M A I L B A G

Police must meet people’s expectations

Delivering the 20th Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad, a few days ago, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India, disclosed that 49 recommendations for police reforms had been short-listed by the high-powered committee set up by the government. The government has also set up a police mission in order to accelerate the pace of the much-awaited reforms in the police force.

All said and done, these proposed measures do not touch certain other humdrum aspects of the reforms pertaining to the people vis-à-vis the police and growing indiscipline in the police itself. It is next to impossible for the common man to get on FIR lodged and that too under the relevant provisions of the law. The reasons are not far to seek.

Firstly, registration of all crimes reported to the police leads to an increase in the crime graph and the work-load of the police. Since the police has to maintain law and order in a better way than what it did earlier, the best way is “do not register the case itself. If at all forced to do so, do it to weaken the case using the tactics best known to the police”.

The million dollar question is how to make the registration of all crime cases corruption-free and easily possible by the people at large. We need a police force which meets the expectations and requirement of the people, and not of the politicians alone.

Dr PREM SINGH DAHIYA, Rohtak

Trial of Saddam

The editorial “Defiant dictator—Saddam, too, deserves justice” (Oct 21) is convincing.Well, the former Iraqi ruler is under trial. But going by circumstantial evidence, the defiant dictator seems to be a victim of international power politics. His attitude on the first day of the trial shows that he has become a symbol of Iraqi sovereignty.

The current proceedings should be discontinued in the interest of justice. Saddam Hussein may be prosecuted under the international law in quest of a balance between the Iraqi people’s desire and demands of natural justice.

C LALL S CHANDER, Nangal

DA instalments

The Central government has granted an increase of 4 per cent dearness allowance to its employees and pensioners with effect from July 1, 2005. The Punjab Government follows this pattern. But it has been observed that the state government always delays the release for reasons best known to its concerned functionaries.

This time the Himachal Government has taken the lead by granting the enhanced DA without any request or protest from its employees or pensioners. I appeal to the Finance Minister of Punjab to get the same released before Diwali and earn the gratitude of the government employees and pensioners.

KANWAR SAIN ATREY, Ludhiana

Threat to peace

The article “Distant neighbours” (Oct 19) by Kuldip Nayar is a thought-provoking evaluation of the Pakistani psyche with regard to the Kashmir conundrum. With the unprecedented loss of life and property on both sides of the divide recently, by now the neighbours should have joined hands to help the earthquake victims in an orderly manner. However, we are yet to solve the mystery of movements across the LoC! While there is a tremendous urge for greater “people-to-people” contact in both countries, the continuing cross-border terrorism does not bode well for the restoration of peace in the region.

Ironically, in this grave hour of national calamity in both countries, neither the terrorists nor their perpetrators in the ISI consider it worthwhile to refrain from harming people even during the holy month of Ramazan. While discounting any mercy from them and their mentors, we must tighten up our security measures. What is intriguing is our government’s silence on these barbaric acts, in particular, and of Pakistan’s anti-India bias on Kashmir in general. Nonetheless, we must go all out to rebuild a strong world opinion in our favour and not just remain content.

Brig GOVIND SINGH KHIMTA (retd), Shimla

Leaders, then and now While endorsing your view in the editorial “Buta Singh must go” (Oct 8), I look back wistfully to the golden days when we had leaders of the calibre of Lal Bahadur Shastri, who resigned forthwith after a railway accident, owning moral responsibility as Railway Minister. Now our leaders wait for the “detailed” judgement and men like Mr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Mr Lalu Yadav gloat over the non-revival of the dissolved assembly. What a fall, my countrymen! Prof S K SHARMA, Jalandhar