Coronavirus spread in the world and now in India appear to be as dangerous as a holocaust and no amount of conscious violation of the lockdown should be brooked.
Yet it happens and despite a relentless campaign by all wings of the media and the government.
It was hours before when the Prime Minister imposed the nation-wide lockdown but it seems we are not able to escape from the cyclic inertia of complacency and refuse to adhere to the guidelines of the lockdown.
In a power-keg situation like the COVID-19 has blown into, minor anomalies can help us slip into a danger of unimaginable magnitude.
The violators deserve strongest possible reprimands. But is it prudent that any person violating the regulations during the lockdown be physically punished like, hit by a baton, or slapped or made to do sit-ups and squats or kneel down ?
Police is empowered to arrest, detain, investigate, questioning but they have to do those strictly in the manner as laid down by the law.
Whether it is an exigency as serious as lockdown that concerns the safety and lives of millions, police should not act as they wish.
There have been instances playing out through social media that some violators of the lockdown were either beaten with batons or made to do sit-ups and squats in public glare(although there are lesser people now on the roads).
The enormity of the situation and the pain and hard work that our police is subjected to now, when he or she can be exposed to the invisible enemy called Corona, losing cool on duty, particularly, when a citizen violates the guidelines under frivolous guises, is understandable.
But not the ones like it happened in Pune or Meerut where people were shamed by verbal abuses and forced to do sit-ups and squats could have been avoided.
If it is about human rights, then, human rights, for sure, derives from human dignity of a person.
Arrest the violators and send them to the lock-ups for a day or hours as deemed by the police officer or impose heavy penalty but, any physical assault can hardly be condoned.
