COPFRIENDLY BARRICADES ENTER THE PROTEST SCENE
These have a slippery twist — a step by Delhi Police to better manage the crowd, and minimise chances of injury
What’s a staple picture of an angry protest in the Capital? People climbing all over the barricades, right? Well, that’s about to change with the new variants which will now be used in the New Delhi district and North Campus.
How, you wonder? These will be slippery on the side facing protesters, making it almost impossible for them to climb on or balance themselves atop the barricades. The department claims that this will also minimise the chances of injury to protesters.
“It is the Commissioner of Police’s idea to come up with something that doesn’t end up hurting protesters. The crowd can’t climb on the slippery side, and the other side has support for cops to climb and handle the crowd,” says Madhur Verma, DCP, New Delhi and PRO, Delhi Police.
There are three types of barricades — red, yellow and black, which the Delhi Police use, depending on the area. The background of Vijay Chowk is crimson red, so red barricades are being used there. For the Police Headquarters (PHQ) area, the barricades are black. “Black shows intolerance and the colour matches the colour of PHQ gate,” says Verma. The third and general colour is yellow. “The new barricades are also heavier and tougher,” adds Verma.
In addition to this, Maurice Nagar Police station (in the North district) have been declared as senior officeroriented police stations, so that the management of protesters is more mature. “Earlier, sometimes the constable rank personnel would go at the forefront and during protests, when provocations are pretty sharp, a reactive posture would aggravate the matter further. So last year, we decided that particularly Parliament and Maurice Nagar police stations, where the demonstrations are rather frequent, will be officer oriented. We are insisting on the fact that officer rank police personnel and lady officers will be mostly at the forefront,” says Amulya Patnaik, Commissioner of Police, Delhi. To maintain harmony, the team includes seven inspectors and 30 sub-inspectors.
Delhiites are also happy with the initiative. Nirmal Sharma, a PHD student from JNU says, “Not just the crowd, but police personnel also get injured during protests. These new barricades will strengthen the security for both.”
We are insisting on the fact that officer rank police personnel and lady officers would be mostly at the forefront.
AMULYA PATNAIK POLICE COMMISSIONER, DELHI