ROLE OF DEFENCE IN DEMOCRACY

India is one of the largest democracies in the world and this image is being tainted by the blood and tears of the innocent harassed and tortured by the Indian Police. In the year 2007-08 Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have reported maximum number of custodial deaths. A shooting number of 188 custodial deaths were recorded in the year 2007-08 which was 30% higher than the year 2006-08. The Indian police whose duty is to protect and serve the common man has been using unrighteous methods to implement their rules.

Custodial rapes have also been a passion of a few police men. There are various cases of women in custody being raped and sometimes gang raped by the police. Ram Kumar vs The State of Himachal Pradesh 1995, P. Rathinam vs The State of Gujrat 1993 etc are a few cases where the protectors had abused their power and taken advantage of the civilians.

The Central Reserve Police Force was accused of sexual discrimination. A CRPF woman officer had filed a human rights violations complaint against the CRPF for posting her in a completely male battalion. This also shines light on the male chauvinistic ideals of the force. There are thousands of women in the force who have faced such atrocities over and over again in the Indian Police, Navy, Air Force and the Army. A lot of women officers in all these fields even today are a target of sexual abuse and assault.

The Border Security Force or the BSF is responsible for protecting the Indian borders from alien entries or insurgencies of any sort. It is vital to the sovereignty of India that the defenses protect the borders and gave the citizens a safe environment to live in.

In a democratic set up it is important that the defense system is sound so that the citizens know they have someone to answer to and hence maintain the law and order in the country. If the citizens lack a basic respect and faith in the defense force it could lead to a state of complete chaos and confusion.