Encounter: When the meaning expands beyond a mere meeting

New Delhi, July 10 (IANS) Encounter – a word that originally meant a meeting or clash has, in India, become a euphemism for police shootings of suspects in a shift that was reignited after a recent West Bengal event which has reopened debates about rule of law, accountability, and political rhetoric.

The West Bengal government has now assigned the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the “encounter” killing of one of the four people accused in the alleged rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district and submit a report.

This meaning of the word that comes in the sundry conversation in India can be considered unique. Some say the word assumed a new meaning in the late-1960s and acquired a unique place in the vocabulary by the mid-1970s. During the rise of Naxalism in West Bengal, violence and bloodshed made headlines every day, and the word entered the lexicon, even in Bangla.

The news next day would say “…killed in encounter”, implying an exchange of fire with activists/criminals who could not be overpowered and were thus eliminated in self-defence.

Such high‑profile encounters elsewhere in India, too, provoked cycles of public approval and legal scrutiny. In some states, celebrated encounters bolstered political careers; in others, later investigations exposed staged shootings and custodial abuses.

Human‑rights groups have long warned that normalising the term risks eroding due process, alleging when “encounter” becomes a shorthand for desirable outcome, incentives shift away from investigation and trial toward immediate lethal resolution.

In later days, police officer Daya Nayak earned the epithet of “encounter specialist” during his tenure.

His “fearless crackdowns” on Mumbai’s underworld in the late 1990s and early 2000s have been reported widely, recorded in many books, and recounted on celluloid as well.

He reportedly led around 86 police encounters against hardened criminals, including noted gangsters and terror elements, turning into one of the most formidable figures in the Mumbai Police. But his career was not without setbacks – he faced corruption allegations and a long suspension, but was later acquitted and reinstated.

He went on to retire from service. Thus, the word which in ordinary English sense is neutral and broad, was expanded built on its intrinsic meaning.

According to Wikipedia, “The term encounter killing came into popular use in India since the late 20th century following a very high frequency of such killings by police in cities including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Ghaziabad. Some of the killings have been controversial, and critics have alleged that the police created ‘fake encounters’ as opportunities to kill suspects.”

The Cambridge dictionary website describes encounter as to meet someone unexpectedly, or, to experience something, especially something unpleasant.

The Merriam-Webster does mention “a meeting between hostile factions or persons: A sudden often violent clash” among other definitions.

The online Oxford Learners Dictionaries, among other listings, gives a definition – but adding in parentheses “(Indian English)” – calling it “an incident in which police shoot dead a suspected criminal”.

Wikipedia says, “Encounter killings, often simply referred to as encounters, is a euphemism used in India and Pakistan to refer to extrajudicial killings by security forces. The officers typically described the incidents as a shootout situation, often allegedly starting when a criminal grabs for the gun of a police officer. The term encounter came into widespread use for such incidents in the late 20th century.”

Adding later, “Sometimes police officers are also killed in such incidents, although relatively rarely.”

Over time, media and official language began to use the term for incidents in which suspects died in police firing.

The transformation from “meeting” to a shorthand for police killings is not merely lexical drift; it is social and political. From the later part of 20th century, episodes of armed confrontation between police and organised criminals or insurgents were often reported as “encounters”, as evident.

–IANS

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