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| Jammu turns 'garrison' on R-Day | | Top cops avoid phone calls, people face hardships amid tight security measures | |  Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 27: Police on the occasion of Republic Day got a chance to "show its power" by turning Jammu city into a garrison on the pretext that terrorists are on the prowl and they can carry out an attack.
Police blocking all the exit and entry points in the city led to the public movement coming to a halt. Undeclared curfew seemed to be put at place to ensure that masses remain indoors and stay away from Republic Day celebrations.
"Undeclared curfew" and indifferent attitude of Police towards people didn't allow people to celebrate the Republic Day and the occasion became a high profile affair.
Irony is that state administration had urged people to reach the M A Stadium, the main venue of Republic Day function in the winter capital here, to participate in the celebrations.
Several people had to walk home from railway station, Satwari and other distant locations with their heavy suitcases and other belongings in view of the strict traffic restrictions.
Those walking long distances included women and children but nowhere on the way they were offered lifts by policemen who were omnipresent across the length and breadth of the winter capital yesterday.
All the city markets wore a deserted look while minibuses, the main mode of transportation in the winter capital, and autos, besides passenger buses, remained off the roads. In the peripheral areas also, no passenger vehicle was allowed to ply.
Only the vehicles carrying so-called VIPs were allowed to move and the common people were left to fend for themselves amid Republic Day celebrations.
The Early Times team, which toured various city and peripheral areas on Republic Day, got the firsthand account of the inconvenience caused to the people in the absence of public transport and due to the 'discourteous' cops who moved around in Police vehicles but did not offer any helping hand to those who carried children on their shoulders and dragged suitcases on roads.
On the railway road, at Bikram Chowk and in the areas in the close vicinity of Jewel and Bus Stand, scores of people could be seen walking on foot. Most of them were railway passengers who had already covered a distance of 3-4 kilometres. Some were still 4-5 kilometres short of their destinations.
Barricades had been erected by police at all the exit and the entry points to the city and no one was being allowed to go beyond them.
The law enforcing agencies had put in place the strictest security measures in view of the intelligence inputs that suggested that there could be terror strikes on the Republic Day eve. But the railway passengers and others, who had their families with them, should have been provided vehicles by police or the district administration. Such a goodwill gesture would have definitely earned them respect and increased their 'credibility' in the eyes of the general public. But this did not happen. This is the responsibility of police and civil authorities to make sure that general public is not put to inconvenience on important occasions like Republic Day. They should take steps to bring people closer to them as part of their 'much-hyped' people-friendly campaign and not drive them away through their 'unfriendly' acts.
Early Times tried getting in touch with the top police officials to apprise them about the difficulties faced by them on January 26 but none of the top cops picked up the phone.
The Inspector General of Police Jammu range picked up the phone after repeated attempts. However, he disconnected the phone saying, "wrong number." |
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