The savage riots that ransacked northeast Delhi for over 48 hours, claiming more than 20 lives, including that of a police constable, have given the lie to the motto of the Delhi police: With you, for you, always.
The police very conspicuously weren’t with the victims of the riots as rampaging mobs, largely of outsiders, lethally assaulted people at random and destroyed property at will.
Several senior retired police offers have gone on record saying that the failure to stem the violence betrays lack of professional training of the Capital’s law-enforcers and an inability, or unwillingness, to act promptly and decisively to maintain order.
According to reports, the police had been alerted of the presence of an influx of outsiders, many of whom were armed, into the affected areas, yet no precautionary measures were taken, the authorities presumably being too busy with providing super-security cover to the visiting US president and his family.
Moreover, it has also been pointed out that despite extremely provocative statements made by three BJP leaders, which were likely to lead to public disorder, nothing was done to restrain the movements or public utterances of these people.
The police’s slowness to respond to the situation is in stark contrast to the way they have taken action against student protestors on campuses.
An official enquiry should be held into the riots, focusing on the role of the police, and the findings made public.
The inevitable question which arises is: Who is to police the Delhi police?
