Friday, Dec 06, 2002
Friday, Dec 06, 2002 |
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Tamil Nadu
By V. Jayanth
The two policemen on duty at that temple may have been pulled up for "dereliction of duty", but the incident has only focused attention on how much security can the police provide at such public places — including the railway stations too. Given the crowd that gathers at such places and the heavy movement of people during the peak hours, police officers confess that it may be impossible to provide 100 per cent security in any such place. It is one thing that this `trespass' was by a devotee, who took his life at the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. But, in his place, there could have easily been an extremist or a terrorist, who could have blown up that temple. After all, more than loss of lives, the act of a terrorist is supposed to instil fear and terror in the minds of the people. According to a senior police officer, somewhere around 75,000 policemen are being drafted for special protection and bundobust for the December 6 anniversary of the masjid demolition. The question is how much protection can they provide? Can each of the thousands of temples in the State ever be `secured' by just a posse of policemen if a determined terrorist has decided to strike at a particular place? Security analysts say a wide range of sophisticated equipment has arrived on the scene, making it easier for the police to screen and monitor any object or person. But it is next to impossible to provide all these equipment in all places at the same time. "No Government has that kind of resources to provide these facilities all over the State. At best, they can be moved from one place to another over a period of time. Take the elections for instance. The Election Commission and the police prefer to spread the polling over two or three days in a State or region so that they can shift the personnel and equipment from one area to another and offer the same scale of security. If you spread the available manpower and equipment across the State on the same day, the resources become scarce and the reliability of the security cover comes down," explains an Additional Director General of Police. For the past week, the Tamil Nadu police has been full stretched — the combing operations against suspected naxalites in Dharmapuri and adjoining areas; the hunt for what remains of the Muslim Defence Force that was unearthed in Chennai and subsequently in other parts of the State; the special security cover for December 6; the enhanced proximate security for VVIPs; the intensified patrolling of railway tracks; police pickets in public places; a striking force at strategic locations and the presence in temples as well as other places of worship. In the end, apart from causing more inconvenience to the law-abiding citizens, there may be little that such a security presence can achieve — particularly when it has to deal with trained and motivated extremists or militants, who are better armed than the police. And yet, without that visible security presence, it may be difficult for the Government to convince the people that it is not unsafe for them to visit a popular shrine or travel by train on December 5 or 6.
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