oppn parties Blanket Removal Of Security Was Wrong

News Snippets

  • R G Kar rape-murder hearing start in Kolkata's Sealdah court on Monday
  • Calcutta HC rules that a person cannot be indicted for consensual sex after promise of marriage even if he reneges on that promise later
  • Cryptocurrencies jump after Trump's win, Bitcoin goes past $84K while Dogecoin jumps 50%
  • Vistara merges with Air India today
  • GST Council to decide on zero tax on term plans and select health covers in its Dec 21-22 meeting
  • SIP inflows stood at a record Rs 25323cr in October
  • Chess: Chennai GM tournament - Aravindh Chithambaram shares the top spot with two others
  • Asian Champions Trophy hockey for women: India thrash Malaysia 4-0
  • Batteries, chains and screws were among 65 objects found in the stomach of a 14-year-old Hathras boy who died after these objects were removed in a complex surgery at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital
  • India confirms that 'verification patrolling' is on at Demchok and Depsang in Ladakh after disengagement of troops
  • LeT commander and 2 other terrorists killed in Srinagar in a gunbattle with security forces. 4 security personnel injured too.
  • Man arrested in Nagpur for sending hoax emails to the PMO in order to get his book published
  • Adani Power sets a deadline of November 7 for Bangladesh to clear its dues, failing which the company will stop supplying power to the nation
  • Shubman Gill (90) and Rishabh Pant (60) ensure India get a lead in the final Test after which Ashwin and Jadeja reduce the visitors to 171 for 9 in the second innings
  • Final Test versus New Zealand: Match evenly poised as NZ are 143 ahead with 1 wicket in hand
Security forces gun down 10 'armed militants' in Manipur's Jiribam district but locals say those killed were village volunteers and claim that 11, and not 10, were killed
oppn parties
Blanket Removal Of Security Was Wrong

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-05-30 06:42:11

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The ghastly murder of Congress leader and Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, allegedly by Canadian gangsters, just a day after his security was trimmed/removed by the Punjab government as per its policy of doing away with the so-called 'VIP culture' in the state is tragic. It also proves that there are certain areas where policy decisions cannot be taken in a blanket manner without examining the details of individual cases.

Punjab faces a shortage of police personnel as a huge number of cops are deployed at all times to protect sundry persons most of whom are politicians or other prominent citizens, giving rise to what AAP has termed the 'VIP culture'. But removing/trimming their security at one fell stroke was not right as the state is duty bound to protect citizens who are threatened after assessing the threat perception.

It is true that many such persons apply for security based on misconceptions about threats to personal safety. It is also true that moving about with security detail gives some of these persons a high, a feeling of self-importance and they relish it. But it is also true that some of them do carry a threat to their personal safety, as the Moose Wala incident shows. Although the Supreme Court has ruled that no one can ask for security from the state as a matter of right, it has also said that the police authorities will appraise the threat before taking a decision on whether security needs to be provided.

The AAP government in Punjab should have independently assessed the current threat perception to these persons before withdrawing their security. Not every 'VIP' asks for security without any reason. It is upon the government to find out if they actually need it. It was wrong on part of the AAP government in Punjab to withdraw the security of a large number of people without assessing the threat perception.