No Police
“Whatever you do, wherever you go, never go to the police. Ever” (page 118 line 17-18), is a statement by Ram in the book “Slumdog Millionaire”. Firstly, what is right about this statement? And finally, which role do the police lay in India?
Ram Mohammed Thomas gave this advice to his friend Salim, when he asked Ram why they did not go to the police, after Ram found out what Maman intended to do to the two boys. He wanted Salim and Ram to get blinded, after they had learned the right poems and songs. Then they could earn money for Maman by singing poems on trains and other places.
Ram now wanted Salim to join him in his escape. Throughout his life before and after this situation Ram had learned, that poor people could not fight against those with money, no matter how they had obtained their money. If you are penniless you don't have the chance of justice because the police is corrupt. This is the view the book teaches the reader. But is it correct?
As India is the world biggest democracy the state should be founded on separation of power.
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Legislature, law
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Judicature, justice
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Executive, police
Normally this separation of power is the main concept of democracy. But if one of the groups abuses their power, the system collapses. As India is a very big state, problems are inevitable. The extremely high population in the slums makes the work of the police complicated. Life in the slums is somehow outside the law and people avoid the police. They manage problems and disagreements on their own and the police are not informed. This is one of the reasons why Ram tells Salim that he should never call the police, ever.
But the police are not working to modern standard. It is not just the number of officers but also their methods, which are ineffective. Brad Adams, the Director of the Asian division for the organisation “Human Rights Watch”, said in a rapport from 4th August, 2009 that India is getting more and more modern, but the police still use their old methods, like mistreatment and torture. Investigations by the police tend to take too long and conviction rates are low.
The role of the police is not just serving the public, but they also have very big influence on the other parts of the democratic separation of power. The police are corrupt; they play a bigger role than they should. What Ram talked about in the book is indeed the truth for
India.