INDIAN POLICE AND

SIXTY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

Independence circa half a century back marks the greatest turning point in the
history of Indian police. It marks the end of 88-year history of policing on
modern lines under the British Raj that began with the enactment of the Madras
District Police Act of 1859 and assumed countrywide acceptance with the
enactment of the Police Act of 1861. Independence marks the beginning of the
history of Indian police under Indian hands in a democratic milieu unlike of yore
though in form and contents they were its continuation. The hitch lay in its sprit,
in the contradictions of the intentions of a colonial police and the traditions of
a democratic police. It patently is against jus naturale to expect a colonial police
transform to a democratic setup overnight with the awakening of the country
at midnight. Spirit is never known to be a quick chameleonic, particularly while
form and contents maintain their stead. Change in spirit is the natural outcome
of changes in ambience leading to metamorphosis of value system and attitudes
by rapid exposures to changed experiences. The process perforce requires a very
long period of trails and tribulations to ripen the spirit to its new avatar. The first
sixty years of independence of India marks this period in context of the spirit of
Indian police maturing to democratic traditions in the hands of Indian rulers.
RISE OF CLANDESTINE OPERATIONS
It is significant that the history of police of sovereign India begins immediately
posterior to the turbulent years of the Second World War which opened up or
saw expansion of a new vista of duties for the police worldwide. The most
kenspeckle of them is clandestine operations in international scale for national
security. Though the history of intelligence collection and covert operations go
as far back as human history itself and stand next only to prostitution as the oldest
profession practised by man, it flowered, expanded and received worldwide
plaudite as an established tool of statecraft only during and after the maelstrom
of the second world war with Germany, the Soviet Union and Britain before and
during the war and the United States and Israel after, perfecting the techniques.
The raising of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the United States

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in the early years of 1950"s from the crumbs of the old American secret
service of the second world war vintage, the Office of Special Services (OSS),
with an elaborate Plans division to handle gray clandestine operations abroad
(sometimes domestic operations also) marked a long step in the history of
international twilight operations. Following words spelled out by the Hoover
Commission during those momentous days form the agenda of secret police
service all over the world. The commission, in justification of operations, said,
“There are no rules in such a game. Hitherto acceptable norms of human conduct
do not apply. If the US is to survive, longstanding American concepts of fair play’
must be reconsidered. We must develop effective espionage and counter-
espionage services. We must learn to subvert, sabotage and destroy our enemies
by cleverer, more sophisticated and more effective methods than those used
against us. It may become necessary that the American people be acquainted
with, understand and support this fundamentally repugnant philosophy.”
COVERT OPERTIONS OF INDIAN POLICE
Free India, in spite of its moral values and abiding impact of Gandhian
Philosophy of truth and honesty, found covert operations sine qua non for
survival. Though attempts were scratchy in inchoate stages, India made
significant breakthroughs in penetrating, molding and controlling the affairs of
the neighbouring countries after raising the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)
to handle covert operations in foreign countries. Its operations and
performances in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and to somewhat lesser
extent in Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and some of the Gulf countries are
on par with the best in the world. Its chevisance in international events like the
creation of Bangladesh, containment of Eelam ambitions of Sri Lankan Tamils
in India, checkmating the Kashmir card of Pakistan and controlling the terrorist
misadventures of international Sikh communities against Indian targets earned it
worldwide accolades. This is in spite of the fact that Indian secret police is a
featherweight performer in the arena of international clandestine wars and its
overall performance in world events is very unimpressive for the size and
resources of the country. Reasons are many. Foremost of them is lack of
commitment to the national cause and national ideologies like national
integration, democracy, secularism, nonaligned movement and mixed economy.
Another reason is the moral atrophy experienced by Indian police after
independence leading to decline in professional commitments. Postings to RAW
with opportunities of foreign assignments has become a status symbol and lost
all substance of challenges and performances from it. The other reason is political
interferences in postings to and transfers of the RAW officials. It is political

