Many of us remember the communal riots that hit parts of the country in late 2019 after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was enacted by the Government of India. The protests erupted in Northeast India and subsequently spread to the major cities of India, including the capital of the country – New Delhi. Several anti-CAA protests were held in the city involving areas such as Jamia Milia Islamia University and Shaheen Bagh, where protestors burned down vehicles, pelted stones at security forces, and blocked roads leading to traffic jams. The effect of the riots was so bad that the Delhi Government had to impose curfews and shut down several metro stations, as well.
It’s been more than a year now that the protests took place but its memories are still fresh in the minds of Delhiites. With regard to this, the new Commissioner of Police, Mr. Rakesh Asthana visited North-East Delhi this week and expressed his views on community-friendly policing.
In a conversation with Indian Masterminds, PRO, Delhi, Mr. Chinmay talked about the same.
‘UMMEED’ – A COMMUNITY FRIENDLY INITIATIVE
The Commissioner of Police, Delhi, Mr. Asthana inaugurated a community policing program “Ummeed” in the northeast district of Delhi. He did so in his first public program after taking charge of the city as the top cop.
The program “Ummeed: A step together towards a better tomorrow- A Day with Team North East” was organized by northeast district police at Shyam Lal College, Delhi. Stressing on communal harmony and peace, it highlighted the achievements of a community-based organization “Nagrik Bhaichara Samiti (NBS)” of North East District Police.
“I was not in Delhi Police when the riots took place. But being a police officer, it was very sad for me to hear about it. It was regrettable that this kind of problem arose in a city like Delhi, where people had almost forgotten riots. No community or religion is bad. People who follow religion are not bad. But in every community, there are some people whom we call anti-social elements and because of them the atmosphere gets vitiated,” stated Mr. Asthana.
NECESSARY COOPERATION
Speaking on the occasion, he said that although Police is trained to tackle all sorts of law & order and other issues; yet it cannot achieve effectiveness without support from society.
Since it is not feasible to deploy a police force in every nook and corner of the capital, a self-disciplined and service-oriented society is required to assist the police to establish peace and harmony.
“Crime has no religion and only a few anti-social elements spoil the social environment. Such unscrupulous elements need to be identified and dealt with as per law”, the CP Delhi observed.
RAY OF HOPE
The program further saw the institution of the “Ratan Lal Medal of Hope”, to commemorate the martyr Head Constable (Late) Ratan Lal, who lost his life while performing duties during the riots last year.
It seeks to instill values of peace and togetherness in our future generation by awarding medals to students who took part in essay and drawing competitions on the theme of communal harmony held under the banner of NBS. The wife of martyr Ratan Lal was also felicitated by Mr. Asthana during the event.
Furthermore, the senior IPS officer unveiled the “Nagrik Bhaichara Samiti” booklet while video clips highlighting the work done by the committee were shown to the public.
Police personnel found eligible under “Heroes of the Week”, a scheme of North East District police wherein best-performing police personnel for the week are chosen and recognized, were also awarded. The officials who were injured in the recent encounter at Khajuri-Khas were also rewarded by CP Delhi. The Commissioner of Police also awarded “Asadharan Karya Purashkar (AKP)” to two police personnel of the northeast district.
Mr. Asthana also launched a social media campaign containing messages from various celebrities, who urged people to maintain peace and harmony.
