Since the beginning of time, ‘virtues’ and ‘vices’, and ‘cruelty’ and ‘modesty’ have been going side by side. Well, the topic has been widely discussed and filmed for decades, and hasn’t lost its relevance even today. But, let me begin the journey of a few hundred words with the story of a village where the emergence of ‘witches’ created a sense of fear and chaos among the inhabitants. The fear gradually wrapped the whole kingdom in its clutches, and the matter banged the door of the King’s palace when a Noble/Duke got killed by those witches.
The death of the Noble dismayed the whole kingdom, and soon, a group of highly-trained witch killers was formed. The group was named ‘Witchers’. On one side, the witchers gave some relief to the inhabitants, but on the other, the inhabitants were bound to pay heavy taxes to meet the expense of the witchers.
Witchers worked day and night to defend the kingdom against Witches, their work and dedication was greatly loved and admired by the people some of them even termed it as the peak of patriotism. The King often use to visit and appreciate them for their bravery and even rewarded them with great facilities and discretionary powers.
The witchers worked day and night to defend the kingdom against the witches. Their work and dedication was greatly loved and admired by the people. Some of them even termed this as the peak of patriotism. The King often use to visit and appreciate them for their bravery, and even rewarded them with great facilities and discretionary powers.
Once, some people accused the witchers’ for killing a lot of people just on the basis of an apprehension of them being witches, or for the sake their benefit. But, it was too late then, as the witchers had become too powerful to be questioned. Since then, people have been questioning their acts, but the witchers, being so popular among people, have neither been doubted nor tried for their inhumane acts. The witchers continued killing witches, and sometimes, even innocent people, and the hunt that started for a cause never ended.
One may say that a similar story was witnessed during the Delhi pogrom in February, in which the role of the police has been communal, unethical reprehensible, and unprofessional.
In the present scenario, the edge adage “tooth for tooth and nail for nail” prevails. So, every country usually spends a huge amount of money on strengthening its military, so that the opponent’s malicious actions can be deterred. Detailed accounts of the Delhi violence episode raised fundamental questions about the role played by the Delhi Police. A video, which has been fact-checked and verified, shows Delhi policemen standing around five badly-injured men lying on the road, forcing them to sing the National Anthem. One of them succumbed to injuries.
Another person named Naeem said his brother died after he was beaten by police during riots. Some of the police personnel were seen throwing stones at anti-CAA protesters, while some destroying CCTV cameras were captured on camera. But still, love and support was showered on them and their acts of brutality were justified.
This is not the only case. A few months ago, four people accused of rape were killed by the police without the benefit of due process. While Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone charged with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to the law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense. After the encounter, the whole nation celebrated the killing of the accused, without realising that the act was a blow on the very spirit of democracy and justice.
Besides these, there are multiple other cases of brutality by security forces. The Kunan Poshpura alleged mass rape that occurred on 23rd February 1991. According to Human Rights Watch, around 100 women were raped on the night when a unit of security forces launched a search operation in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpura.
In the wake of seeing every one of these episodes, a question that we should ask ourselves is where this militarisation might lead us. In my opinion, India needs a developed military infrastructure to protect itself from its impetuous neighbouring countries. Be as it may, advocating brutal acts and unconditional support to the military has constantly been demonstrated as appalling. The World Wars have been two befitting cases of this scenario.