First-ever DGP report talks of 'trust deficit' with Muslims: But does it matter?

From Dhule in Maharashtra to Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and the post-Godhra riots, allegations of police bias against Muslims have long been an issue across the country. A first-ever report prepared by the directors general of police of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu says this perception of communalism could affect internal security in the long run. According to The Indian Express, the DGP report is based on police and intelligence inputs received from across the country, their own interactions with Muslims, and an analysis of articles written by Muslims or published in the community’s publications. Their research points to a widening chasm between the Indian law enforcement system and Indian Muslims. [caption id=“attachment_1544373” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The report, titled ‘Strategy for making police forces more sensitive towards minority sections’, is startlingly candid. Touching upon scars left behind by incidents from Partition to the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation to subsequent riots, it says that any place with a minority population over 15 percent has become communally charged, vulnerable to rioting. Prepared by three DGPs — Sanjeev Dayal of Maharashtra, Deoraj Nagar of Uttar Pradesh and K Ramanujam of Tamil Nadu and one IB representative – the report says the trust deficit among Muslims comes from “poor representation of minorities in the forces and the conduct of some policemen during riots”, according to The Indian Express. The glass ceiling for Muslims has long been a subject of studies, analysis and study-panels. Under-representation of Muslims in Parliament, in the council of ministers and in the civil service has remained a continuing problem, as well.  In fact, one of the key recommendations of the Sachar Committee report was also to appoint at least one Muslim officer in police stations in areas with a high concentration of Muslims. While the Home Ministry in the UPA regime had initiated this move with a missive to chief secretaries, implementation has remained patchy. The Sachar Committee report, submitted in November 2006, had made the recommendation as a proactive move, “not as a matter to eliminate discrimination but as an initiative to build confidence”. The DGP report also gives an account of social media and the Internet as tools being easily exploited to spread discontent and reportedly raises questions about the media’s role too. “Role of NGOs and some ‘activists’ in spreading distrust about law enforcement agencies have also come to light. An active media hungry for making news has eagerly projected the views of such groups, lending credence to their statements and projections,” it says, calling for improved legal machinery to prevent mobs and unlawful elements from visiting communally charged places. The report has been sumbitted to the Centre, “awaiting action” on suggestions including implementing a community policing scheme, participative policing, improving public-police interface in Muslim dominated areas and developing standard operating procedures to prevent riots. While  the DGP report, presented first at a’ conference in 2013, may be a first for the police, it is hardly unprecedented. There have been repeated acknowledgements of the need to bridge a growing gap between the minorities and the state. The Sachar committee spoke eloquently of the Muslims’ “double burden” of being labelled anti-national even while they’re accused of being targets of political appeasement – they need to prove their nationalism amid the reality that the appeasement by political parties has not truly improved their lot. The Sachar Committee was not alone. Various state governments’ panels and fact-finding committees have indicated the same. The multi-sectoral development programme (MsDP) of the Union government, implemented since 2008-09, is itself based on the selection of 90 districts identified as ‘Minority Concentration Districts" for their substantial minority population and relative backwardness. The NDA budget has in fact hiked the outlay for the MsDP. But good intentions often fall by the wayside when politics and politicians intervene. For example, the Mumbai edition of the DNA published a series of photographs of several police stations in the city being home to not just photographs and idols of Hindu deities but also to temples including one that was then under construction inside the premises of a police station, the Mumbai Police responded with issuing a circular asking police stations to remove such display of religious articles of any religion from inside the stations immediately. The force is supposed to be secular, with a view to ensuring that members of any community are able confidently walk into police stations and seek assistance, senior officials admitted. Not long after, the BJP and Shiv Sena demanded in the state legislature that the circular be withdrawn, claiming that the circular hurt the religious sentiments of people in the name of secularism in the police force. Clearly, the problem has never been one of identifying the causes of minority distrust, but of implementing readily available solutions. Given the tokenist track record of Indian governments, this report will forever “await action” like the rest.