Even after an expansion in the number of courts and police stations, if people resort to medieval forms of justice, it perhaps shows that our law enforcement authorities have failed to earn the common man’s trust. Massive outreach efforts are needed from the government, similar to what was done in Kerala, where community policing was successful. It was once reported that most people in Kerala consider the police their friends. Further, with changing times, the erstwhile-privileged sections need to accept the achieved status of others and shed their rigidity over the ascribed status. The state should expedite the liberation of Dalits from the clutches of upper caste excesses by taking stern and immediate action against the culprits. Killers should also introspect and ask themselves if they achieve anything at all through such violence.
Yogeshwar Tompe,
Nanded, Maharashtra
The rise in intolerance among members of the civil society in India is disconcerting (“ >All over a tattoo ,” Oct.20). In the incident where an Australian was harassed because of a tattoo, the local police proved to be equally ineffective and apathetic. They violated the rights of the individual further by seeking an apology, embarrassing him even more. A visiting Indian tourist/foreigner is not expected to be fully conversant with the cultural habits of the place he visits. A lack of historical knowledge, perceived or real, regarding the culture of the land is not an offensive act. The heckled visitor was not protected even after the incident. Expressing ‘concern’ and anger over media reports of the incident was nothing more a diplomatic gesture by the Australian High Commission.
Let the BJP not discredit its achievements at the Centre by pampering the right wing elements in the wrong direction; it needs to, instead, caution them against such activities.
N. Visveswaran,
Issaquah, Seattle,
