I am Bhupinder Singh: A response to Punjab Police’s “I am Harjeet Singh” campaign
In response to a recent scuffle between a Nihang Singh and some Punjab Police officers, the Punjab Police launched a social media campaign to garner support in favor of the police officer Harjeet Singh who lost his hand in the incident.
The incident in Patiala is one where the Punjab Police can fairly claim some credit and can easily get away with selectively presenting facts; this is likely the reason the police force chose to capitalize on this particular incident, in the hope that it will wash away the memory of the hundreds if not thousands of other recent incidents where the police (on camera) demonstrated brutality against civilians and the victims were meek enough to just take a beating without lifting a finger.
This article is not about the morality of resorting to violence against a colonial police force; that topic deserves it’s own write up. The purpose of this article is merely to launch a campaign that Panjabis can use to organize in response to the police campaign.
Who is the Punjab Police?
Punjab Police is a police force formed by the British (hence colonial) in 1861 which is used by the Indian State to maintain law and order (control) in the province of Punjab. They are paid from the tax money of Panjabis but are not accountable to them; instead being accountable to the Government of India. Given that, propensity to engage in verbal and physical abuse against Panjabis is a hallmark of Panjab Police officers. And nothing can be done about this, neither the legislature of Panjab nor it’s judiciary can hold the police accountable because of the Centralization of power in the hands of the Indian Union Government (also known as the Central Government or the Government of India).
Who am I?
I am Bhupinder Singh. I was horribly beaten and humiliated by Punjab Police in the public. My only mistake was that I broke the Indian Prime Minister’s “lockdown” in order to buy milk for my family. I am a Law abiding citizen, but I had a family to feed. And since there was no way for me to hold the policemen accountable and to get justice, I committed suicide.
Story: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ludhiana/patiala-man-commits-suicide-family-allege-police-torture/articleshow/75198187.cms
In general, I hope that the Panjab Police, instead of launching social media campaigns, questions it’s relation to the Panjabi people. However, if there is one thing that the Punjab Police can learn from my death, it should be that beating and publicly humiliating people is not okay in the name of “public safety”.
