Prakash Singh Retd. IPS Officer & Patron-GCTC   Our newspapers, until recently, were full of BJP’s tagline “Namumkin Ab Mumkin Hai”. There is no doubt that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a number of initiatives in diverse fields, which would raise the standard of living of the common man and transform India into a cleaner, healthier and resurgent nation. Swachch Bharat is gradually becoming a reality. Ayushman Bharat aims to provide healthcare benefit to about 50 crore people. Electricity would appear to have reached every corner of the country. Ujjwala and Sukanya Yojana would go a long way in improving the plight of women, and so on. Different departments came out with…

Prakash Singh Retd. IPS Officer & Patron-GCTC   Sadhvi Pragya has been in the news recently. In a highly controversial statement, she claimed to have cursed Hemant Karkare, chief of Mumbai’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), and, according to her, that led to his death. “Tera sarvanash hoga” (you will be destroyed) is the sharp (curse) she is said to have given to Karkare for allegedly torturing her while she was in custody. Karkare, as is known, was one of the senior police officers killed by terrorists on 26/11 in Mumbai. He sacrificed his life while engaging the terrorists who had unleashed mayhem in India’s biggest commercial hub. Karkare was later awarded Ashok…

Prakash Singh Retd. IPS Officer & Patron-GCTC   The country’s internal security architecture continues to be fragile. In the wake of the 26/11 terrorist attack in 2008, a slew of measures were taken to strengthen the police forces, reinforce coastal security and decentralise the deployment of National Security Guard. However, after that, a complacency of sorts seems to have set in, mainly because there has been no major terrorist attack since then. Whatever upgradation of police has happened during the intervening period has essentially been of a cosmetic nature. Meanwhile, terror clouds are gathering on the horizon and could burst upon the Subcontinent any time. The ISIS, which is committed…

Prakash Singh Retd. IPS Officer & Patron-GCTC       The criminal justice system of the country is “virtually collapsing” and “as it is slow, inefficient and ineffective, people are losing confidence in the system”. This was stated by the Justice Malimath Committee (2000-2003), which had been constituted to recommend reforms in the criminal justice system. Thanks to certain lobbies, the salient recommendations of the Committee were never implemented. Meanwhile, the system continues to go down a slippery slope. There could be no greater indictment of the system than the fact that the Supreme Court had to intervene in a case of alleged rape to ensure that justice was done…

Prakash Singh Retd. IPS Officer & Patron-GCTC   The agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act appears to have gone through three phases. In the first phase, it was a protest against its enactment, as there were genuine apprehensions that the Act, followed by a pan-India NRC exercise, would lead to a large section of society, mostly Muslims, being declared illegal migrants/citizens. There was protests in Jamia Millia Islamia and large-scale demonstrations in Assam and other Northeast states. In the second phase, it became a confrontation between students and the police. Allegations of police high-handedness spread and there were sympathetic protests in educational institutions across the country. The CAA remained the trigger, but…

Prakash Singh Retd. IPS Officer & Patron-GCTC   The ongoing violence in northeast Delhi, where at least 10 persons, including a head constable, were killed in rioting was waiting to happen. It was the culmination of weeks of dithering and selective action on the part of the Delhi Police in dealing with those agitating against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Violence had erupted in the Jafrabad area on last Sunday (February 23) itself and there was sufficient indication that all was not well. However, no preventive action appears to have been taken, and on Monday, when the national capital was rocked by agitators in different areas including Jafrabad, Gokulpuri and…

Prakash Singh Retd. IPS Officer & Patron-GCTC   Every crisis throws up a challenge and is an opportunity to prove one’s mettle. COVID-19 has posed a set of unique challenges for the Indian Police. There had never been any such crisis before and the police manuals have no standard operating procedures to deal with the situation. Hence, it is heartening to see how the police rose to the occasion and not only met the expectations of the people, but, perhaps, went beyond that. The police were called upon to enforce the lockdown, which they did. In the process, some excesses were committed. There were reports from different parts of the country about…

Prakash Singh Retd. IPS Officer & Patron-GCTC     Police was in the news for the right reasons till yesterday — for its humanitarian role during the pandemic. It was lauded as “the frontline of the frontline” and even the prime minister said that “the human and sensitive side of policing has touched our hearts”. Unfortunately, the pendulum has very soon swung to the other extreme. The brutal treatment of a father and son in Sathankulam police station of Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu, resulting in their death, exposed the ugly face of the police. It showed that the police are still relying on medieval methods in their day to…

Prakash Singh Retd. IPS Officer & Patron-GCTC   “Today, we mark not merely the end of a problem, but the beginning of a new future.” Thus spake the Prime Minister on August 3, after the Naga Peace Accord was signed in New Delhi. The terms of agreement were not released – only the framework was outlined. According to Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home, it may take about three months to finalize the exact terms of the agreement. Nevertheless, according to sources, the accord seeks a “lasting solution” to the Naga problem. It is worth recalling that a suspension of operations agreement was signed with the National Socialist Council…

Prakash Singh Retd. IPS Officer & Patron-GCTC       Kanwar Pal Singh Gill has been hailed as one of the most successful fighters against terrorism. He vanquished what was one of the most lethal and one of the most devastating terrorist movements in the history of the world. He has also been criticized as a terrible violator of human rights, a man who had no respect for life and was very brutal in his methods. What was the truth? To arrive at that, it would be necessary to understand the situation that prevailed in the Punjab those days. Siddharth Shankar Ray, then Governor of Punjab, in a report dated…