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Journalism of Courage
The deaths of protesters in last summers stone-pelting incidents in Kashmir and the stampede at Sabarimala in January this year are not remotely similar unless these are viewed through the prism of crowd-control. Our approach to crowd management has been a one-size-fits-all response. Thats why the security forces have faulted on two critical counts: first,traditionally there has been no categorisation of crowds whether pilgrimage or riot or rally. Second,there has been a single-standard sequence for police action.
Therefore,its good that the Jamp;K police and CRPF are training specifically to deal with situations like last summers protests. They have acquired new anti-riot gear which offers better protection from projectiles like bricks and stones; they are also being sensitised and trained to tackle violent or excitable gatherings without recourse to the bullet or fatal shootings or other actions that further provoke the crowd,such as several policemen pouncing on and beating up a single protester. However,this also calls for non-lethal weapons,a necessity that the chief ministers conference on internal security last month had raked up. That police forces are now being provided with the same is a result of lessons learnt from Kashmirs last summer.
