Viral photos suggest Police harass a vegetable vendor, smashes his Thela

Ever since the lockdown has been imposed across India, police are playing a crucial role in maintaining coronavirus shutdown rules. Police are putting their lives at risk and ensuring that the guidelines of lockdown are followed properly.

Police officials are doing their best to maintain the closedown while following protocol, few of them are making it from bad to worse for the citizens and the government.

In a heart-rending incident on Tuesday, a vegetable vendor was brutally assaulted by the police in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, amid the country-wide stoppage

A video in connection with the incident went viral on social media in which police officials in Ahmedabad can be seen violently attacking vendors‘ carts full of vegetables and going as far as topping them over. The picture of the vegetables spilling all over the streets can force you to think about how police are taking advantage of closedown.

The video was shared on Twitter by user @thisisjignesh and will make your blood boil with rage.

India is already at a halt for 21 days which led to a panic situation in the country, especially for the daily wage workers who are not able to survive in urban areas without work. They can not even go back to their villages as they are stuck in cities. 

Amid the nationwide lockdown, homeless people and daily wage workers, who migrate to big cities from their home towns in search of jobs, are facing critical problems.

As we know that vegetables are essential for us, therefore we are completely dependent on vegetable vendors as they bring us fresh vegetables daily. In such a situation, if these vendors are not allowed to move around the city and streets, where will we go to buy vegetables?

In the video, the poor vendors can be seen escaping from police officials while the officers run around toppling over every single cart they can get their hands on. 

This video caught everyone’s attention on social media in the country and soon police officers were trolled by netizens. People demanded for the police officials involved to be suspended effective immediately. 

A police official’s duty is to maintain law and order in society and protect the citizens, not harass them. Thankfully, this did not go down well with the senior officials for obvious reasons and the police officers were suspended from duty.

Strict action needs to be taken against police officials who misused the power of law. If the protector becomes the attacker, the time is not far off when there will be nothing but crime in society.

Writer, historian, and activist Dharam Sikarwar is a very active author The Youth. He writes on national and international issues, environment, politics. He is an avid book reader as well.