Backed by Cheering Crowds and ‘News’ Anchors, Cops Are Thrashing the Rule of Law

Kaafi Real cartoon: The crowds are just standing by and cheering on the illegality, right? Like they did in Gujarat.

In Gujarat's Kheda, when police publicly thrashed nine Muslim men in a brazenly illegal and unconstitutional act, what was also getting thrashed was the rule of law. Beaten black and blue.

(Cartoon: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

You know how in India a crowd will gather to watch literally anything happening on the streets? A gully cricket match, a JCB at work (even when it's not demolishing homes in a butchering of legal due process), people arguing or fighting on the road, anything can draw a crowd on Indian streets.

Sometimes though, what gets demolished in the process is more than someone's ego in a brawl. Like in Gujarat's Kheda, when police publicly thrashed nine Muslim men in a brazenly illegal and unconstitutional act, what was also getting thrashed was the rule of law. Beaten black and blue.

But the crowds are just standing by and cheering on the illegality, right? That's exactly what they did in Kheda. And what about the National Human Rights Commission (which hasn't said a word on the incident so far), most of the 'news' media (one 'news' anchor even cheered on the police's illegal assault and compared it to cops playing dandiya), and... us?

(Cartoon: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

The rule of law is being tied to a pole and beaten to a pulp. The question is, when 'protectors' become perpetrators, who will police the police?

As of now, the Gujarat police have ordered an inquiry into the incident.

(Kaafi Real is a series of cartoons on The Quint. You can check out all our other Kaafi Real cartoons here.)