Time to improve relations between police & minorities

As the country copes with theaftermath of the horrors of Mumbai, the hard work of reconstruction, ofrebuilding ��� of reimagining our country���has begun. One genuine causeof satisfaction must be that there was no demonization of our Muslim minority,which the terrorists must have hoped to provoke. The victims of the killers werefrom every faith, and Indians of every religion have stood united in their angerand determination.And yet it was just the weekend before the attacksthat the PM had urged senior police officers not to widen "the fault lines inour society" and to act to "restore the faith of the people��� especiallythose belonging to religious and ethnic minorities and the weaker sections��� in the impartiality and effectiveness of the police." Hiswords reflected a real conundrum: the general public feels it is not adequatelyprotected against the random violence of terrorists, but every pro-activepolicing effort seriously alienates India's largest minoritycommunity.Young Muslim men have been picked up and brutalized for noreason other than their demographic profile, and yet the sneering triumphalismof the terrorists' Islamist propaganda seems to leave the authorities littlechoice. But if the efforts to stamp out the sources of terror merely incite thesullen resentment within which terrorism breeds, every crackdown will provecounter-productive. There has to be a better way.And there is.Indian dealt effectively with Sikh extremism by the skilful use of the talentsof a pluralist state. The Khalistanis never succeeded in making their cause oneof the Sikh community versus the Indian state. Instead, we saw themajority of Sikhs stay loyal to their country, as a largely Sikh police force,led by a charismatic Sikh officer, K.P.S. Gill, ably combated the minority ofSikh terrorists, while the Indian state orchestrated a democratic politicalprocess which brought elected Sikh leaders to power in Punjab. There isabsolutely no reason why a similar approach cannot work with the Muslimcommunity, the overwhelming majority of whom are proud and loyal Indians. To doso we must start by getting more Muslims into the securityforces.There are well-known historical and sociological reasons thatexplain why Muslims are under-represented in the country's police forces, theCentral Reserve Police and crucial gendarmeries like UP's Provincial ArmedConstabulary. Obviously, we cannot infuse a significant number of Muslims intothese forces overnight. But it's obvious that we need to enhance therecruitment and retention of minorities in the police forces and to conductpolice outreach to minority communities. Such an approach would simultaneouslyreduce a major source of grievance in the Muslim community, increase the trustbetween the police and the people they are policing, and dramatically improveour own intelligence about currents within a community whose vulnerability tothe blandishments of terror is high.We can learn some lessons fromhow other democracies have dealt with similar concerns. Despite the SacharCommission report, few in India want to see an additional layer of reservationsfor minorities in state institutions. But Britain, which abjures quotasaltogether, follows a policy of 'positive action' to help under-representedgroups compete more effectively in the selection process for police jobs, andconducts extensive outreach work through mosques, black churches and communitygroups. We in India also need to recognize that if we wantunder-represented Muslims to compete effectively for police jobs, they need tofeel the police is part of them, rather than an external entity. It's clear weneed to: actively solicit applications from minorities for the police at alllevels (including the Provincial Armed Constabulary and the Central ReservePolice); offer special catch-up courses open only to members of the minoritycommunities that will prepare them for the entrance examinations; at the momentfew feel qualified to take the exams, and fewer still pass; and require policeofficers to work with community organizations, mosques and madrasas to encourageminorities to apply.In other words, instead of more "reservations",with the resentment that breeds, let us make it easier for minorities to jointhe police. But let's not stop with recruitment: we also need to focus on theretention and progression of minority officers. Unless young people fromminorities see that the police service offers real career opportunities and agood quality of life in the workplace, they will not overcome their negativeperceptions. The fact that, in many Western countries, there areseveral officers from the visible minorities now at senior officer rank, sends apowerful message to these communities. In India, the promotion of minoritypolice personnel at senior and middle levels and using them as visible symbolsof the police force would constitute a powerful model to the minoritycommunity.We could also take a leaf out of Britain's book in whatthey do to combat racism within the police, as well as enhance cross-culturalknowledge, offering training courses to white officers that include a 'longweekend' spent living with a minority family. Britain is far from perfect ��� as the current discrimination case filed by Deputy Commissioner TariqGhafoor suggests ��� but many Hindu policemen, especially in Gujarat andthe suburbs of Mumbai, would benefit immeasurably by spending a few days in aMuslim mohalla. Let's face it: if our police are not properly and continuouslytrained in minority relations, the current problems will continue.Ofcourse India is not Britain, and no foreign ideas can simply be importedwholesale into our country. But we must acknowledge the grave risk to thenational fabric of any community being alienated from the police. Our policeforces must reflect the diversity of India. Such a policy would be the "otherside of the coin" to a tough security policy which is indispensable to reassurethe common urban resident, terrorized by the bomb blasts, that the Governmentcan keep them safe.