Mangalore : 2009 - Collective Efforts of Triumvirate Brings Harmony
by Florine Roche - Daijiworld Media Network
Mangalore, Dec 31 : The year 2009 began with a bang for Mangaloreans what with the pub attack bringing ignominy and national discredit to this coastal land of enterprising and intelligent people. With the ghost of 26/11 lurking around with its ugly head the pub attack created a fear psychosis among the people largely because of the prevailing perception that the police force was hand in glove with the perpetrators of this heinous crime. Credit goes to the top brass of the police force and the district administration for bringing back normalcy to the district against all odds and fortunately for the people of Mangalore the year passed off without any major incident despite efforts by anti social elements to fish in troubled waters. IGP Gopal Hosur, Superintendent of Police Dr A Subrahmanyeshwar Rao and District Commissioner V Ponnuraj worked in tandem to restore the much needed peace and sobriety to Dakshina Kannada district. They spoke to Daijiworld about the measures undertaken by them to ensure peace and harmony in the district.
Gopal Hosur - Inspector General of Police (Western Range)
The confidence building measure began with the change of guard in the police force with. Gopal Hosur taking over as Dy. Inspector General of Police (Western Range) in February 2009 in the backdrop of the pub attack, who subsequently became Inspector General of Police in May 2009. Known as a no-nonsense officer with credentials to match, Gopal Hosur has been able to bring some semblance of normalcy to this communally volatile district soon after taking over.
“The biggest challenge for the police force was to win the trust, love and respect of the community and the people. The man on the road should feel safe to move around freely and we initiated some stringent measures in this direction”, Hosur pointed out.
The first measure initiated was to identify the culprits and mischievous elements and also those who provide patronage and moral and material support to this mischievous lot, which he says his department has been able to achieve successfully. The other step was building up a team of officers to ensure that the police deal with situations fearlessly. A good team has been built and data collection of offenders/culprits is collected to keep a tab on them. He also initiated steps to win the support of well-meaning citizens and opinion makers to segregate violent elements responsible for fermenting trouble. The biggest challenge Hosur and his team faced was maintaining communal peace. He says “it was challenging because every day we had instances which had potential of disturbance of law and order”. Goapl Hosur is also of the opinion that the people of this district have realized the futility of recurring disturbances as they affect every section of the society.
Of course he admits that the moral policing is still very much active but is lying dormant at the moment. “Whenever such instances have come to our notice we have interfered as our main objective has been to prevent violence. We have succeeded to a great extent in taming them. Our department has maintained constant communication with leaders of all levels of all communities to curb such activities. We have succeeded in preventing major crimes by keeping a watch on the movements of anti-social elements” Hosur stated.
Hosur agreed that the morale of the police force was at its lowest ebb when he took over as all the communities were trying to project the police as the villains. The police had received a lot of flak after the attacks on places of worship and the subsequent incidents and pub attack of last year. Accusing fingers were also pointed out at the police following the murder of Rasheed Malbari’s lawyer Naushad Kashmiji. “It was the biggest challenge as some vested interests were making vile allegations. I told the police not to bother about allegations as long as you don’t do wrong and assured them the department would stand by them whey they are right. This gave them enough confidence”, he explained.
Underworld activities in the district have also been reduced in the last one year since Hosur took over and he wants to take this fight against them to the logical end.
For the coming year the department is going to focus more on law violators. He also promised that policing in this area will witness a sea-change in the coming days and expressed hope that the citizens would be benefited to a great extent.
He however gives all the credit to the ordinary policeman on the road, who he says, has been responsible for bringing normalcy to the district.
Dr A Subramanyeshwara Rao, Superintendent of Police
Dr Subramanyeshwara Rao took over as SP in March 2009. He admits 2009 was like a kind of roller coaster ride as Mangalore was in turmoil with chaos ruling the roost. According to him the local police force had taken up the challenge and never allowed things to go out of hand despite provocations.
“As a society Mangalore was undergoing some kind of turmoil for reasons that cannot be specified. Intolerance had crept in which is unnatural to Mangalore known to be historically tolerant. Somehow our department tried to do the best to neutralize the evil elements and sustain the tempo of maintaining peace”, he asserts.
Introduction of FIR Help Desk, a novel method of registering complaint, not prevalent in anywhere in Karnataka, was the first step in this direction. The department had also introduced three different modes of receiving complaints where people were not required to travel all the way to the police station to report minor incidents. Online registrations of complaint, complaint through Intra-Voice Response System (IVRS) and through SMS were the three measures that have helped restore the confidence and trust of the people.
24-member commando team was set up which is capable of responding within few minutes to any eventuality. Dial 100 is equipped with 4 lines to make it easy and convenient for the public. Rakshak vehicles have been introduced that can respond to any needs within 5 to 7 minutes of the reporting. All these measures according to Rao had positive impact on the people and also on the police force.
“Under severe media bashing the police force was a dejected lot especially after the pub attack. It was a challenging and testing period and we had to work on the law and order front, keep the morale of the police force high. We tried to be as visibly impartial visibly as we could as visibility was required to restore the confidence of the people in the police force”, he pointed out.
With the police riding high on the morale factor Rao has now decided to improve the living conditions of the police force which is in real shambles. Shortage of force and heavy work load on the existing staff is also another worrying factor for the officials. Improving their welfare conditions, especially with regard to housing is the major need and he has initiated necessary action in this regard.
He sounds a word of prudence when he says “One cannot expect police to be Sathyaharishandras as they come from the same cross section of the society. Unless the society improves and gets back to its old self we cannot expect wonders even though we are trying our best whatever little we can”.
Finally he says 2009 has been a year of experimentation and the fruits of this experiment will bear fruit in the year 2010. He expects Mangalore will settle down to its old charm by becoming more tolerant and friendly. Otherwise it will be a year of fire fighting, he cautions.
Velusamy Ponnuraj – District Commissioner
Known for his upright decisions and bold drive against illegal constructions V Ponnuraj taking over as District Commissioner in the beginning of the year 2009 was the best to happen to Mangalore which was reel under communal disharmony. The pub attack in the same month he took over the charge was the major challenge that came on his way.
He feels the strong message sent by the administration to all the communities and to the public at large was responsible for brining the much needed harmony in the district. “It was a complete team work and no one can claim individual credit for whatever little we have been able to achieve. With people harboring apprehensions and doubts at every step we succeeded in giving them some hope when they needed it the most”.
However, he gives credits to the people of the district as he feels they were fed up with continuous conflicts and violence that had become commonplace in the district and wanted a violent-free atmosphere. With the earlier church attacks bringing national infamy, people started realizing the futile efforts of the strife. Public criticism also made the communities realize the adverse impact of such friction which, he feels has played a pivotal role in bringing normalcy to the district.
He foresees a good year ahead in 2010 as he feels self realization by the public is the greatest antidote against any antisocial act and expects peace and prosperity would prevail to bring back Mangalore to its old glory.
Ponnuraj won accolades for his drive against illegally built bungalows on the Uchila beach near Ullal Someshwara initiated by the district administration. Despite intensive efforts to nullify this initiative by the high and the mighty including using political pressure he did not succumb and went ahead with his demolition drive.
However he admits working under duress from diverse quarters but says he stood by his convictions. “I had stated at the time of taking over the charge that my role would be that of a facilitator and catalyst and I have done nothing wrong that required going back on my own actions”.
IT is true their collective team effort will bear fruits in the year 2010. With realization dawning on the people one can expect a peaceful Mangalore in the year ahead. With men like these at the helm of affairs it can be rest assured Mangalore is in safe hands.