Uttar Pradesh fires 10,000 police officers
Saturday, 22 September 2007
Jo Johnson, FT Syndication Service
NEW DELHI: Mayawati, India's most powerful low-caste politician, has fired more than 10,000 police officers in the populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which she leads.
Critics accuse Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj party garnered an absolute majority in the state elections in May on the back of promises to fight corruption, of pursuing a political vendetta against officers either appointed by or loyal to the outgoing Samajwadi party regime of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
J.N. Chamber, principal home secretary in UP, said the officers had been dismissed after a "a high-level preliminary inquiry found gross irregularities in the recruitment process".
Mr Chamber said more officers could be fired in the coming days, as the "bulk of the 22,000 police recruitments made during the previous regime were irregular in one way or the other".
The government claims some constables were recruited after 18-second interviews, while others paid bribes of up to Rs400,000 ($10,000)to secure jobs in expectation of making it back many times over once in uniform.
"This mass sacking is a unilateral show of power," said Shobha Sharma, of the Delhi-based Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. "Even if there had been irregularities in recruitment, there is a due process to be followed to ensure that reforms have credibility and embed best practice."
The BSP, a movement for former "untouchables", now known as dalits ("the oppressed"), won an unexpected majority of seats, enabling Mayawati, who uses one name, to become an all-powerful chief minister in a state used to fractious coalition.
Mayawati said on Tuesday that 3,964 policemen recruited by Mr Yadav's regime were to be sacked because of "major irregularities" in their recruitment. She had earlier fired 6,500 policemen. Mr Yadav on Thursday branded the sackings "unconstitutional".
The redundancies are a test for India's Supreme Court, which has encountered resistance to its attempts to push state governments to implement reforms to increase the accountability and autonomy of their police forces.
Corruption in India's law enforcement system is leading to growing vigilantism. In Bihar this month, a mob lynched 10 alleged thieves. Police constables later threw their bodies into the Ganges to save money on cremation.
The court last year ordered state governments to set up independent bodies to investigate cases of serious misconduct and special committees to oversee the appointment of senior police officers, whose tenures will be fixed for two years.
NEW DELHI: Mayawati, India's most powerful low-caste politician, has fired more than 10,000 police officers in the populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which she leads.
Critics accuse Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj party garnered an absolute majority in the state elections in May on the back of promises to fight corruption, of pursuing a political vendetta against officers either appointed by or loyal to the outgoing Samajwadi party regime of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
J.N. Chamber, principal home secretary in UP, said the officers had been dismissed after a "a high-level preliminary inquiry found gross irregularities in the recruitment process".
Mr Chamber said more officers could be fired in the coming days, as the "bulk of the 22,000 police recruitments made during the previous regime were irregular in one way or the other".
The government claims some constables were recruited after 18-second interviews, while others paid bribes of up to Rs400,000 ($10,000)to secure jobs in expectation of making it back many times over once in uniform.
"This mass sacking is a unilateral show of power," said Shobha Sharma, of the Delhi-based Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. "Even if there had been irregularities in recruitment, there is a due process to be followed to ensure that reforms have credibility and embed best practice."
The BSP, a movement for former "untouchables", now known as dalits ("the oppressed"), won an unexpected majority of seats, enabling Mayawati, who uses one name, to become an all-powerful chief minister in a state used to fractious coalition.
Mayawati said on Tuesday that 3,964 policemen recruited by Mr Yadav's regime were to be sacked because of "major irregularities" in their recruitment. She had earlier fired 6,500 policemen. Mr Yadav on Thursday branded the sackings "unconstitutional".
The redundancies are a test for India's Supreme Court, which has encountered resistance to its attempts to push state governments to implement reforms to increase the accountability and autonomy of their police forces.
Corruption in India's law enforcement system is leading to growing vigilantism. In Bihar this month, a mob lynched 10 alleged thieves. Police constables later threw their bodies into the Ganges to save money on cremation.
The court last year ordered state governments to set up independent bodies to investigate cases of serious misconduct and special committees to oversee the appointment of senior police officers, whose tenures will be fixed for two years.