Was ‘Shoot to Kill’ the Only Option for the Police in Panchkula?

It is official now that 39 people died and 250 more were injured the day Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was produced and pronounced guilty of rape by the CBI Court in Panchkula, Haryana. The followers of Dera had come in thousands to Panchkula to witness the final hearing and the verdict on the case against their guru.

The various reports that came out, stated that these followers had indulged in large-scale violence and destruction. What it did not state, however, was that all those who had died had mostly succumbed to police bullets.  It also missed out on acknowledging that, all the bullet wounds were found mostly on the upper parts of the victims’ bodies. According to sources, the state government, led by Haryana’s chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, was in contact with Ram Rahim Singh two days before he was to be produced in the court. They were aware of the fact that the supporters gathering in huge number in Panchkula and if the verdict went otherwise, then there was a chance of mass violent protest. What was the government’s reason to sit idle on the information and not act upon it?

Speaking to Newsclick, former DGP of Punjab, Sashi Kant said, that though Section 144 was imposed in the state, he did not understand why the government did not stop the Dera supporters from gathering outside the court premises. “In the court, the government has argued that it was a strategy to allow the supporters of Ram Rahim come to come to Panchkula. For all this what likely course of action would be taken no one knows,” he said.

This is not the first instance of large-scale police firing that took place in the Haryana. Last year, during the agitation seeking reservations for Jats, 22 people lost their lives to the police bullets. Why is the state government of Haryana “deliberately” allowing the agitators to turn “violent” and vent their anger on private property? It would have been a different case if the actions of the state were to prevent a killer mob and the District Magistrate had given orders to the police to use firearms.

The people who lost their lives in clashes between police and agitators died due to the firing from the assault rifles. A report says that the police officials, informally, have identified the bullets came from two rifles -- INSAS, which the paramilitaries were using and SLRs, which were with the Haryana Police.

If we look at the rulebook for the police to use arms to control crowds, it is as follows:

First, plenty of warnings to the crowd to disperse must be given with time for the crowd to obey. Then tear gas may be used or a lathi charge resorted to after another warning. Lathis cannot rain down blows on head and shoulders but must be aimed below the waist. If the police are going to have to resort to firing there has to be a clear and distinct warning that firing will be effective. Here too the rule is to use minimal force. So firing must aim low and at the most threatening part of the crowd with a view not to cause fatalities but to disperse the crowd. As soon as the crowd show signs of breaking up the firing must stop. The injured must be assisted to the hospital immediately. Of course, every individual officer has to make a report of his role for the record.

Now take a look at this video of how an individual was put down by the police:

@narendramodi @rajnathsingh @AnupamPkher If this can be allowed in Panchkula to stop Violence. Why the hands of our soldiers are tied in J&K pic.twitter.com/x458xnx9Qn

— Punit Sharma (@punit_sharma21) August 30, 2017

There were reports that the Deputy Commissioner was abandoned by the police and she was left to fend for herself. A video shared below shows that the officer was indeed taken to her office by the police. Was this narrative of ‘the commissioner being abandoned and under threat from the crowd’ built up, just to justify the killings that followed?

Panchkula.. Was she really left alone by cops to fend for herself. We might have failed but r not cowards #cuttingedgeliespic.twitter.com/mMiaoFaeQ8

— hemant pandey (@hemantp83) 27 August 2017

So who is to be held accountable for the deaths of people who gathered in Panchkula on August 25, 2017? Does the Khattar government, consider this as an honour and achievement? The number of civilians who have died due to the bullets of his government are - 2 in 2015, 22 in 2016, and 39 and still counting in 2017.