The Delhi high court on Wednesday slammed Delhi Police for imposing Section 144 CrPC during the Nirbhaya rape protests instead of handling law and order. On December 22 and 23, cops had used batoncharge, teargas and water cannons on people who had gathered at India Gate to protest. Around the same time, police in Manipur opened fire at protesters demanding the arrest of an NSCN (IM) commander. A journalist was killed in the firing.
Experts say the issue could be about not putting the right people in charge. “Training has always been a lacuna, but it’s also about putting the wrong people on the job. Units trained in hardcore anti-insurgency operations are put in charge of crowd control all of a sudden. These men are trained to use their firearms, not batons. The policeman does what he is trained to do; he may not always know what he is supposed to do under the given circumstances,” said a senior officer of Assam police, requesting anonymity.
The crisis at India Gate could have been averted by using mounted police, aver officials from other forces. But additional DCP and PRO of Delhi Police Rajan Bhagat clarified, “We didn’t use our mounted unit as that would have put our animals at risk. The crowd was violent and hurling stones and brickbats. Many of our colleagues were injured and one of them died.”
An officer in the elite President’s Bodyguard added that the presence of a horse “may deter a crowd from getting violent; but if it does, the horse could get fidgety and bolt, resulting in a stampede. You don’t want that in a civilian situation, do you?”
Cops abroad, though, use their mounted units to break up protests. They have also been taking lessons from history. The ‘shield wall’ or ‘phalanx formation’, a battle tactic used by the Persian Sparabara, Greek hoplites and Roman legions inancient times, has been a favourite among riot police in advanced countries. London police, in particular, experimented with the Anglo-Saxon shield wall, which had troubled the Vikings at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. In a simulation attack, cops found that even heavily armed protesters couldn’t break past this wall.
They are also looking for ‘less lethal’ weapons of riot control. For instance, the British Home Office is focusing on a new chemical called ‘discriminating irritant projectile’ or Dip, which would be loaded with CS gas, pepper spray or another irritant. Another interesting weapon is “skunk oil” — foul-smelling liquids fired in the form of pellets. So intense would be the odour that anyone hit by such a pellet would want to go home and change.
Perhaps it’s time police in India followed their example. But there are hurdles here.
“Many proposals for modernization got caught in red tape. Our riot gear isn’t anything to write home about. That’s why so many policemen were hurt in Delhi. We are still using archaic rubber bullets or baton rounds and are yet to use plastic bullets,” said an IPS officer in charge of riot training.
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