The worst part about the North-Eastern people leaving Bengaluru is that the police is still saying the panic is based only on rumours. Complaints are coming in but the police is in denial. It is fooling the government by saying it is only rumour and have caused it to adopt the same attitude of denial.
By doing this, the police is not dealing with the real threat. This cannot be denied anymore. They want us to believe that there is no abuse, no harassment and no teasing of north eastern people, when there have been cases of people being threatened or attacked. There have also been instances of
victims calling up the police for help and not receiving it.
The accessibility and receptiveness of the police has been a huge problem for complainants. The police have not shown willingness to help, and not touched the hearts of the people who are in need of help.
I have been told that when some northeastern women went to the police, they were asked to give their complaint in writing. They could not do so due to time constraints as they had to leave. The police should have got a clue from such oral complaints.
But it clearly failed to wake up at the right hour. It even failed to appreciate the information that came its way, still considering it a rumour. The information had to be appreciated and acted upon even if it was about people from the north east being teased verbally.
But it waited for complaints to be registered. It has been inactive and its justification is that it did not have complaints registered. This, when the state has already witnessed an attack on a Tibetan person and there are intelligence reports.
I don’t know to what extent the police understands the situation and empathises with the people. I feel it should have been proactive instead of waiting for the situation to get so bad that it is hard to pacify people. It is very unfortunate.
Until the police helps the victims, all the peacekeeping and confidence building measures will remain mere talk. The policemen, who have failed to wake up in such a demanding situation, are not fit to be in the force.
The writer is former MP and former Police Commissioner, Bengaluru