Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh on Saturday addressed the annual Director Generals of Police conference at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. PM expressed worry over the communal violence like the one that occurred recently in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh and said state governments have the responsibility of tackling such disturbances with utmost firmness.
PM said, "This is most worrisome. We simply cannot allow such a state of affairs to continue. Our law and order agencies must ensure that trivial or local issues are not exploited by vested interests to incite communal passions. And once disturbances occur, they must be tackled with the utmost firmness and speed, without prejudice, fear or favor".
He said that senior police officials they were responsible for preventing crimes against women and must also ensure sensitive treatment of victims during investigation and trial.
"State DGPs present here have the responsibility to ensure that their police forces act in the required manner in preventing communal tensions and dealing with them once they do take place. I expect all state DGPs to discharge this responsibility fully," he said.
He said that the tragic rape and murder of a young girl in Delhi last December had brought into sharp focus the issue of women's safety and the rising expectations of the people from the police in preventing such crimes.
"We have recently enacted several laws providing stringent punishment for such crimes and more sensitive treatment of victims during investigation and trial. We also need to put in place other institutional mechanisms to ensure the safety and security of women and children," he said.
Manmohan also talked about the possibility of an attack to disrupt the 2014 Lok Sabha and the ongoing assembly elections.
Resurgence of terrorist groups, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiba, and increased infiltration attempts call for heightened vigil and coordination by the security forces.
"There is also a likelihood of attempts to disrupt the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections. The security forces also need to be careful and measured in their response to militant attacks as well as law and order disturbances," he said.
"The situation along the International Border and the Line of Control, particularly in Poonch district of Jammu region, has remained volatile with several ceasefire violations," he said.
"Therefore, we need to ensure that our security apparatus and intelligence sharing platforms such as the multi-agency center constantly hone their skills to stay ahead of the nefarious designs of these terrorist outfits," he said.
"However, while dealing with terror cases, care needs to be taken that security forces remain scrupulously bipartisan so that our people do not lose faith in the professionalism of investigative agencies and the secular nature of our polity," he added.
Dr. Singh also praised and congratulated the police, intelligence outfits and paramilitaries for achieving major successes against left wing extremists, including Naxals.
"It is important that we don't let up on our efforts to root out the menace of Naxalism and continue to build on our successes."
"We also need to improve the quality of governance and the pace of development in the Naxal-affected areas," he added.
"Our intelligence, police and paramilitary forces have done commendable work during the polls in the Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh," the Prime Minister said.
(with inputs from IANS)
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