The recent outrageous behaviour of ABVP-affiliated students at Garhwal and Kumaon Universities who ransacked their respective administrative offices has brought to the fore the growing lawlessness and impunity which the ruling party’s outfits are imposing on the state. The ABVP in this case are acting as stormtroopers for the government as it runs into tough opposition to its higher education policy that attempts to politicize the university administration with a direct attack on academic freedom. The Garhwal Post writes about this troubling trend in the following hard hitting editorial.
Lead Editorial
Garhwal Post, August 6, 2008
Anybody who has been confronted in the middle of the night by drunken cops, with their identification tags off, knows how difficult it is to deal with the situation. One can counter miscreants with maximum force and ‘extreme prejudice’ in such a situation, but one’s hands are bound when it comes to dealing with men in uniform.
Such is the authority and majesty of the uniform. However, in India, there is so much of corruption and such political misuse of the police force that the average citizen holds the cop in complete contempt. The cop is considered just someone who has to be got past; the most convenient way being exercise of influence or by greasing the palm. Politicians rise to power not through convincing argument but by a constant process of challenging the police force on various morchas. When the politician does come to power, the natural instinct remains that of hostility. Having braved the cop’s arrogance and lathi blows, the politician wants payback and on the street. [read more]
