In response to the report published by New York Times dated March 12, describing the conduct of police during the recent Delhi riots, the IPS Association tweeted, "We strongly condemn the article in New York Times on the conduct of Police in Delhi riots, which is a combination of biased reporting, dangerous innuendo, and outright lies. The article is clearly a concerted effort to denigrate and defame Indian Institutions."
IPS retorts
Condemning the New York Times article titled, "If we kill you, nothing will happen: How Delhi's police turned against Muslims" in Delhi riots dated March 12, it alleged that the police in general, the Delhi police and the judiciary in India have been acting on communal lines.
According to the IPS, "The article made a labored attempt in its narrative to establish its biased stance by selectively choosing some incidents during the riots. It completely ignored that the Delhi riots were controlled from spreading to 191 of the 203 police station area in Delhi and controlled within 36 hours. That about 85 police personnel suffered injuries, one sacrificed his life and the DCP is still battling it out with a serious head injury merits a more favourable assessment of Delhi police."
A new study by Tata Trusts, the philanthropist arm of Tata Group, has found that Muslim representation in the Indian police force has "remained consistently low" at 3 to 4 per cent in 2019. Many tweets have been tagged to the Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who have praised the role of Delhi Police in the Parliament.
While many video clips are available in the public domain that supports the statements made by NYT report against Delhi police, showing them pelting stones at the mob and breaking CCTV cameras, to assaulting a group of young men lying on the ground, and forcing them to sing the country's national anthem.
When the rioting happened, a police officer in the know-how of the matter said that they were ordered to deposit their firearms at the police stations and given sticks to deal with the mob. Their pleas for forearms were ignored.
In a subsequent tweet, the IPS body said, "Indian Police forces are professional bodies which do their duty without fear or favour. Our personnel are neither Hindus nor Muslims. They are Indians, serve Indians and during critical times they have also sacrificed their lives for Indians."
The NYT report further claims that when the police started beating the mobs with sticks, they were bleeding on the ground and begging for mercy, the officers laughed, jabbed them with their sticks, made them sing the national anthem in pain, and further went to say with pride that, "Even if we kill you, nothing will happen to us."
Holding Indian judiciary in high regard
No action has been taken against these policemen, the IPS association nor the Home Minister in this regard. So tweets by the IPS expressing ire over the New York Times article is a source of both amusement and derision on social media.
IPS further commented on the NYT report saying, "Police everywhere in India, including the Delhi police, are selected through a secular process and are duty-bound to act as per the law. It is easy to cast aspersions on Police but here is a reminder that 2 security personnel have lost their lives in the riots and more than 70 were injured. India's Police forces will keep doing their duty and ensure every Indian is protected."
IPS reiterated, "India is governed by law, no one has immunity from killing anyone!" Does this statement made by IPS in a comment against New York Times reportage hold true in the case of the Delhi riots? We await your honest views in this regard.
