The State government will not brook authoritarianism, third degree and corruption in the police force, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
His message at a human rights seminar organised by the Kerala State Police Complaints Authority (KSPCA) on Tuesday assumed significance against the backdrop of a special court sentencing two serving officers to death by hanging in a 13-year-old custodial torture case.
Law enforcers formed the bulk of the audience, and the CM shared the stage with a galaxy of legal luminaries, human rights activists and ranking officers, retired and serving.
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“Police officers do have authority. You should use it diligently and minimally with due discretion to uphold the rule of law and protect the lives and property of citizens. Those who use authority wantonly to extort money from citizens or trample on their human rights, including the right to privacy, should not expect any mercy from the government,” he added.
The CM said officers should approach issues based on facts. They should not hanker for publicity nor be driven by it. Governance was not a vehicle for officials to satisfy their vanity by excessively courting the media. “Do not fall into that publicity trap set by the press,” he said without referring to any officer by name.
The CM said the right to dissent was central to democracy and disagreement should not be seen as an anti-national act. Mr Vijayan flagged up a Malayalam writer’s recent decision to withdraw his novel serialised in a magazine after a remark by a fictional character in the work drew the ire of right-wing Hindu nationalists.
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The CM wondered whether Kerala was going back in history. Mr Vijayan said the revanchist backlash that prompted a novelist to stop writing was a blot on Kerala’s history.
Organised attacks
The government and the police alone could not deter organised attacks on freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. Society should muster itself against the dark forces that threaten its democratic core, he said.
KSPCA chairman V. K. Mohan presided. KSPCA member and former State Police Chief K. S. Balasubramaniam welcomed the gathering. State Police Chief Loknath Behera, human rights activist Maja Daruwala and former Supreme Court judge Gopala Gowda were among those who spoke. Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala inaugurated the valedictory function.