Towards A Nuanced Discourse
Ajay K. Mehra
PUBLIC EVENTS AND POLICE RESPONSE: UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC ORDER POLICING IN DEMOCRATIC INDIA by T.K. Vinod Kumar Oxford University Press, 2014, 319 pp., 850
May 2014, volume 38, No 5

No other public institution in any po- litical system has public interface with an identifiable visibility than the police. Circumstances are almost entirely regulatory that seldom create a positive image of the institution. Obviously, in cases of maintenance of public order, the only face of the police that catches the public eye and attention is that of a strong arm of the government regulating their activity, enforcing ‘don’ts’ and being harsh on occasions in this process. Resentment that it can fuel has the capacity to snowball into protest in a democracy. Thus, police response to what T.K. Vinod Kumar characterizes as ‘public events’ (protests, events, demonstrations, et al), acquires critical significance in a democratic polity.

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