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connections rather than security screening and clearances and aptitude for
clandestine operations decide the postings in the RAW. Huge unbudgeted and
unaccounted funds at disposal make the RAW postings highly lucrative and
attract easy going siblings of the powerful to its fold. This is an extremely
dangerous trend in a security apparatus where commitment, trust and absolute
secrecy form the basics of survival and an unguarded moment may make life and
death difference for many. More important, clandestine operations unlike other
police responsibilities require highly specialised skills, ignoring this need in
manning the organisation is a sure way of compromising the organisation,
betraying its operational efficiency and exposing the country to dangerous
security threats. Another important reason for the retarded growth of Indian
secret police is the general lack of security consciousness in the country and
inability to see and place the imperatives of a national security policy in right
perspective. These glitches end-up in security breaches of the dimension of ISRO
spy case Purulia arms drop case. Rattan Sehgal episode etc. India lacks larger view
of the country and its survival needs and goes algate weighed down with
ephemeral considerations. Its approaches to national security are always
piecemeal, incoherent, causal and disturbingly unsound. It does not have a sound
and well-conceived national security policy. Their approaches to security threats
are always short-term face-saving responses that never contribute for the real
long-term security needs of the country. If it is the situation at government level,
people who fought a mighty power to the situation at government level, people
who fought a mighty power to liberate their country from the yoke of foreign
rule just half a century back care nevermore about even saving what they gained
then from the internal and external inimical forces by as much as raising a public
debate on the subject of the imperatives of national security. Indian security now
is left to the mercy of time and it is sheer luck that Indian democracy survived
for long decades from the hungry wolves waiting to fall and prey on it.
NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY
National security policy is the craze of super powers of the world today. It
is the essence and unifying factor behind all national policies of most developed
as well as developing countries. Whether it is foreign policy, defence police,
economic policy, industrial policy, trade and commerce policy, science and
technology policy or human resources development policy, they are all oriented
with an eye on national security and implemented to boost the national security
goals. Most developed countries have exclusive super agencies reporting directly
to the head of the government to advise on, oversee and mastermind national
security policies and its operations. The US has the National Security Agency

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(NSA) doing yeoman service to the country as the national security advisor to the
president of the country and enjoys powers superior even to the CIA in national
affairs. Israel and Russia have their efficient equivalents at political levels to
formulate their national security interests. Most developed countries have created
their own gestalts to mastermind matters touching national security interests with
powers invested to override decisions of other departments when national
security interests are at stake. India is yet to learn lessons from these
developments.
PARALLEL POWER CENTRE
The excessive concern for national security in some countries often led to the
creation of parallel governments and power centers ectogenous of the
democratically instituted governments. There are instances of black acts
committed against legitimate policies of the countries in the garb of national
security as in the US, and civilian governments toppled and constituted at will eo
nomine as in Pakistan. Pakistan is an example of constitutionally elected
government living under the shadow of fear of its secret police, the ISI, which
assumed on itself the apocryphal responsibilities of Pakistan’s national security.
The blackest days of twilight operations in the name of national security were
seen by the US when a pollent section of the Plans Division of its own CIA with
the cooperation of crime syndicates and Cuban hors la loi, assassinated its young
and popular president John. F.Kennedy in 1963 because of the latter’s opposition
to the CIA-inspired Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and pro-peace overtures to
the Soviet Union. A positive aspect of India’s poor concern to security interests
is its clean slate as far as existence of secret parallel governments and clandestine
power-centers are concerned. It is to the credit of Indian police that its secret
police remained subordinate and loyal to their legitimate authorities in the last half
century since independence. It per se is a remarkable accomplishment.
INDIAN SECURITY CONCERNS
This does not mean that everything is all right with Indian security agencies.
Their filed for operation continues to be confined to traditional isolative
methods ignoring the present needs of integrated approach in national policies
and programmes. This is a dangerous trend in the present competitive world
where even a minor edge over the opponent makes the difference of elimination
and survival for a country. While even developed countries made all aspects of
their national policies subordinate to their security interests, India cannot afford
to subordinate its security concerns to the freaks of people who come to head
various ministries in government and their political and personal ideologies. India
lacks in a cadre of long-range security programmes to make its security

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operations meaningful and purposeful. It is lagging in hi-tech ultra-secret

espionage operations far behind world standards and nowhere comes near even
to the old U-2 spy plane of the US of 1950’s. Its secret police is yet to make
perficient use of the country’s impressive progresses in fields like satellite launches
to the outer space and other space programmes. Except for isolated cases as in
Pakistan, India is yet to fully utilize the services of world-class mercenaries in its
clandestine operations as in vogue in almost all major gray operations
worldwide. Security services in India unlike other countries world over, do not
weigh high in the national priorities of the country.
SPECIAL BRANCHES
These affairs are worse in Special Branches or intelligence units of states and
union territories. Special Branches have become pure and simple tools of
political intelligence of ruling parties with surveillance over political opponents
and assessment of field situations for the benefit of political masters becoming
the piece de resistance at the cost of law and order concerns increasingly losing
importance in the portfolio of their responsibilities. As far as internal security is
concerned, they are rather passe and ill equipped for the task in manpower
resources, hi-tech equipments, expertise, organizational efficiency and
motivation factors, save some routine VIP security exercises sans any expertise
in it. That is also meant just to oblige and gratify political masters and provide
grandeur to their presences. Their assets in news media which is sine qua non for
a sound Special Branch is rather impoverished and mostly confined to local
newspapers for the purpose of disinformation and keeps track of news
dissemination. Occasionally, these contacts are misused to promote favourite
subordinates as authors or experts in a discipline. The ambition of these Special
Branches providing skilled recruits to security agencies at the national level
remains a far-fetched dream in the situation of gross unconcern for national
security commitments.
PERMANENT CORE GROUP FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
Institution of an all-powerful apolitical agency for national security with a
permanent core group of security experts of proven commitments to the cause
of the country as the nucleus at the highest level as the guide and advisor in national
security matters to the head of the government a la the NSA of the US with over-
riding powers can alone change the situation for free India and lead it safely to
the centennial of its independence. Efforts made to this end till now are rather
sketchy, ill conceived and half-hearted. It is high time now that spade-works are
initiated to institute a comprehensive agency in India for handling national
security concerns.

