COMMENTARY
VEERA PRATEEPCHAIKUL
What has gone terribly wrong these days with our police under the command of Pol Gen Patcharavat Wongsuwan, the national police chief?
The question didn't just pop into my mind. It stems directly from a series of incidents over the last two weeks involving the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the pro-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) and the police whose conduct in handling the cases was quite disturbing and unbecoming law enforcement officers.
The first case involved Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul, alas Da Torpedo, an active member of the UDD, who took to the UDD stage at Sanam Luang on July 18 and made a speech ridiculing and insulting the monarchy.
It was unthinkable that the audience was not offended by her offensive remarks. They just cheered her on and clapped their hands in joy.
And none of the core UDD leaders who were present at the rally made any attempt to stop her or to switch off the loudspeakers.
It was as if they, too, enjoyed the cheap entertainment provided by the activist.
Even more sickening was the police conduct vis-a-vis Da Torpedo's speech.
Several police officers were said to be posted at the rally site, but not one of them took any action to stop her. It is not known whether a report detailing her speech was submitted by police officers in the field to their immediate superintendents and eventually to the police chief.
Not a word or any action came from the police until three days after a complaint was formally lodged with the national police chief by the impatient army urging the police to investigate and to take proper legal action against Da Torpedo.
It was then that the police felt the heat and started to act, though belatedly. The foul-mouthed UDD member was arrested and charged with lese majeste.
There was no mention of the other UDD leaders who allowed Da Torpedo to address the crowd and did nothing to stop her while fully aware of the sensitivity of her speech.
I wonder if the police would have taken any initiative to bring legal action against Da Torpedo had the army not lodged the complaint in the first place.
What is wrong with the police? Are they afraid of the UDD?
Have the police completely forgotten their oath of allegiance to protect the three pillars of statehood which includes the monarchy?
Police conduct when handling violence perpetrated by anti-PAD demonstrators against PAD protesters was also totally unbecoming of men known as phu pitak santiraj or guardians of public peace.
In one of the violent incidents in Udon Thani last week, police were seen standing idly by while anti-PAD thugs, armed with iron bars, wooden sticks, axes and slingshots, attacked PAD members in broad daylight and in full glare of the media.
Police claimed that they were outnumbered by the thugs and could do nothing to protect PAD members. That explanation is totally unacceptable. Had they been genuine and serious in doing their job, they could have prevented the violence. After all, this was not the first violent attack against PAD protesters. Similar incidents have happened before elsewhere in Si Sa Ket and Chiang Mai, among others.
Why the sudden surge of violence against PAD protesters? Could it be possible that government supporters have misinterpreted Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's recent controversial remarks urging his men to start ''killing'' their rivals after many of their own had been ''killed''? If that is the case, I wish the prime minister would remind his supporters that he didn't mean what he said, at least for the sake of such violent attacks not happening again.
Even if the political divide is widening and national reconciliation has become a distant dream, political violence can be prevented or mitigated if the police do their job properly and professionally and do not regard themselves as a political tool of the powers-that-be.
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Veera Prateepchaikul is Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Post Publishing Co Ltd.
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