Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Role of police

Sir, — The role of the police has come in for sharp criticism in the wake of the Gujarat riots and indeed it should be the cause of utmost concern to all who want India to remain intact. Communalisation of the police is the most destructive of any plural society.

The police are the enforcement arm and hence the most visible face of the state authority and any partisanship displayed by them will severely erode the credibility of the state. Unfortunately, what is happening today is just that. Not that the police were totally secular before; but never were they so openly anti-Muslim.

Instead of protecting the helpless victims, policemen in Gujarat were seen helping and sometimes leading terrorist mobs. This trend has been increasingly noted since the Bombay `riots'.

But as the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, said every action has a reaction. So this trend in the police is bound to cause resentment and hatred towards them. This is the greatest challenge to us today.

H. Haris,

Hyderabad

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