It is worrying to observe a recent trend happening both in Nagaland and elsewhere where authority is being questioned and challenged in a manner unbefitting of the discipline and honour that one would associate with our public offices whether it is the army, police or any other organization. For instance in a shocking case, a woman police officer (IPS) was dragged on the road by her subordinates in a vehicle after she objected to extortion by them in the name of traffic checking. Apparently, the lady police officer had caught her colleagues extorting money from truck drivers and when she tried to oppose this, the rogue policemen roughed her up. Closer home three cops who were supposed to be on duty were caught by village volunteers extorting money from passing vehicles near Kohima. Again in the State Capital another rogue cop was caught by local residents for trying to steal a two wheeler motorcycle. This particular cop was identified as a ‘habitual offender’ by the police itself. This is the sorry state of our police force at present where indiscipline and corruption has become the order of the day. In fact, why speak about only the few cops who have unfortunately been caught. Illegal collection, which is tantamount to extortion, is being practiced across the length and breadth of the State. Then we have the famous problem of cops drinking during duty. This is a common habit that you will notice in the police force. Then the other quality attributed to the cops is their highhandedness and violent behavior. There is therefore a strong case for cleaning up the dirt within the police set up.
The other related area of concern is the manner in which aggrieved elements within the police force have taken to the streets to voice out their frustration. There is nothing wrong in our cops questioning the higher ups. In fact they have every right to voice their grievances. However this has to be done in a peaceful and orderly manner without resorting to unruly behaviour. There has been concern raised over the recent ‘mutiny’ within the ranks of one of the IRB units. No one is questioning their right to protest. However the conduct of the jawans—disregarding authority, indulging in arson—is obviously something that should not be allowed to happen. There are other more civilized ways of making grievances heard. One should not take law into one’s own hands. Necessary action must be taken against those who resort to unruly behaviour. This is not expected of a police force, which is supposed to maintain the highest tradition of discipline and loyalty. The committee appointed by the State government to look into the recent ‘mutiny’ in the IRB ranks should recommend appropriate measures. The problem is that there is no one to ‘police’ the police and therefore those in uniform feel that they can easily get away with their ‘sins’ and omissions. It is therefore all the more important to put in place a strict code of conduct for our police force. Police modernization should not be only about new weapons or better equipped police stations etc. We need professionals. We need to imbibe the right values that go to make a respected police force. Our police men and women must be trained accordingly so that discipline and professional conduct becomes a rule rather than an exception. More than anything else Nagaland Police requires both an image makeover as also reformation.
