In UP, it’s the rule of law that is being murdered
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Uttar Pradesh has now begun celebrating encounter killings. The murder accused, former Lok Sabha MP and Samajwadi party leader Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, were shot dead at point-blank range while under police escort on Saturday night. Both of them were being taken for a medical checkup when the assailants shot them down. The murders were captured on camera and live streamed. It was only two days ago that Atiq Ahmed's son Asad, who is also an accused in a murder case and his aide Ghulam, were killed in an encounter by the UP police. Atiq had moved the Supreme Court seeking protection saying that he feared he would be killed in an encounter. However, the court dismissed his plea. When Atiq and his brother were being taken to the hospital, the police protection provided was scanty. From what was provide a day earlier, a scaled down force of only seven police officers was present to escort them. There are allegations that this lack of security gave an opportunity to the killers to attack Atiq and his brother. In the wake of the controversy following the killings, the Yogi Adityanath government has ordered a high-level probe into the incident. According to the reports at the time of writing this, a judicial commission is going to be constituted. The role of the government in the rising number of extra-judicial killings in states like UP is by no means small. Adityanath didn’t have to think twice to appreciate the police for the encounter killing of Azad and Ghulam. Earlier, two of Atiq's aides were also killed in two separate encounters by the UP police before that of Atiq and his son. The reason for the spate of encounter killings is the encouragement from the government and the assurance from the police that the attackers will not be punished.
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The Adityanath government has set a record in encounter killings in six years of his rule. The Atiq-Ashraf brothers' killing is encounter number 184. During the period 2016-2022, there were 813 encounter killings in India. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had recommended disciplinary action against the police only once. On the other hand, governments praise encounter specialists. There have been a large number of state-sponsored encounter killings in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kashmir and Assam as well. In the last six years, the number of encounter killings has doubled. Under the unofficial 'Operation Langda' scheme, 8,472 encounters took place in UP till July 2002, in which more than 3,300 alleged criminals were shot at and injured. Although it is claimed that all this is being done with the government’s support and open encouragement to curb and eliminate miscreants, it is nothing short of a violation of the law. And when it is the police and the government that commit such acts, it becomes a matter of grave importance. The justification usually cited by the police is that they had to open fire in self-defence. But this claim is never investigated. This is the reason why the NHRC issued its guidelines in 1997. The directives include registration of FIR in case of an encounter killing, investigation by an independent agency and punitive action if the police are found guilty. However, in 2010, the NHRC stated that most of the states were not complying with it. In 2014, the Supreme Court made certain procedures mandatory such as preliminary investigation to be carried out by a different police team, registering an FIR immediately and to collect evidence, the police personnel involved in the shootout to give up their weapons, a magisterial inquiry, speedy trial and disciplinary action. But this too is not being implemented effectively.
Moreover, the scenario of encounter killings being celebrated as a great service to the nation is also seen on the increase. It is natural for people to express relief when notorious criminals are eliminated through extrajudicial killings. The complexities in the court proceedings and the delay are the culprits here. Encounter killings are usually depicted as exemplary ‘punishments' being carried out for committing a crime. The second problem is that politics itself turns into an arena for committing crimes. Atiq Ahmed's main areas of activity were politics and crime. Under the Yogi Adityanath government, encounter killings have not only set a new record but destroying anything and everything using bulldozers have also grown into a new kind of 'punishment' outside the law. As a result, law and order in Uttar Pradesh has come to a standstill. This situation of the government and the police deciding the culprits, dictating the punishment and carrying out their execution is grave. When the rule of law is broken, it implies that the government itself has also collapsed. One cannot deem that the investigation under, and the remedial measures to be undertaken by the Adityanath government will be effective or credible.
