India, June 27 -- Having gone through media reports about the recent incident at Mukherjee Nagar in North-West Delhi, where some policemen "thrashed" a tempo driver after he allegedly attacked a cop, one is compelled to wonder whether the usual talk of police reforms is yet another oxymoron? Normally, after training, a police officer is supposed to behave with a certain amount of discretion and sensitivity as he may be quite raw and not as experienced and hardened as some of his colleagues.

In the instant case, however, some policemen were reported to have conducted themselves in a very unprofessional manner, drawing adverse comment from all sections of society. This takes us to the quality of training and attitude of police officers who...