Motsuthung Yanthan
New Delhi
The world is in a survival mode right now. People are confused. They don't know who terrifies them more- the pandemic or other people.
Even in such a time of despondency, people still find the need to go out of the safety of their homes. Some go out because they have no other option and some just being the black sheeps. There couldn't be any better time to make good use of the police personnel to regulate and bring about the best possible situation in the society.
Therefore, we appreciate every effort made by the police to curb the spread of the disease. But a bigger problem seems to emerge from there itself. It's apparent that most of them aren't clear as to whether it's just the death by virus that they need to stop and that death by any other way is fine by them or safeguard the people entirely. In short, "I'll kill you if you try to kill yourself" is what they are conveying.
'A young man goes to a shop to buy something for his starving self and gets beaten to death' is what we are waking up to lately. Several dozens of videos are in circulation on the internet where we witness the police beating up people in the name of lockdown leaving them with broken fingers, fractured bones and blue-black swollen bodies. No one has to come down to the only option of seeing their family members die of starvation or lack of basic medical needs while being very safe from the virus alone.
The police should be fully equipped not just with PPEs but also the right knowledge and procedure of dealing with people. The code of conduct should be based on the need of the situation whereby people in genuine need of assistance should be traced and assisted relentlessly.
Even the Turkish extreme principle of 'guilty until proven innocent' allows the accused with the time to prove himself. It's terrifying to see our police don't even provide the latter.
We do need to be constantly regulated and will continue to need the protection of our police personnel. But I hope I'll keep running to them for safety, not away from them.
