Media Silence, Punjab Police Apathy, and the Fight for Justice in Patiala
WHEN NEWSPAPER or news television editors take a decision whether a story appears on Page 1, or Page 14, or whether it should be accompanied with a huge photograph or a smaller mugshot, or whether there should be an ‘Explainer’ box with the story, or whether there should be editorial comment on it, it is actually the editors taking a decision on whether you should be paying attention to it, how much attention, and whether you feel it trumps other stories, whether it claims more space in your mind for your thought process.
Basically, the editors control your eyes, your vision, your attention span, and what gets to go onto your mind space. They decide what you will ‘independently’ think deserves to be talked about even more loudly, or if it needs no attention.
When you do not pay attention to how this decision making takes place, you are basically saying, “I do not care if I am being blinded, blindsided, or being rendered dumb.”
The coverage of the incident in Patiala – a few Punjab Police cops assaulting a serving army officer – reflects exactly that.
Lack of coverage, shoddy coverage, reportage being pushed to inside pages, buried news points, all apart, the media is shame-facedly even now telling lies.
NO, THE FIR THAT THE FAMILY HAS BEEN DEMANDING HAS NOT BEEN LODGED.
After all the running around, the pressure from the Army, the intervention by the Western Command, and a lot of brouhaha, the cops have lodged an FIR. You know who has lodged it?
THE DHABA WALA.
Such a beautiful state, where a dhabawala drops in at a police station and cops promptly pen down a detailed FIR. What’s there to complain?
So, three days after the incident, one dhaba wala coolly walks into a police station, and tells the cop about an incident that happened three days earlier in front of his dhaba in which an army officer and his son had parked their car wrongly. The cops arrived there, and asked him to remove the car. He abused and assaulted the cops. So an altercation took place.
THIS IS THE FIR, lodged because of the alacrity of a good citizen dhabawala who thought it was his duty to bring an altercation to the notice of the police 72 hours later. (Such a beautiful state, where a dhabawala drops in at a police station and cops promptly pen down a detailed FIR. What’s there to complain?)
And this FIR has been lodged after the wife spent hours and hours sitting inside the thana, and top army officers brought down a hell of pressure on the top police hierarchy.
What would have happened if it were you? (Oh, sorry. It could never have been you because you always park your car so properly, you would not have given any cause to the cops to object.)
What would have happened if it were a very junior serving army officer?
What would have happened if it were just a fauji jawan?
What would have happened if it were someone who is not a serving army officer?
What would have happened if it had been a civilian?
What would have happened if it had been someone from a religion that’s constantly under an open assault?
What would have happened even in this case if there were no videos?
What would have happened even in this case if the colonel or his son had been armed and had brandished that weapon to merely save themselves from such a brutal attack that could have been fatal?
What would have happened if the colonel’s young son had been a player and had a couple of baseball bats or hockey sticks in the car?
EVEN IN THIS CASE, while you may get the feeling that the Army has done a great job by standing with the officer, please know this: None of this happened within a couple of hours of the incident.
What do you think must have happened within the first couple of hours? What do you think?
Would the army wife of the army officer not have called 3-4 brother officers? No one would have spoken to senior officers for two full days?
THE FACT IS THAT the wife of the assaulted officer is the sister of the wife of much celebrated and highly decorated Lt Gen (Retd) KJS Dhillon, (or Gen. Tiny Dhillon, as he is lovingly known in army circles), the man widely known to have avenged the Pulwama attack within 100 hours, and whose 2023 book, “Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye” made waves across the country.
Imagine how many pillars must have this PVSM, UYSM, YSM, VSM decorated man ran from, and how many posts he must have run to, to make sure someone somewhere listens to them. We are talking about an officer who commanded the XV Corps, was our topmost guardian on the Kashmir front, served as Director General of the Defence Intelligence Agency, was Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (Intelligence).
Someone who has a Param Vishisht Seva Medal, an Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, one Yudh Seva Medal, and a Vishisht Seva Medal to prove his credentials that if he vouches for a serving officer having being assaulted on the road, the cops at a thana should write an FIR without making the Western Command to intervene.
Please watch this remarkable conversation that Barkha Dutt had with the wife of the assaulted officer. Nothing in the newspapers is reflective of what the family was made to go through.
And the Olive Green that she is wearing – no, it is not the pride in the Indian Army. That’s for her. Only she has the right to feel that pride because no one else stood up.
To us, it should be a matter of shame. We failed. We did not stand up. Our rage did not measure up to the gravity of the incident. She’s wearing that colour because we let her down.
And the only reason we were found to be small men and women was because we were blinded by the media. The editors were “doing their job” – ensuring we remain in the dark. They are still on the job. They are doing it pretty well.
Of course, you will find it shocking, and at one level, not so. Because this is what happens all the time. People have learnt to make their peace with it. This particular case will probably come to some logical conclusion, some of those involved will lose their jobs, and matter will end, and that’s how it should be.
But the more important part will not happen – the systemic rot will remain, there will be no acknowledgement that things are seriously wrong, no top-level accountability will take place, no political move is on the horizon to fix things, and no political force will take ownership to push for meaningful reforms.
The cops and the editors know – Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye! It’s their life story.
POST SCRIPT –
You can choose to not watch, not read any detailed account, remain guilt free, and sing Edda Nai Shukahala Shaddi Da, Haan , Patiala Peg Laa Shaddi Da.
That will be no worse than what most of us did any way.
She is not saying it, but are you also not hearing it being shouted loudly into your ears – SHAME ON US. 
Also Read:
Punjab: Rule of Law vs Bulldozed Justice
Bulldozer Justice and Alice in Wonderland
Team PT
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