What in the world could have been going through the mind of the police jawan who mercilessly shot dead Late Peter Yimchunger on the night of September 15? Many of us must be baffled by the tragic incident where one man takes the life of another. In a combat situation it is understandable to protect one’s life in an act of self defense. Late Peter was only a simple church worker who was going home to be with his family. He was certainly not a criminal; neither was he armed. Then what was the justification in shooting him down?
While it is easy to describe the jawans action, it is more difficult to explain the psychological attribute that drove the killer to pull the trigger. The time has now come to seriously delve into the problem of gun violence in our State and society. Freedom from fear is a basic human right. Everyone has the right to be free of firearm violence in homes, schools, and workplaces, and on the streets. Gun Violence must be addressed as a health, safety, social, and economic problem. We may not be counting, but it must have by now cost our society thousands of lives through such violence. What comes out as interesting pieces of information is that the men in uniform have been prone to such disturbing behavior. Public memory may be short but it was only recently that a senior district level police officer in Wokha was in the news for shooting his wife. Other similar cases of homicide in the armed forces have also been a daily occurrence.
The government must take this opportunity in properly addressing the problem of gun violence in order to create a safer community. Today it is people like Peter who have had to pay the price with their lives. Tomorrow it could be someone else. The appointment of a one man inquiry to investigate the matter is welcomed but the government should realize that the problem goes much beyond. The government could also do well to engage the expertise of medical professionals to explore the complexity of violent behaviour in our society and puts forth a new framework for analyzing risk factors that lead to violent events. The problem of gun violence requires multiple level of intervention by policymakers, law enforcement authorities, psychologists, sociologists and public health professionals.
While dwelling on this, one should not forget that violence is also directly linked to alcohol consumption. People who have been drinking feel less inhibited from using violence to achieve their ends. Alcohol’s well-known negative effects on people’s perception, ability to interpret others’ actions and intentions, and judgment may, in most circumstances, lead to violence. Stringent discipline must be enforced to curb the consumption of alcohol while on duty.
There is an entire gamut of issues that must be seriously studied. The police force is perhaps the most reviled agency in our State. Indiscipline and brutality have become acceptable features of police functioning. Human rights abuses are a growing cause for alarm today in our forces. Policing today requires much more than common sense. Whether it is traffic management, crowd control, a basic level of sensitisation is required. And this must be initiated at the time of entry into the service when the aptitude and inclination of candidates can be assessed and their skills developed. In addition to the usual training, constant on the job training and instruction on practical policing are the need of the hour.
