Systemic bias against communities and groups often assumes subtle forms that fly under the radar of public attention. The article, “A dangerous new low in state-sponsored hate” (Editorial page, December 30), has highlighted specific instances where the Uttar Pradesh Police have used disproportionate force against Muslim families in the guise of pursuing rioters.
Imposing collective guilt on the community for the unlawful activities of a few misguided elements militates against natural justice and seriously compromises the rule of the law. However, the writer, like many other human rights activists, seems to have anchored his arguments in a rushing flood of emotions. It is often a thin line that separates the weaving of a grand narrative of state-sponsored discrimination and the spinning of a conspiracy theory. Pronouncing the Uttar Pradesh police as Islamophobic and the Chief Minister as guilty of “crimes against humanity” appear as sweeping and extraordinary accusations. The extrapolation of generalisations from a few incidents of police high-handedness appears more as political sloganeering than a credible articulation of an unpleasant and harsh reality.
The subservience of the State police to the ruling establishment is not unique to Uttar Pradesh. It is a national malady that the Supreme Court of India has tried in vain to tackle by nudging the States to implement police reforms.
V.N. Mukundarajan,
Thiruvananthapuram
