THE disclosures of 'Emergency exces-ses' have shown how arrest, torture and murder, suitably dressed up to look like deaths in so-called 'encoun-ters', were used to deal with the oppo-sition to the regime. But police bru-tality was not a feature of the Emer-gency alone. It is the normal method of functioning of the police. Of course, not all classes of people are treated in this way; such treatment is mostly reserved for the poor.