Get cracking, Patil tells Navin Patnaik
On a day when the continuing communal attacks in Orissa figured in Cabinet deliberations, home minister Shivraj Patil did his bit by writing to Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: On a day when the continuing communal attacks in Orissa figured in Cabinet deliberations, home minister Shivraj Patil did his bit by writing to Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik suggesting that merely asking for additional forces ���every few days��� was not a solution and what was really needed was an overall strategy to create an environment of security in affected districts.
The purpose of the letter, according to MHA sources, was mainly to make the Orissa government realise that the Central forces put at its disposal were only in aid to the state police and it was primarily the duty of the police to take effective steps to contain the attacks and apprehend those who continue to stoke hatred and violence.
The letter, according to sources, tells Mr Patnaik that the Centre had already overstretched itself to provide the state with maximum Central para-military forces. At the last count, 53 companies of Central forces had been sent to Orissa following the outbreak of attacks on Christians and their institutions in Kandhamal.
Mr Patil is said to have told the chief minister that asking for more and more forces was not the answer as the Central troops were at best a short-term arrangement to help the police set the law and order situation right.
In this context, Mr Patil recalled that of the 5 India Reserve battalions sanctioned for Orissa, only one had been raised by the state so far.
The home minister, in his communication to Mr Patnaik, also raised the matter of the state not having used the MI-17 helicopter sent to it for transporting Central troops to affected areas. Instead, he pointed out, it was used for recce.
A recent communication by the Union home ministry to Orissa had asked the state administration to take stern measures ��� including intensified patrolling, regular peace meetings between community leaders and tracking of communal history-sheeters ��� to correct the situation of ���apparent lawlessness��� in the state.
The purpose of the letter, according to MHA sources, was mainly to make the Orissa government realise that the Central forces put at its disposal were only in aid to the state police and it was primarily the duty of the police to take effective steps to contain the attacks and apprehend those who continue to stoke hatred and violence.
The letter, according to sources, tells Mr Patnaik that the Centre had already overstretched itself to provide the state with maximum Central para-military forces. At the last count, 53 companies of Central forces had been sent to Orissa following the outbreak of attacks on Christians and their institutions in Kandhamal.
Mr Patil is said to have told the chief minister that asking for more and more forces was not the answer as the Central troops were at best a short-term arrangement to help the police set the law and order situation right.
In this context, Mr Patil recalled that of the 5 India Reserve battalions sanctioned for Orissa, only one had been raised by the state so far.
The home minister, in his communication to Mr Patnaik, also raised the matter of the state not having used the MI-17 helicopter sent to it for transporting Central troops to affected areas. Instead, he pointed out, it was used for recce.
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He asked the state to implement an overall strategy to create an environment of security and nab elements that continue to stoke violence and hatred. Urging the chief minister to review the situation, Mr Patil called for effective measures to control violence and disruptive activities as well as optimal utilisation of the substantial forces made available to Orissa.A recent communication by the Union home ministry to Orissa had asked the state administration to take stern measures ��� including intensified patrolling, regular peace meetings between community leaders and tracking of communal history-sheeters ��� to correct the situation of ���apparent lawlessness��� in the state.
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