Police Protection for the oppressor or the oppressed?

Quotes

The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.

Karl Marx


Now I say that with cruelty and oppression it is everybody's business to interfere when they see it.

Anna Sewell


The history of an oppressed people is hidden in the lies and the agreed myth of its conquerors.

Meridel Le Sueur


The oppression of any people for opinion's sake has rarely had any other effect than to fix those opinions deeper and render them more important.

Hosea Ballou


No other offense has ever been visited with such severe penalties as seeking to help the oppressed.

Clarence Darrow


You can't hold man down without staying down with him.

Booker T. Washington


A desire to resist oppression is implanted in the nature of man.

Tacitus




To defend the oppressed is becoming very critical. The oppressed seem to have lost their face, their right and surely their identity. Always they were hidden in the galore of the main stream media. Their stories never made headlines. Things appear to be changing today. The reason may be difficult to trace and the motives may be different to analyze. But it is true that the stories of the oppressed are given expression to a greater extent than ever before.

In Goa take the mining uprising which is picking up like a whirlwind. The misery of the people who silently suffered for ages remain buried in the mining dumps. The Goan communities clustered in the cities are getting more and more involved to listen to their side of the story. The BIG question will still remain: will their voice be heard or crushed by the powerful Mining oppressor who has camouflaged himself as the protector of the state economy?

The point I am interested to make should not go unnoticed. The police are summoned to give protection in mining upbeat areas. Who called the police and who get the protection is no longer a puzzle to the simple village folks. Today it is clear. The police are seen as local goons in these areas bashing up the defenseless to protect what is called the mining mafia by the anti-mining activists.

Police protection is no longer in defense of the unarmed. Police protection appears to silence the voice of truth and justice. The voice should not reach the mainstream media. Mining posed serious threat not only to the residents of the mining affected areas but to Goan ecology itself especially the water zones. People who raise their voice to bring the truth to light and create awareness are being oppressed using police protection. The protection is given to the lawless, unethical, and ecologically dangerous practices. When the real problem start these person may migrate to greener pastures. But what about the poor mining affected people?

The police personnel on the other hand fail to claim responsibility for the act of violence conducted in the name of protection. They may just say we are following the order received from the higher ups. The police at times act blind, wild, and with no sense of moral conscience. The law itself made this possible. They are told to follow the order or get fired no reasons asked. This probably will be the highest form of law in monarchy. Does democracy has a place for such a law? Living in such condition one may wonder do we really live in Democracy or more subtle form of monarchy? Just don't keep thinking about it. Do something about it. Your vote is equal to your voice and it counts.

Police protection should not be measured in terms of the oppressor and the oppressed bu rather in more democratize terms of justice and truth. Otherwise Satya Meva jayati! (Truth always triumphs) will only remain rich old Indian slogan.

Feroz F in Friend, Vol. 76 No.13 MARCH 28, 2009 Vavraddeancho IXTT