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Tuesday, 6 July 2010

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Mob rule: dangerous trend

The storming of Police stations by angry mobs have now become common in this country. On Saturday night nearly 100 persons including women had attempted to force their way into the Mattakkuliya Police Station following the arrest of a drug peddlar after he was allegedly manhandled by the police, until they were thwarted by the Army and the STF.

One recalls the infamous Angulana episode when violent mobs stoned and laid seige on the local Police station following the death of two youth while in custody. There have been other incidents in the provinces where demonstrations were held opposite Police stations following detainees being subject to third degree methods.

This is certainly a dangerous trend and does not augur well for the proper maintenance of law and order in the country.It also sends a wrong message to undesirable elements in our midst that the Police is easy prey. Incidents such as that which occurred on Saturday could also seriously diminish the stature of the Police in the public eye and jeopardize the smooth functioning of the law and order machinery.

IGP Mahinda Balasuriya has already transferred the entire contingent of policemen involved in the matter including the SSP of the area and the OIC of the Police station in question. Nearly 100 suspects it was reported have also been taken into custody. It is also reported that the mob had even removed some weapons of the station armoury.

We are not sure if the IGP acted prudently by transferring the Policemen involved in the arrest of the suspect. This appears now to be the knee jerk reaction that follows similar incidents. Such action could not only demoralize the Police rank and file, it would also give fresh impetus for mischief makers and goad them into invading Police stations as they please. Needless to say such a state of affairs could only lead to an anarchic situation and a gradual erosion for the respect of the law.

It is not clear whether the Policemen concerned had exceeded their limits in dealing with the suspect. But the fact that today police stations are becoming increasingly vulnerable to mob attacks of the kind witnessed in Angulana and Mattakkuliya should wake up the authorities to the danger signs.

In the good old days, the Police uniform was regarded with awe and respect and no one in their right minds would dare challenge a Police officer. A Police Station invoked fear and trepidation. Those were the times when criminal elements would take to their heels at the sight of a Policeman and law abiding citizens reposed the highest confidence and trust in the Police for solving cases and delivering justice.

Whether the kind of incidents as witnessed on Saturday is a another sign of the shift in this equation along with the brutalization of society during the war years is anyone's guess. Today Policemen have lost the prestige they enjoyed in the days of yore and as a result have lost the will to perform their duties as they should. This has led to a majority of the law enforcement officers becoming a law unto themselves. The Mattakkuliya incident and others like this that have proliferated in the recent past bear testimony to this.

On their part the public or the unruly elements among them are beginning to respond by taking the law into their hands.If this situation continues, very soon our Police Department will become redundant.

It is therefore time that the authorities view this phenomenon with the seriousness it deserves before matters get out of hand and anarchy rules society. Because if thugs are allowed to force their way into Police stations it is a reflection of the contempt for law and order and could be a prelude to lawlessness. The involvement of the Army to settle a simple case of law and order is a reflection of the extent how things have got out of hand. It is no less a personage than Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who called for the rapid transformation of the Police Force into the civilian law enforcement agency it was before the war. It however appears that the military mindset that was cultivated by the Police in the recent past is still existent at least in some of its officers judging from the many incidents of Police brutality.

This is not to cast aspersions on the Police Force as a whole but the quicker it reverts to its original role the quicker it will build public confidence in it. We say this because the Police over the years have come down much in public esteem not only for its mishandling cases but also for bribery and corruption and is ranked the second highest State body in the corruption index. This coupled with indiscipline and politicization has completely distorted the role of the Police Department today. It is no easy task to restore the status quo as the virus has got ingrained over a long period of time. What is needed is an all round shake up to bring the Police Department back to its glory days.

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