Police Today Are As Communal As in 1987 if Not More: Qurban Ali

An Uttar Pradesh court has acquitted 39 people accused in the 1987 killing of over 70 people in Maliana, Meerut. Why has the system failed to provide justice to the victims and survivors in 36 years? Senior journalist Qurban Ali has reported on this massacre from the very first days, as communal tensions built up in Meerut in early 1987, to the brutal killings of Muslims in Maliana and nearby settlements of Hashimpura in May that year. He explains the roots of the violence, and discusses whether providing justice in crimes in which police officials are accused is tough, and places some of these issues in today’s context.