Police - Not Robots!

Every time I hear some self-righteous Human Rights activist or page 3 persona complaining about how rude and heavy-handed the police are, or about why the police are curbing their 'rights' when they check them for DUIs or breaking up parties "way too early" for their regal liking, one part of me wants to take the nearest heavy object and hurl it at the instrument from where their venom is being emitted.

Too bad that most of the time, the actual Highnesses are far away, in the cosy comfort of an air-conditioned TV studio, having been chauffer-driven there in their fancy cars, spewing dust and fumes on the policemen they are criticizing, and the poor of this land that they don't really seem to care about.

I agree, the police are quite often extremely heavy-handed. But understand their situation also. They are human and not robocops. Look at what they have to endure - low pay, shabby treatment, being tossed around at will by the netas, and almost no chance of advancement. So before you talk, try to understand.

And if you think you are qualified enough and have the right to criticize the police, I suggest taht you do the following before talking:

1. Find the busiest, noisiest and dirtiest road intersection in your city.

2. Leave the house early morning, and travel there by bus; preferably on a summer day. Carry no food or water with you. Take an unpaid leave on that day.

3. Stand at that spot for the next 10 hours, with only an hour or so lunch break. Find the dirtiest hotel in the vicinity, and have your lunch there.

4. Get shouted at by random strangers. If there is a politician around, or a politicians convoy, try and stop it or make it follow traffic rules, and watch the consequences.

5. After a 14 hour vigil at the spot, without rest (except for the lunch), and without sitting at all, except for short stretches, go back home by bus (crowded of course), and not a deluxe bus, just a normal commuter bus.

6. After reaching home, give yourself your day's salary of a princely 200 Rs. (Incidentally, this is on the higher side - a Constable usually earns less that 5000 Rs a month, not even enough for a decent house rent).

7. Do this for a week, preferably alternating between taking very long walks around dirty neighbourhoods to simulate a beat. On two days, do the beat at night. If there is a festival on those days, make ur duty stretch to 16 hours.


Now, after doing all this, you have passed the Police Etiquette and Sensitivity Test (PEST), and are worthy of spewing all the venom you have at the force.

The Police Life - not a dog's day

Chacko Joseph-ji pointed out all the points that I had missed, which made me wonder how a common man could understand it at all.... there really isn't any way to understand that. Chackoji and I will continue to list all the issues and tortures that a Police cop has to endure... hopefully that would lead to understanding rather than blind jingoism or hatred. Both extremes are bad.

About Pete's Blog

A lot of people have been wondering where Peter Coates' (Pete's) Intelligence Blog went....

So, FYI, Pete's blog, formerly located at http://spyingbadthings.blogspot.com has moved to http://gentleseas.blogspot.com/.

This move has been made mainly recognition of the shift in focus of Pete's old blog from purely Australian affairs to a more broader perspective of South Asia and Asia Pacific and Naval affairs in the Indian Ocean.

You can also go directly to it by clicking on the link on the blogroll to the right.

Cheers
Sniperz

Time to Strike?

Now that Pakistan has got the evidence they have been clamouring for, it will be interesting to see how long they take to "analyze" it and take action. One doubts that they will. As it is, they have got a shot in the arm, thanks to the US saying that the perpetrators can be tried in Pakistan itself, and China still sticking with the disingenuous "Deccan Mujahedeen" farce.

Perhaps its time to act. As Nitin Pai pointed out eloquently on the Acorn, the proof gives us a justification to take an action, but is not an action by itself. Neither will any other country act when we don't. So, based on what Pakistan does next, it is time to tell the rest of the patronizing, peace-mongering world to p*** off, and take action on our own... here's why.

1) Pakistan will not take any action, even with the evidence (which it used as a time-wasting tactic)
2) Neither US nor China will help, and in fact, would want to stop a strike, and will support Pakistan
3) UNSC is a no-no, for an obvious multitude of reasons.
4) The Pakistani war-mongering has run its course, and will not hold now.
5) The camps, which were emptied and leaders who were hidden will now slowly end their hibernation and come out once the snows melt.
6) Ironically enough, it is once the snows melt (quite literally) that we have the best conditions to fight.

What we should do now is simple - prepare our infrastructure, intelligence and military assets for short, intense (and mostly covert) strikes on Pakistani terrorists, and ISI "rogues". Best time would be in early February - not too near to elections, neither too close to the end of winter.