 Man bites dog. Thats what news is about. Or so I was told in the one journalism class I took for extra credit in college. Dogs bite men everyday.
Who cares? Find something new and youve found yourself a place on the front page. Thats what separates the Pulitzer prize winner from the putz. Which in part explains the sensational stories we occasionally see in our morning papers.
And never is this brought home to roost more than a front page story in this newspapers sister publication, Mid Day, last week. A tale about an honest policeman. Thats right. Front page. Full colour photograph. Quotes. Comment. The works.
All about an honest cop. Heres a man who didnt take a bribe that was offered. In fact, if I remember the way it went, the briber, if there is indeed such a term, offered to make him financially secure. Just for turning and looking the other way.
But they picked the wrong man to be the bribee. And yes, I know there is no such term either. Until now. Now that its been used in a newspaper it becomes official.
But this is not about additions to the English language. Its about this briber and this bribee. Who marches the men making the offer to the police station and books them for their blatant disregard for the law of this land.
I applaud his act. I am all for what he did. And I firmly believe he deserves the accolades heaped on him. We need more men like him in public service.
And with any luck, this newspapers sister publication will make more of the event and see that he is elected to government. Where we also need more men like him. The fact that we dont have them is cause for concern.
As it happens, the fact is that an honest cop is sufficiently newsworthy to make the front page of a major newspaper. And this worries me too. And I would like to believe that it worries most people I know.
In this same week, another newspaper report says that the Anti Corruption Bureau considers the Mumbai police amongst the most corrupt in this country.
I have no idea on what they base these findings. But it does make me question why, if the Anti Corruption Bureau is aware of this, they are not doing anything about it.
Apart from releasing the facts to the newspapers. Surely their function is to act as more than a statistical reporting organisation.
Surely their function is to apprehend the guilty and put them where they put the rest of the criminals. Behind bars.
Its all in the image
The former police commissioner of this fine city once went on a tirade against the Indian film industry. For portraying the force in what he called a bad light. He suggested they stop the negative imagery.
Ordinary citizens lost their respect for the police when they saw them shown as sleazy characters on the screen. Granted, the Indian film industry has seldom had a foot in reality in either the characters or the contents of what it puts on celluloid.
But surely the ordinary citizen doesnt need to be shown a crooked cop to know they exist. Were gullible. Well fall for the impossible location changes, costume changes, shaky story lines and execrable dialogue. But some things we know are true.
Not, I must thankfully admit, that I have met any crooked cops. The ones I know and have met personally are intelligent, articulate and committed to their jobs.
And are as clean as the proverbial whistle they carry. I talk to them and believe there is no problem with the police in this country.
The ones I have met on the few occasions I been in a police station are equally so. Courteous and conscientious. And willing and eager to put the guilty in jail. And keep them there.
Yet according to the newspapers, I have met the wrong ones. Either that, or a minority.
Because according to the newspapers there simply arent enough of them. If there were, we wouldnt be seeing the stories we do. Or the headlines.
This isnt a question of image, as our former police commissioner suggested. Nor of public perception. It has more to do with the bare naked truth.
And the only way its going to change is if the men in the force do it themselves. Weed out the problem in their ranks.
And make the uniform something they wear with pride. Without fear of ridicule or derision. Its a proud uniform.
My grandfather wore one. And as a child, I wanted to. Perhaps, with luck, if my son decides hed like to, I wont worry. And by then the newspapers will have something else to write about.
Come to think of it, I do know a man who bit a dog. Perhaps I should tell my editor. He needs a front page story for Monday.
anish@mid-day.com
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