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The mind of a cop
 There were accusations from all circles against the Chennai city policemen over the shabby manner in which they treated the Hindu journalists while making a bid to arrest them. Five journalists of the paper had been sentenced to 15 days' simple imprisonment for breach of privilege of the Assembly.
'The Hindu' editor-in-chief N Ram, in an interview to Tamil magazine 'Junior Vikatan', narrated how the policemen behaved ruthlessly at the residences of these journalists. He said some policemen had threatened the watchman in one of the residences that they would shoot him in the guise of an encounter if he did not reveal the whereabouts of the journalists.
Ram had also alleged that the policemen had waylaid his vehicle at Bangalore and searched his car using abusive language all the while. The Karnataka police have registered an FIR on the issue.
This is not the first time that such an accusation has been made against Chennai city policemen. Two years ago, video footage revealed the high-handed behaviour of the same policemen while arresting ex-chief minister M
Karunanidhi.
Why do Tamil Nadu policemen often get entangled in such controversies? If a journalist of national repute is treated in such a clumsy way by the policemen, what would be the fate of the common man if he is caught in a case? Why do policemen act arbitrarily on such occasions by throwing to the winds all norms of decency and various guidelines issued by the Supreme Court and the Government of India?
Indian policemen are known for their arrogant behaviour and abusive language. Most of the common public dread to go to the police station even to prefer a complaint for the main reason that policemen would behave arrogantly and abuse even people who come to them with a grievance. It is for this reason that many people avoid reporting to the police station, fearing harassment and non-cooperation.
Once an FIR is registered, the police do not make a difference between a pickpocket or an ex-chief minister. They give both of them the same treatment. According to them, if an FIR is registered, the name Karunanidhi, Ravi or Malini Parthasarathy, would vanish and they simply become the 'accused' in their language. They would not have a rational differentiation to demarcate people against whom FIR has been registered.
According to them, a person involved in chain-snatching and a person who wrote a controversial article are the same simply because an FIR has been registered against them. It is this sort of 'misconceived notion' which has brought disrepute to the policemen.
Let us analyse in the second part why policemen act arrogantly even while arresting VIPs.
Harvey
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