Contents: Preface. Introduction/Amarjit S. Narang. 1. Making and unmaking of Muslim stereotypes/Asghar Ali Engineer. 2. Minorities and police in India/Amarjit S. Narang. 3. Democracy, pluralism and police in India/Kirpal Singh Dhillion. 4. Maintaining social order/R.K. Raghavan. 5. Place and role of police in a plural society/Prakash Louis. 6. Police and the minorities in India/Prem Dhar Malaviya. 7. Endangered minorities in India: understanding the role of police/Abdulrahim Vijapur and Md. Mohibul Haque. 8. Police and the minorities: a study of the role of the police during communal violence in India/K.S. Subramanian. 9. Police prejudice against the Muslims/Arshi Khan. 10. Police partisanship during communal riots: need for its secularization and pluralization/Iqbal A. Ansari. 11. Need for people friendly police/Chaman Lal. 12. The infamous carnage of November 1984/H.S. Phoolka. 13. Role of police in 1984 anti-Sikh Massacre, Delhi/Vrinda Grover. 14. National policy for police/Ajay K. Mehra. Contributors.
"This timely volume analyses the attitude and orientation of police towards minorities in India's plural, democratic secular society and its behaviour while dealing with them as groups particularly in communal riot situations. The essays written from diverse socio-cultural perspectives take into account the expected role of law enforcement agencies in plural democratic societies and India's constitutional framework, also how far these agencies have stood up to that role and deviated from the same.
The essays take into account the colonial heritage, structure, training and working conditions of the police agencies to determine their attitude and behaviour. Role of police has not been evaluated in isolation but in the framework of socio-political structures and processes. The reports of various commission and studies have also been analysed and suggestions have been thoroughly examined. The purpose is not just to condemn the police but to evaluate the system in a manner which can be used for improving the situation." (jacket)