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EMPHASIS ON VIP SECURITY

National security for all practical purposes in India is synonymous with VIP
security and Indian police vocabulary refuses to read for it any meaning much
beyond protecting leaders. This is because of the lopsided loyalties and
aberrations in Indian police in understanding professional objectives and
responsibilities of the police at best and a tendency to trade off professional
responsibilities and services for the benefits of career promotions of a few at
worst. That is why units for the security of different kinds of VIPs like Black Cats,
National Security Guards and Special Protection Group are raised from time to
time. While security of national leaders is an important role of a national security
policy, it is not the only plank on which the national security concerns stand. There
are many more important and vital roles a national security policy is called to
assume and sidelining those aspects for the sake of a single role of political clout
is suicidal tot he country’s security interests. It is public knowledge in India
howVIP security has become a public farce with all kinds of people with some
lobbying muscle striving and obtaining a security classification depending on the
type of money and power they have so that they get the cover of highly trained
police personnel as a sign of their prestige and social standing. It has to be
understood that all matters concerned with national security are highly sensitive
and considerably grave entities and need to be treated as such. They should not
be allowed to stoop to epideictic exercises for the benefit of a few powerful as
witnessed in democratic India. Such abuses lower the gravity of national security
commitments. National security has to be treated and respected as a matter of
highest priority and insulated from the trifle fancies of superficial leaders. The
strength and relevance of national security to the country lie in its esoteric and
purposeful operations; not in pandering to the superficial needs of a powerful
few.
VIP SECURITY AS A SHOW BUSINESS
VIP Security has become such a craze in Indian police that it incorporates all
wings of the national police force in its body, it be central police, state police or
district police, it be security police, Special Branch, striking forces, investigating
agency or law and order police. In the process, other police functions rapidly lose
importance as the pressures of VIP security mount up with the number of
dignitaries and their spheres of activities expand with the accommodation of
more and more influential people and their kith and kin under pressures as VIPs.
All said and done, these VIP securities are nothing but shams meant only as
epideictic ensemble without any substance as far as real protection is concerned
in the present age of hi-tech terror.

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The period saw no substantial progress in expansion and reorganization of

the district police. There are much to be done in the field, both in strengthening
the organisation and cleansing it. Policing at this level comes in daily contact with
the hoi polloi, and for them police means the district police. The police at this
level really form the image of the police for the common man. Unfortunately,
corruption is rampant in district police, because of the powers invested in it to
control the daily affairs of the people. The power breeds corruption; and the
corruption breeds mad rush to man key positions in district police. In magnitude
also, the district police form the biggest slice of the police force in the country.
The serious maladies witnessed in secret police and investigation agencies of
India are actually common symptoms of the atrophy observed in all wings of
Indian police including the law and order police. Dishonesty, lack of professional
commitment, extra-professional loyalties and unchecked corruption are the
albatross that commonly suffer Indian police at all levels. It is not a rosy picture
to have to a police force more than a century old and now reaching half a century
mark of existence in a free country. The deterioration of Indian police is steep
after independence. Perhaps, democratic rule in the country sinsyne has not done
any good to Indian police. The nexus of police with criminals and politicians is
smothering and squeezing the country and its public life out of its vitality to a stage
of paralysis. While the virus is coram populo in states like Bihar and UP, it is eating
up the vitals of the country in other states ab intra. No part of the country is free
from this slow process of sphacelus. The talk of private armies during elections
in UP and Bihar is indicia to the confidence Indian police inspire in public after
fifty years of self-rule. Indian police in 2000s appear like a century-old giant tree
rendered hollow ab intra by the termite of corruption. Unless something is done
fast to return the vitality of the professional pride and commitment, Indian police
may irrevocably fail the country in leading it forth to the century-mark of India’s
independence.

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