Welcome !!! Presenter:

Dr G S BajpaiCommonwealth Fellow

Department of Criminology

University of Leicester(UK) gsbajpai@rediffmail.comhttp://www.forensic.to/webhome/drgsbajpai

The presentation is available at

http://www.forensic.to/webhome/drgsbajpai/presentation.ppt

India: Policing a Post Colonial Inheritance?

Seminar Question:

To what extent have the Indian Indian policepolice overcome the colonial colonial inheritance?

On Colonialism

As per Oxford dictionary the word colonialism has fairly recently acquired the meaning of "alleged policy of exploitation of backward or weak peoples by a large power."

(http://www.postcolonialweb.org/poldiscourse/colony2.html)

On On ColonialismColonialism

Colonialism is a system in which a state claims sovereignty over territory and people outside its own boundaries, often to facilitate economic domination over their resources, labor, and often markets. The term also refers to a set of beliefs used to legitimate or promote this system, especially the belief that the mores of the colonizer are superior to those of the colonized.

Basic Police Data I

The Indian Police cater to One Billion plus Population

India is a union of 30 states and 7 union territories (Area 3,287,263 sq km)

Police are a State subject Each state/ union territory has its own

separate police force There are central police organisations for

specialised work.

Basic Police Data II The total combined strength of the

state/union territory police forces: 14,49,761 The strength of CPOs - 5,28,370. Police- Population Ratio- 10: 10,000 Police Area Ratio: 34 Policemen per Sq KM. 85% are constables 

The Police System - A Colonial Legacy ?

The police system in India was established by the Police Act of 1861

This legislation came in the wake of the Indian Sepoy Mutiny of 1857

Aim was to quell rebellion & Perpetuate the rule

The Police Act produced A Police Force:

totally subservient to the executive accountable to anyone except their

own hierarchy and the executive;whose managerial philosophy was based on distrust of the lower ranks; highly militaristic and authoritarian in design’

Making of Colonial Police- Features

1. Police made subservient to executive and not community

2. Accountability crisis 3. Duel control 4. Structurally embedded Elitist

bias

(contd…)

Making of Colonial Police- Features

5. Managerial and record keeping practices

6. Judicial distrust

7. Recruitment

8.Training (outdoor and physical vs. indoor and academic)

Making of Colonial Police- Features

9. Partisan and political Image of Police

10. Authoritarian/Militaristic /Regimental

11. Brutal and arrogant

 

Making of Colonial Police- Features

11. Lacked transparency

12. Insensitive to people

13. Police subculture brand

The Police System - A Colonial Legacy ?

The British Govt appointed Indian Police Commission( 1902-03) said-

‘The police force is far from efficient, it is defective in training and organization, it is inadequately supervised, it is generally regarded as corrupt and oppressive, and it has utterly failed to secure the confidence and cordial cooperation of the people.’

The Debate

To what extent have the Indian police overcome the colonial inheritance? 

After Independence_ Shadow of Colonialism

The advent of Independence changed the political system, but the police system remained more or less unaltered:

The Police Act of 1861 or state legislation modeled on the Act continued to govern it.

(contd…..)

Persistence---

The powers to exercise control and superintendence over the police remained the same

It remained largely unaccountable to the public.

Persistence……

Its managerial philosophy, value system and ethos remained what they were.

It was a ruler or establishment supportive police force and continued to remain so.

‘Overcoming’ may be traced in following initiatives:

 1. Police Reforms: Appointment of Police Reform

commission by the statesGore committee on Police training,

1971National Police Commission 1979-81 (Contd……)

Overcoming….The Ribeiro Committee on Police

Reforms, 1998The Padmanabhaiah Committee on

Police Reforms, 2000The National Human Rights

Commission, 1993 The NGOs movement - The CHRI's

Initiatives 

Indian Police Overcoming colonialism by 2. Structural Changes  Specialized Units (women, juvenile,

weaker sections, rural, etc) IOs number enhanced 

Indian Police Overcoming colonialism by3.Police training Varied inputs Forensic Weaponry Computer Human Rights Contd….

Indian Police Overcoming colonialism by

Community policing Human Rights sensitization   Police complaint system   Media Audit   Judicial Activism 

Individual Police Initiatives

Community policing Modernisation Police image Leadership

Concluding: Overcoming is possible by reforms Reforms at four levels1. Government- ( highly inadequate)2. Within organization( somewhat OK)3. Public ( beginning )4. Civil society ( Effective)

Concluding: Reforms to overcome

colonialism:1. Repealing Police Act 18612. Introduction of NPCs

recommendations: New Police Act Security commission

Additional Readings1. Police and Crime by Dr. Anand Swarup Gupta2. Defenders of Establishment- Ruler Supportive

Police Forces of South Asia by K.S. Dhillon ( Published by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla

3. Police, Power and Colonial Rule: Madras 1859 to 1947 by David Arnold

4. Police Power and Colonial Rule Madras 1859-1947 David Arnold