Reining in the sections and outfits across the country indulging in acts disrupting orderly life totally disregarding the land’s laws seems to have gone out of hands of governments both at the Centre and in the States somewhat like in the days past as the then sub-continent erupted against colonial rule that ended in 1947. Deploying personnel of the land’s Police force to restore order in society in troubled locations has turned so routine that the reports of the event is a regular, almost a daily feature of the columns of dailies published in the various languages of the country, including English. The frequency of law-violating episodes across the nation, including many traditionally calm districts of Karnataka such as Mysuru and Dharwad, in relation to the steady expansion of the country’s Police force are both rising on an unprecedented scale that one is at a loss to infer which (the episodes) is outpacing which other (expansion). The ratio of the number of Police to the land’s population in India is reportedly far low compared to that in most countries of the Western world. That is no consolation to raise the outlay on Police in the government’s spend budget to the extent of shrinking funds for various pro-people programmes.

The government’s position in days of colonial rule and that in the current disposition of democratic system in the nation are different kettles of fish, given the principles of rule for the people in any Democracy. The more the people are adrift from that basic principle, more they stand unsuitable for self-rule.

In the backdrop of the current public image of the Police force at large, perceptibly deficient in trust and respect, the onus is on both sides to address the two major sides to the connect between the two. The call given by a top cop of the city, as published in a section of the press last week, to change the perception of people towards the Police force needs to be taken along with a call for changing the outlook of the Police perception towards the citizens. The saying that no one is guilty until the accusation is established on the strength of evidence as proof may give a handle to the accused and task for the Police.

Ideally, if the country’s laws, aimed at sustaining order in the land, are complied with pro-actively by all citizens, down to the last citizen who may be ignorant of the laws, both the number of Police personnel and outlay on the force’s expenditure in the budget can be a fraction of what they are today. The country’s tribes who make provocative speeches and instigate lay people to stage road outrages, if contained, shall facilitate Police to be people-friendly.