Editorial
Police criminality crossing line
High time they are put on leash
Tuesday's incident of police brutality has overstepped all limits. They had the temerity of unabashedly dragging a teenage girl and her parents from a motorcycle into the police club and assaulting them physically. In particular, they went so far as to abuse the girl physically. Then when the lawyers and journalists tried to help them, they were attacked and beaten up.
The entire nation feels outraged by the barbaric, unbridled and thoroughly reprehensible conduct of some police officials within their own premises.
Given the brazen-faced impropriety of their actions, it seems they have been virtually let off with very light punishment through closure of two police officials
Even the committee formed to probe the incident and recommend penal measures is a departmental one and therefore not independent. We have lost faith with such departmental investigations.
What comes as a ruder shock is the unsolicited advice of the state minister for home Shamsul Haque Tuku that journalists keep at a safe distance from the police while at work. This amounts to asking the journalist not to discharge their professional duties lest that exposes the vile and devious activities of some members of the police.
Clearly, this is an unabashed attempt by the home ministry top brass to give policemen a free hand in its dealings with the public.
But this is also not for the first time that the government has been treating police atrocities against journalists and members of the public with kid gloves. So, it is hardly surprising that some members of the police are not behaving themselves but are getting more arrogant and abusive towards the public.
When the government's instrument to maintain law and order turns into a coercive force and takes law into it own hands, the public have none to turn to. Such state of affairs can erode credibility of the government beyond repair.
The authorities must investigate the instances of police excesses in earnest to find out the errant members of the police involved in these incidents and bring them to justice.
The government should basically stop using the police for partisan end which gives them an added sense of impunity to go about with their nefarious activities.
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