Mangalore: IGP Pratap Reddy calls for reforms, says police limited by 1861 Act

Pics: Ramesh Pandith
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (VM)

Mangalore, Mar 20: "Law alone cannot look after everything, even society plays a vital part in upholding human rights. Law does not guarantee implementation of human rights, it depends on local cultural norms too," said IGP (western range) Pratap Reddy.

He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating a workshop on 'Human Rights Advocacy' organized by the department of political science, St Aloysius College here on Wednesday March 20.

"Human rights means protection of interest of people by law, and any institution that works on rendering human rights service should deliver these mechanisms. Society calls police as an adversary...why is this so? Even police cherish the same values as every common man and they too have the same strengths and weaknesses," he said.

"Instead of considering police as an adversary, we should think of forming human rights-related associations to deliver justice in a better way. Certain human rights in the Constitution have a few exceptions which people are not aware of," he said.

"There is a huge limitation when it comes to institutions rendering human rights services; hence in this regard police are at a disadvantage as they cannot deliver services as expected by people. This is mainly because police are still struggling with the Police Act of 1861 formed after the First War of Indian Independence, which is an outdated act. The sad part is even after 60 years of Indian Independence, there are no amendments or reforms brought about in it," he said

"Unless people start demanding certain reforms, ensuring human rights in a right manner will remain a distant dream," added IGP Reddy, asking people to think on the lines of what better they can expect.

For a question asked by a policeman on internal reforms in the police department, the IGP replied, "We are trying to bring about internal reforms and have achieved it in some cases but definitely not at the level people expect. The Karnataka police is the biggest user of IT, which has helped in various investigations. We try to educate our internal forces, but internal reforms can address only some part of the problem and hence institutional reforms are much needed."

Fr Swebert D’Silva, principal of St Aloysius College in his presidential address asked students to be aware of their rights. "First of all we have to consider all other human beings as equal to us and have same rights like us, if this notion is not inculcated it will be a barrier in promoting human rights," he said.

"There are various cases of human rights violation in our society. In most of the cases people who have power, money dominate others, and as a result, it is the poor section of the society who suffer from violation of rights. Many times we try to promote human rights but we do not practice them," added Fr Swebert.

The inaugural ceremony was followed by a keynote address on women and criminal justice by Dr Vivian Lord from University of North Carolina.