Law and Disorder

Few would disagree with the author that a series of ills have overtaken our governance, especially in the area of management of law and order, administration in general and criminal justice in particular, where a mere 5-6 per cent of cases reach conviction, there is political interference and politicisation of the police force, the willingness of officers to abandon their duty for paltry gains is rampant, and so on. But what makes this volume so important is that it identifies most of the reasons and policies that have led to this sorry state of affairs.

Kapur displays a certain nostalgia when he says that this was not always so. The process of crumbling in his judgement seems to have started in mid to late 1960s. Since he is writing on the specific areas related to his immediate experience he has, understandably, not gone into the broader issues that led to the progressive deterioration of governance.

The author takes the reader through his experiences with many landmark events like the PAC revolt in Uttar Pradesh in 1973 and how he controlled it. Anyone who has studied those events would agree that the factors that led to them, and our infirmities in handling them, essentially also led to the CRPF and CISF revolts in 1979. Overall we do not seem to have paid adequate attention to maintaining a professional police force to meet the needs of a modern society and state undergoing rapid socio-economic transformation. Political interference, sectarianism and the tendency to what the American term “stove-piping” (where everyone looks upwards for decisions and personal gain) has robbed the force of its ability to deal with difficult situations made worse by low morale and commitment.

Kapur provides the example of how the police force was rejuvenated in Manipur after a disastrous experience where a force of 500 ill-equipped policemen with low morale and poor leadership had been deployed to deal with three terrorists armed with automatic weapons. They lost two people, killing one terrorist while the other two escaped! The ability to deal successfully with subsequent violence in Manipur and the later terrorism in Terai region of UP (including lateral coordination) point to what is possible, provided the police leadership builds an effective force that has the confidence of the people.

The volume contains extremely valuable lessons and their significance is enhanced by specific recommendations . The issues and conclusions raised in the book deserve to be widely debated and policies altered to stop further crumbling.