The police in Maharashtra’s Beed district have been directed not to put their full names on their uniforms to avoid “caste tensions”. Similarly, name plates carrying only first names of officers are being distributed among officers, a first-of-its-kind step in Maharashtra.
The Maratha community has welcomed the move while the Other Backward Class (OBC) community has called for a change of the mindset of the police as well.
The directives have been issued by Beed Superintendent of Police Navneet Kanwat who had taken charge in January this year following protests over the brutal murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, a BJP supporter, in December last year.
Santosh Deshmukh was a Maratha while most of the accused belong to Vanjari community, which belongs to OBC. This only further sharpened bitterness between the OBC and Maratha community, which already was witnessing a duel over the reservation issue.
The murder had rocked Maharashtra politics that eventually led to the resignation of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde.
Officials said the objective of the SP’s directive is to avoid caste tensions in the district which has been witnessing one-upmanship between Marathas and the OBCs.
”The Beed Superintendent of Police has issued the directives to all police personnel in the district to address each other by their first names and put their first names on their uniforms and avoid surnames. This is being done to stop caste discrimination in the district,” API Sachin Ingale, spokesperson for Beed police, told The Indian Express on Friday.
Beed SP Navneet Kanwat was not available for comment.
Citing the problems being faced by the police, the spokesperson said that if a person belonging to a Maratha community is caught by the traffic police personnel for violation of rules, the violator then scans the name of the cop on his uniform. “If he identifies that the officer belongs to OBC cop, the citizen then allege that he was caught because he is a Maratha. Similarly, it goes for a citizen belonging to an OBC community if he is caught violating traffic norms..The surnames are leading to unnecessary verbal duel and ugly scenes. And therefore the decision has been taken,” the spokesperson said.
The police officials have also been given name plates carrying only their first names. These name plates are to be placed on their tables.
The Maratha community hailed the move and demanded that it should be implemented across the state.
”The police department is only wing where there is no union or groupism. We also want police to be neutral and deal with criminals as criminals and not belonging to any particular community. When the police force becomes independent and is not identified by their caste or religion, it will help in taking appropriate decision and uphold our Constitution. We welcome the Beed SP’s decision and urge Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to remove surnames of the police officers from their name plates and uniforms,” said Vinod Patil, a key member of the Maratha Kranti Morcha, battling the community’s demand for reservation in the Supreme Court.
Haribhau Rathod, an OBC leader said, “The intention of the Beed SP is good but it looks like a half-hearted measure. Making use of first names is fine, how about changing the mindset of the police force. There are some police personnel who look at criminals from the prism of caste. The police should leave their caste at home when they don the khaki uniform. They should behave like a third umpire and take completely independent decision and not seen to be taking sides. For this, there is need to change the mindset of the police through training sessions.”
Retired Bombay High Court judge B G Kolse-Patil, however, said, the decision is unlikely to bring a change in Beed unless there is a change in the mindset of the police force who have become puppets in the hands of politicians.
“From whatever has appeared in the media, it was clear that so far the police personnel were dancing to the tunes of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde. Similarly, if the police had acted promptly in the Santosh Deshmukh case, his murder would not have taken place. Every day we are hearing brutal attacks on citizens in Beed, why has this been happening? Because the police have become puppets in the hands of the politicians. If the police stop being slaves to the politicians, not a single crime will take place in Beed. And therefore, I don’t think this measure will work,” he said.
More police officers in Beed opting for transfer
Over 100 police officials, apparently fed up with the rise in criminal activites and pressure from different quarters, have sought transfer outside Beed district.
”We have received at least 107 letters from officials who want to be posted outside the Beed district,” the spokesperson said. The decision on their request is still pending.
According to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Maharashtra Police, which is probing the murder, sarpanch Deshmukh was abducted and killed for trying to thwart an extortion attempt by the accused from a windmill company in Beed.
The murder has since rocked Maharashtra politics with the Opposition and even ruling alliance leaders demanding the resignation of Dhananjay Munde who is an MLA from Parli constituency, owing to his proximity with one of the accused, Walmik Karad.
Officials said the objective of the SP's directive is to avoid caste tensions in the district which has been witnessing one-upmanship between Marathas and the OBCs. (Source: File/ Representational Photo) 
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