Mail News Service
New Delhi, Sep 8 : Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, addressed the Annual Conference of DGPs/ IGPs -2012 in New Delhi today. He said “It is more than 150 years since the Police Act came into force. A commemorative medal will be awarded to all policemen who were on duty between March 2011 and February 2012.
The increase in the communal incidents in the country in the past few months and the revival of ethnic tensions in the North East in recent weeks have been particular causes of concern to all of us. The ethnic disturbances of the North East assumed a national dimension with the flight of people belonging to the North East from various towns of South and Western India. This further strained the communal situation in the country, which was already showing some signs of deterioration, particularly in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala.
The erosion in inter-community relations is something that should worry us all. The capacity of the administrative set-up to check such deterioration seems to have weakened. This would be true of the police administration as well. There is, therefore, a case for re-orienting our police forces to effectively track the sentiments of the people and inter-community tensions as they rise. Advance identification of potential trouble makers, timely use of preventive sections of the law, alongside seeking cooperation of the community for maintaining peace should be the first instruments to be deployed, well before the situation deteriorates. It is particularly important to obtain assistance of saner elements of the society to marginalise those who are overtly intolerant and aggressive. We must train our police personnel to develop these soft skills. The grassroots information and intelligence collection systems that have traditionally been a part of policing have languished in some places. The role of a vigilant and effective beat constable can be vital in detecting communal tensions.
The use of bulk SMSes and social media to aggravate the communal situation is a new challenge that the recent disturbances have thrown before us. We need to fully understand how these new media are used by miscreants. We also need to devise strategies to counter the propaganda that is carried out by these new means. Any measure to control the use of such media must be carefully weighed against the need for the freedom to express and communicate.
The ability of Left wing extremists to gradually increase their numbers, enhance their ‘military potential’, and entrench themselves in some areas of the seven affected States in the country is and should be a cause of worry. Acquisition of indigenous capacity for fabrication of hardware and the ability to ideologically sway sections of society into raising a clamour about violation of human rights only adds to the complexity of the situation. The Para-Military Forces have to play an important role in minimising the loss of lives due to the use of Improvised Explosive Devices and preventing the exploitation of inter-State boundaries by Left Wing Extremists.
In Jammu and Kashmir, we are beginning to see increasing infiltration attempts, across the Line of Control and even the International Border.
Although 19 interdictions have taken place, terrorists were able to strike in Mumbai and Delhi last year and in Pune this year. Investigations in these cases are yet to conclude. We are still in the process of developing capabilities to take pre-emptive action in respect of terrorist threats. Realignment of operational approaches, training of police personnel and more effective collaboration among States and between States and the Centre should form part of our overall strategy of dealing with the menace of terrorism.
Police leaders should also dedicate themselves to planned technological upgradation of their forces. There are many emerging areas where our police forces need to develop new expertise. Another such area is our cyber-security. Our country’s vulnerability to cyber crime is escalating as our economy and critical infrastructure become increasingly reliant on interdependent computer networks and the internet. Large-scale computer attacks on our critical infrastructure and economy can have potentially devastating results. The Government is working on a robust cyber security structure that addresses threat management and mitigation, assurance and certification, specially building capacity and enhancing research. To this end, we need to build partnerships between Government, academia and the private sector.
There is a feeling that violence against women and the elderly is growing in the metropolitan cities. I have touched on the subject in my addresses in the preceding years as well.
Maintaining a secure environment in our cities requires special skills built around our knowledge of technology, economics and sociology. Therefore, policing the metropolitan areas, especially controlling the organized crime and protecting the vulnerable in these areas requires the focused attention of our police forces.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/pm-worried-over-erosion-of-inter-community-relations/
