Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 8 (IANS) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Wednesday held an interactive session with a group of Delhi Police officers to discuss the post-midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his supporters at the Ramlila Ground, an official said.

“Several questions were raised on the methods of policing and violation of human rights, including the alleged unconstitutional and forceful eviction of the people on the night of June 4-5,” an NHRC official said.

Using batons and lobbing tear gas shells, police swooped on the Ramlila Ground just after midnight Saturday and forcefully evicted Ramdev and his supporters who were agitating against corruption and black money stashed abroad.

The NHRC had Monday issued notice to Delhi Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta, among others, for the crackdown.

“The interaction was between the police and present and former interns of the Human Rights Training programme,” added the official.

Replying to a question, a police officer said that irrespective of the orders from senior officers, sometimes they had to use their own discretion in executing them, keeping in view the situation on the ground.

NHRC member P.C. Sharma said: “It is a wrong perception in the minds of some of the police officers that the commission, by raising issues of violations of human rights, at times, tends to obstruct them in their duty.”

Police are the first custodians of human rights and the commission is there to guide them, he added.

Emphasizing that police investigation should never be done under any kind of pressure or bias, Sharma said that like other citizens, police personnel too are entitled to human rights.

“The police officers need to be more sensitive towards the people approaching them for registering their complaints,” NHRC director general (investigation) Sunil Krishna said.