Abhinav Kumar, IPS: Death of an SHO

UP has a dysfunctional criminal justice system. The mob lynching of a police officer underlines it

The badlands of Western UP are in the news again. This time for the fact that a full-fledged SHO of Uttar Pradesh police, Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, posted in Bulandshahar district was shot dead, allegedly by a mob of cow vigilantes. Apparently they were so angry at the allegations of cow slaughter in their locality that they could not but help give expression to their rage by actually killing a human being. That too one in uniform.

We have been here before. Neither lynchings, nor cop killings are unknown in India’s most populous state. All that is required is a self-righteous cause. After all, this is the state that in 1922 brought the Civil Disobedience movement to a halt by burning alive an entire station full of policeman at Chauri Chaura. Even Gandhi was helpless before the might of a lynch mob from UP. Lesser mortals like policemen simply don’t stand a chance.

But why go that far back in history. The districts of Western UP could very well start a Indian Lynch a Cop League. Moradabad did very well in 2011 when they nearly beat an SSP to death over the alleged desecration of the Quran. He had nearly two dozen fractures and barely survived. The good residents of Mathura went one step further and actually killed an Additional SP in 2016. Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad — all of them have their own tales of exemplary savagery against the police. All, of course, for some “noble” cause or another.

Predictably, even before the funeral pyre of Singh turned to ashes, the political blame game has begun. The mobilisation of cow vigilantes is the obvious culprit. And in the context of this particular crime it makes perfect sense to question the culture of impunity that has grown around cow vigilantes, from the days of the first lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri. Five accused have been arrested, a few with clear links to right-wing outfits. However, to blame this cop killing culture of UP on the right-wing alone would be to confuse the symptoms for the disease. This incident is at the intersection of two sub cultures, the first a culture of impunity of the lynch mob, and the second a culture of servility of an emasculated and politicised police... read more
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/death-of-an-sho-subodh-kumar-singh-cow-slaughter-vigilantes-mob-attack-bulandshahar-killing-5480391/

see also
Not heeding 'advice' of Constitution will result in 'descent into chaos', warns CJI Gogoi
Police Officer Who Busted Sohrabuddin Encounter Case Says State Trying to Silence Him

भारतीय संविधान के जनम की 69वीं सालगिरह पर: हिन्दुत्वादी राजनीती का सरग़ना RSS प्रजातांत्रिक-धर्मनिरपेक्षभारत के लिए सब से घातक आतंरिक खतरा 

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