Asking the security forces to ensure that human rights are respected, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday advised them to differentiate between strictness and misbehaviour while discharging their duties.
Praising the forces for working in difficult conditions here and assuring them full support in maintaining peace, the Chief Minister said the situation in the State has improved a lot but stressed that there is a lot to achieve before normalcy can return.
“Treat this as a message or an advice, but during discharging your duties, differentiate between strictness and misbehaviour. I often tell my police officers that sometimes when I see the behaviour of policemen with the people, I see that they want to be strict but end up misbehaving with them,” Mr. Omar said.
He was addressing a passing out parade at Recruit Training Centre (RTC) of the Central Reserve Police Force at Humhama on the outskirts of the city.
The Chief Minister said people understand the need for strictness, but they do not want security forces to misbehave with them. “People will not feel bad if you try to be strict.... However, when you turn strictness into misbehaviour, people will never be ready to bear that. And then in stubbornness they do not do what we want them to do.
“Please behave with people in a good manner and uphold their human rights. This is what you have to keep in mind and maintain that difference. And then I would feel that really whatever you learnt on this land here, you will use that lesson in essence in the coming days,” he said. “The situation here is not fully normal, though it is right that the situation has improved a lot. The situation you dealt with before is not the same you are dealing with now. But we have not reached the milestone where we can fully do away with guns and God willing, that day would not be far if you continue to help and support.”
The Chief Minister said his government has worked out a strategy to deal with militant attacks which specifically target security forces.
“The number of overall attacks in 2013 has decreased compared to 2012. However, in 2013, the security forces were specifically targeted, wherein they [militants] had much success. For that, we need to change our strategy and it is the evidence of a fact that militants have understood that there is a pressure on them from security forces.
“They want to bring down the morale of security forces. And the militants feel that by targeting the security forces, their own morale will go up. But they have been unsuccessful in both. And, in order to lessen the number of such attacks in the future, we have readied a strategy for taking steps in that direction,” he said.
Earlier, the Chief Minister took the salute at the parade of the 89th batch of the RTC. As many as 329 cadets, including 27 from Jammu and Kashmir, took the oath of allegiance and were inducted into the force. Till now the centre has trained 19,619 recruits.
