JS committee's good counsel

There is no presence of the opposition in the JS committees. So their activism is self-driven which deserves appreciation. But findings of the committee are far from surprising as it is well known that political influence often makes it difficult for the law enforcers to function independently. In fact, political meddling by successive governments has had an extremely debilitating effect on the law enforcement agency and has considerably lowered its level of efficiency.

The problem stems, by and large, from the culture of not treating crime as crime but smelling politics in it. This has been seriously impairing police functioning.

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The JS committee's activism has already attained one important goal. The government has to acknowledge the truth that its own lawmakers have identified the malady and suggested a remedy.

The talk of police reform is getting louder, with law and order worsening and the academics hammering on the need for recasting the police force. But we believe, and there are many who will share our views, that even a total overhauling of police will fall far short of achieving the target of increasing their efficiency if political influence continues to cripple the police administration. One has to admit that when a particular officer is sent to a certain station on the basis of a political decision, the move can by no means be well-intentioned.

Since the ruling alliance MPs have raised the issue, the government should take note of it without being suspicious of any 'evil design' to bruise its image. It must act on the good counsel that has come from the committee. Politicisation of the police is something that is highly incompatible with democratic governance. The sooner those in power realise the plain truth, the better.