack!

 

[The Messiah]

CRPF has only taken over the security of the Airport and some other installations. However the outer periphery is still guarded by the DP. In the capital with hundreds of VIPs, maybe even a couple of thousand, in the majority of the cases the protection duty is with the DP.
When the the PM, President or Madame Gandhi go in a convoy have you seen the hundreds of policemen spread throughout the route, the VIP has to take, and they have to be in place hours before on three alternate routes. Most of these cops are not pulled from their regular duties, but they are on regular standby.
These leaders have to be guarded but nobody has yet to make an assessment on the exact force requirement, or whether the particular person is in need of such levels of protection.

security at houses of vip is done by crpf and not delhi police.

 

[Yatharth Singh]

Just to say one thing. Put US in place of India on the subcontinent. I bet that then there would be lethal blasts on daily basis killing hundreds of Americans daily. When you are are bordered with the so high intensity terror states sharing land borders then it is very difficult to avoid such terrorists and still India is able to prevent most of the intrusions so how come they are bad?

 

[Yatharth Singh]

One of the major concerns of Indian Police is health. I personally feel 90% are unfit with huge tummies. Most wont be able to run long distances to catch thieves.

So what do you think about the US police personnel? Just go and see their condition. They have more number of obese servicemen then ours.
If you can then just try to get a look at the RPF(Reserve Police Force) men. You will get to know how fit and smart our policemen are. Dont talk about the regular stationed cops at local 'Thanas'.

I myself watch the daily parade march in the RPF compound from outside while on my way to coaching and hats off to them for their training, physique, smartness and looks. The only thing which I dont like is the old SLR in their hands thats it.

 

[Known_Unknown]

So what do you think about the US police personnel? Just go and see their condition. They have more number of obese servicemen then ours.

No they don't. In fact, the vast majority of cops in western countries are built big enough that they could easily beat up Salman Khan and not break a sweat. I'm not kidding. You'd know if you ever visited a western country.

And what's the RPRF? I've never heard about it. And since they're the "reserve" police force, I don't think they work on the frontlines as fulltime cops do.

 

[Yatharth Singh]

Partly it is. Who is asking them to suck up? Why havent they revolted? Its because they are not interested in the job, the real job that is. Right now their only job is to serve the politicians. They are now quite hand in glove with them.

DISAGREE. Will you work with full devotion and honesty without taking any bribe if your family(including small children) get malnutrition? If your children doesnt get those things which they should have been given without asking. THIS IS THE POINT, PRICES ARE GETTING UP BUT NOT THE SALARIES OF COMMON POLICEMEN. Do you ever know in how much pressure our policemen works! They are also humans and have the right to live their dreams. If Gov. will not think for them then they will be forced to choose wrong path.

What if Gov. raises the prices of each item by 100 INR and cancels the 6th Pay Commission? I know they cant dare to do so but suppose that happened then no doubt that riots will spread in hours all over India.

And you talk about protest! What protest? In this costly world, everyone loves their job mate. No one can dare to oppose the Ministers. Atleast not a common Policeman, NOW TELL ME WHO IS AT FAULT? GOV. OR POLICE?

 

[Yatharth Singh]

No they don't. In fact, the vast majority of cops in western countries are built big enough that they could easily beat up Salman Khan and not break a sweat. I'm not kidding. You'd know if you ever visited a western country.

And what's the RPRF? I've never heard about it. And since they're the "reserve" police force, I don't think they work on the frontlines as fulltime cops do.

Its RPF not RPRF.And yes they are not used on regular basis for common jobs.

But dear I`M ALSO NOT KIDDING.
Beating up Salman Khan is not a big deal. When did I said that every policemen in US is overweight? They seems to be built big enough because of the natural body built differences(including heights) b/w east and west. Dont compare that and also dont tell me that who can knock down whom because I also know 'something' about my cops who patrol day & night in their Maruti Gypssy or 'Chetak' and that if any of them got his hands on Sylvestor Stelone then guess what, Rambo will become a mambo. So dont teach me how they fight. Just accept what the truth is.

 

[Energon]

Actually there is nothing wrong with Zakaria's observations. Pointing out a pathetic police force isn't mutually exclusive with holding the government responsible. The police is a critical extension of the government and hence the implication goes without saying. Second, this is not a personal attack, pointing out a grossly obvious flaw in the Indian police system doesn't mean all police officers suck as human beings. So all the nationalist mouth frothers can relax.

It is also a fact that the majority of the "best and the brightest" don't pursue careers in the Indian police force, or government related anything for that matter (including DRDO)... and I don't blame them. Within the pool of contenders aiming for government posts, the higher performers tend to prefer IAS or the foreign service.

Fact of the matter is that India's police system is indeed pathetic since the founding structure itself is flawed. The police system is a direct vestige from the colonial administration which was designed not to serve and protect the citizens, but oppress and occasionally violently suppress subjects. Forget about terrorism, the current police system doesn't adequately provide the services required for the law and order of a functional nation state.

As far as anti terrorism operations are concerned Zakaria is right, the US has a sophisticated and synergistic system where the local police forces, federal bureau of investigations and the central intelligence agencies work in a coordinated manner. Coordination has never been a strong forte of the Indian establishment, but the absolute lack of cohesion nullifies even the few brilliant operations conducted by intelligence agencies. The best example I can think of is the dissemination of cellphone chips which enabled the police to immediately hone in on the chatter between the terrorists and their Pakistani handlers. But then the very asset who pawned the chips found his cover blown by the police forces who had clearly not communicated with RAW.

There are tons of shortcomings in the Indian anti terrorism efforts and Zakaria has merely mentioned some of them and there's really nothing he says that can be dismissed.