Terrorism enemy of humanity: VP Naidu

NEW DELHI: Describing terrorism as “enemy of humanity”, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday cautioned against any complacency in the safety and security of the country. Addressing a seminar on SMART Policing, Naidu also voiced concern over instances of sexual assaults, crimes against women and minor children and called for stepping up of security measures to ensure their safety. Observing that the country was facing problems such as terrorism, Maoism and insurgency, the vice-president said “ballot was more powerful than the bullet”.

Cautioning against the complacency in face of the country facing the menace of terrorism, Naidu called for effective measures to enhance capabilities of the state police and Central Armed Police Forces to deal with it.

“Stable law and order ensured by motivated and committed police would provide necessary foundations for sustained economic progress of the country,” he said at the seminar organised jointly by the Indian Police Foundation, the National Centre for Good Governance and the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).

The vice-president stressed the need to make policing people-centric and police stations people-friendly and receptive.

He suggested internal refo-rms within the police force along with the improvement of ambiance in police stations to make them complainant-friendly.

Pointing out that police station is the first point of contact for people, he said the common man should feel confident that the police personnel were competent to redress his grievance.

“At present, you would agree, a complainant enters the police station with serious misgivings whether his or her report would be registered or what kind of treatment would he get,” he said.

Naidu suggested the police should focus on swift and objective approach to dealing with cases rather than bothering about the increase in crime figures.