Mangalore: RSS Collage on DK Police Website Raises Eyebrows
Mangalore, May 27 (Bangalore Mirror): As faux pas go, this one is of gigantic proportions. The official website (www.dkpolice.org) of the Dakshina Kannada district police displayed a collage of pictures which appeared to extol the virtues of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on its home page. The collage showed RSS volunteers in their trademark khakhi shorts marching in order and engaging in social activities.
Administrative arms of the government are supposed to be secular, but the pictures suggest otherwise and are cause for alarm, especially since pubs and churches in Mangalore, the headquarters of the district, have repeatedly borne attacked, allegedly by Hindu activists.
The Dakshina Kannada police is probably the first unit in the state to use the Internet as a tool to build a connect between police and the public. B Dayananda, the former superintendent of police (SP) of the district, had launched a blog (spdk.blogspot.com), while the website was launched in 2009. It is being revamped by Abhishek Goyal, the current SP.
The collage has been on the website for more than a year and has seen more than 2 lakh visitors. But when contacted, Goyal said, “I am unaware of this. It’s a bad mistake. The website is still in the process of being re-launched. The developers, Hyderabad-based Zest Wings, are doing the revamping of the website free of cost and they must have used random pictures for testing. We will take immediate action.”
Within minutes of the call, the entire site was pulled down and replaced by a single page which bore the message ‘This site is under construction’.
Pratap Reddy, the inspector general of police (Western range) was unavailable for comment, but AR Infant, the in-charge DG&IGP of the state, said he was unaware of the images. “Police department websites are meant for the department and the public,” Infant said. “I was unaware of it. I will look into it and speak to officers concerned.”