New grammar of anarchy - A Commentary On The General Health Of Indian Society

Jagmohan
The Statesman, 12 September

The events of the past few days bear testimony to the truth of Lord Wavell’s observations: “India can be governed firmly or not at all”. The terrorist attack in Hyderabad, the breakdown of public order in Agra and several places of Haryana and the manner in which a petty criminal was treated by the mob and police in Bhagalpur reinforce the apprehension that India is on the verge of writing a new grammar of anarchy. The internal security situation is grave. Terrorism and subversion in Kashmir, Assam and Naxal-affected regions show no sign of abatement. The frequency with which the public order breaks down is on the rise. And the maintenance of general law and order is getting poorer by the day.

Before delineating the contours of the current scenario, it may be necessary to invite attention to the precise parameters of the three terms: (i) internal security; (ii) public order; and (iii) general law and order. In public discourse, these terms are often mixed up. All acts of terrorism and subversion, committed with or without the support of foreign powers, by forces that are inimical to the integrity and stability of the country, would constitute problems of internal security.

Caste riots

The large scale violence, such as the one that occurs during communal or caste riots, would fall in the sphere of public order. The ambit of general law and order would encompass crimes of individuals or a small group of individuals. Each of these categories of cases calls for a separate examination.

Coming first to the issues concerning general law and order, it may be noted that, while the number of criminal cases and the scope for committing them have been increasing, neither the methods of investigation and prosecution nor the attitude and conduct of the police force, particularly at the subordinate levels, have improved. In spite of the fact that a large number of cases are not reported to the police, or are not registered by it, three IPC crimes and six special and local law crimes are, on an average, committed every minute in the country. The position with regard to crime against women is especially disconcerting. There is one molestation case every 15 minutes, one rape case every 29 minutes, one dowry death every 77 minutes, and one case of sexual harassment every 53 minutes.

Only 30 per cent of the cases registered are sent for trial. The conviction rate in IPC cases has come down from 64 per cent in 1961 to 42 per cent in 2005. At the same time, the number of persons dying in police custody has gone up. This number increased from 207 in 1995 to 1340 in 2002. The committee on Reforms of Criminal Justice system, has rightly observed: “Violent and organised crimes have become the order of the day. As chances of conviction are remote, crime has become a profitable business.”

As regards public order, people in general are fast developing a habit of taking law into their own hands and causing large-scale disturbances. If there is a traffic accident, as it happened in Agra on 29 August, or during the kanwari processions last month in Rajasthan and Haryana, a mob gathers and starts attacking police and burning vehicles, even of innocent passers-by. For several hours, traffic on busy highways is held up. In the same strain, large-scale violence often follows a case of individual crime, as was done last week in several towns of Haryana after a Dalit youth was murdered at Gohana on 29 August. Such a case is turned into a crime against the caste, without giving even an opportunity to the police to investigate the matter.

All this is a commentary on the general health of Indian society ~ its growing indiscipline and fragmentation. The caste, communal or group interests are throwing up a number of irresponsible leaders at various levels. They show scant respect for the rule of law and are ever ready to exploit any incident to build up their leadership.

In so far as the issues of internal security are concerned, conditions are getting grimmer by the day. The terrible blasts that were triggered on 18 May and 25 August at Mecca Masjid, Lumbini-Park and Gokul Chaat Bhandar in Hyderabad, killing about 50 people, should serve as a chilling reminder of the extensive inroads that the terrorists and subversives have made in our set-up. In fact, of late, terrorism in India has been assuming the form of a mega terrorism.

To recount some of the recent deadly incidents: 65 people were killed on 29 October 2005 in a series of blasts that occurred in Delhi. On 28 December 2005, the Indian Institute of sciences in Bangalore was attacked. Right on the bank of Ganga, in one of the most sought-after Hanuman temples in the country, two powerful explosions occurred in Sankat Mochan, Varanasi, on 7 March 2006. On 11 July 2006, a horrible drama was enacted in the suburban trains at Mumbai, when 192 commuters were killed in a series of bombs blasts in the crowded compartments.

In Assam, the serious threat posed by subversives persists. The brutal killing of over a hundred outsiders mostly from Bihar in the last few months show how grave the conditions are. So far, 168 civilians have been killed this year by ULFA outfits in Assam. Amongst the states affected by subversion and terrorism, this is the highest number of civilian casualties.

Modern force

The Naxalites have rapidly transformed themselves into a modern guerrilla force. They no longer depend on country-made pistols. They now possess sophisticated communication system and weapons ~ AK 47, grenades, rocket launchers, land mines etc. They have a militia of about 25,000 persons ~ well-trained and well-motivated. All this has added immensely to the striking power of the Naxalites. In the state of Chhattisgarh alone, as many as 365 civilians were killed in 2006. The objective of the Naxalites is to establish a “compact revolutionary zone” in the heart of India and use this zone as the red corridor for extending the Naxalite movement to the cities, eventually to seize the power-structure of the state.

The distressing conditions obtaining in these three areas of our national life ~ internal security, public order and general law and order ~ show that the machinery of governance in post-1947 India has yet to learn the art of acting fairly, firmly and in time. Its soft and permissive attitude is reflected in what has come to be known as the “broken window syndrome” in the governance-literature: “If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and that no one is in charge. One unrepaired window is an invitation to break more windows, and lawlessness spreads outwards from buildings to streets and then to entire communities.”

(The writer is a former Governor of J&K and a former union minister)