Your reaction as DM/SP in Meerut scenario after Indo-Pak match

final_touch

We recently witnessed an incident wherein a group of Kashmiri students cheered at pakistan's victory over India in a closely fought ODI. This recent incident though much quitely discussed in the run up to very important general elections, is actually very significant. In view of its importance let us discuss few questions from interview's point of view.
Question is:
1).Do you agree with the steps taken by UP police and govt regarding this incident? Justify.
2).what would be your reaction as DM/SP of the particular district when the said incident is brought to your notice?

ss36

1.The steps taken by the univ authorities and the govt seem excessively severe.
2. If I was the DM or SP, before a criminal complaint was filed, I would have met the students personally and assigned a fact finding team to ascertain the matter first.I would counsel the univ authorities to reprimand the students rather than filing charges, long term solution is creating a spirit of oneness and equality.

Anic21

These students were grown adults,they knew what are consequences of their act. For this fiasco they were equally responsible as hostel warden/unv admin.

These students were liable for charges under Section 153A.

Section 153A of the penal code says,[3] inter alia:
Whoever (a) by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, promotes or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, or (b) commits any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquility, . . . shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

But again framing any charges against them going to fuel the tension between two communities in the UP or J&K considering just 2 months left for general election.

I agree with @ss36 for my actions If I were SP/DM.....

Etat

1.The steps taken by the univ authorities and the govt seem excessively severe.
2. If I was the DM or SP, before a criminal complaint was filed, I would have met the students personally and assigned a fact finding team to ascertain the matter first.I would counsel the univ authorities to reprimand the students rather than filing charges, long term solution is creating a spirit of oneness and equality.

If grown adults have to be treated as children, then there is no need for law and order. Cheering for Pak in a place like UP where there have been 100s of riots recently is a deliberate act of provocation.

I might not have booked them under sedition charges, but I would have recommended that all of them undergo counseling to avoid legal action. I would have told them clearly to be careful in the future and would've asked the college to arrange for a PTA meeting with the families of the ones involved on a suitable date.

The fact of the matter remains, that they were doing something that was irreverent to both their nation and to the situation prevalent in UP.

F0EHAMMER

While punishing these students is a viable option but it doesnt addresses the root of the problem.

Punishing under any law is just a temporary fix.

Arranging counselling sessions for these students and ascertaining their thought process and rationale behind this behavior would help counter it in a better way.Talking with their parents is also an option .

On a different note ,This attachment for Pak confuses me.I mean if their is a section of Muslim society in Kashmir that thinks that Pak is a better option then india or is even an option , is definitely out of their minds.If one has a logical mind he can simply be talked out of this fascination for Pak imo .With failure at every stage Pak has become a or is on the verge of becoming a failed state .

Pak's state of affairs can be explained by this quote from one of their eminent journalist -'Apna Ghar sambhlta nahi aur niklein hai duniya pe raaj karne '.

nietzche

sedition charges for cheering a cricket team?preposterous!

"India losing a close match is a cricketing tragedy and just that. Those who cheer such an event may lack discretion and taste but their conduct is not seditious. In other words “Jeetega bhai jeetega, Pakistan jeetega” is not seditious but “Kashmir banega Pakistan” definitely is. Wisdom lies in ensuring that those Indians who scream the first slogan are not pushed to screaming the second."

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/cheering-is-no-duty-jeering-is-no-crime/article5770865.ece?homepage=true

nietzche

While introducing the first amendment to India’s constitution which imposed restrictions on free speech, Pandit Nehru said: “...Take again Section 124A of the IPC. So far as I am concerned, that particular Section is highly objectionable and obnoxious and it should have no place both for practical and historical reasons — in any body of laws that we might pass. The sooner we get rid of it the better.”

Misuse of this section abounds:

"Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi’s innocuous cartoons during the Anna agitation saw the Maharashtra government invoke this section to curb dissent. The Advocate General of the State later withdrew these charges in court. Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s speeches at a Delhi conference in October, 2010 resulted in prosecution for sedition on the orders of a trial court. Binayak Sen’s possession of Naxal literature was the basis of his conviction and life sentence under this section by a Chhattisgarh sessions court. The Supreme Court later granted him bail pending an appeal to the High Court."

TinTin

@LuV - the attachment of the "Separatists"of Kashmir society to Pak is not because of an innate desire to join it or cherish it more than India, but because they believe that there is no better way of mocking the India state than this. This'll boil the blood of the security personnel and others much more than any amount of dharna and protest.....that's the whole idea behind chanting proPak slogans from masjid or unfurling the Paki flag now and then in the valley!!

Vazu

"Intolerance is violence and accepted intolerance is violence with the acquiescence of society,"
Mr Vikram Seth

F0EHAMMER

@LuV - the attachment of the "Separatists"of Kashmir society to Pak is not because of an innate desire to join it or cherish it more than India, but because they believe that there is no better way of mocking the India state than this. This'll boil the blood of the security personnel and others much more than any amount of dharna and protest.....that's the whole idea behind chanting proPak slogans from masjid or unfurling the Paki flag now and then in the valley!!

I agree .

uzma_ali

I have no doubt that there does exist a substantial number of Muslims who still suffer from pro-pakiness and unfortunately they are not restricted to Kashmir alone.
In my childhood we had to relocate from old part of city ( Muslim majority ) to new city ( majority are Jains and Hindus ) because people in former place are still living in 1947.. We moved because we were well-off but what about Muslims who are poor ( as majority of them are ).

With my background i would suggest that these Kashmiri students have to be counselled and not booked under any law because force will generate more resistance not love. It will harbor that minority in Muslims which leave no stone unturned in instigating young Muslims against their own countrymen.
We have to be patient in handling these matters as by force we cannot turn them into Indian Muslims from Muslim Indians. Any strong action will only give more traction to Owaishi type fellows.
If any sedition charge has to be slapped then it ought to be on VHP , IUML and MIM which divide people on the basis of age-old texts rather binding them on a common secular text of our constitution.