Some lessons from recent violence in Nagpur city:
* Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram are being increasingly used to incite persons of certain community in couple of hours without any apparent preparation. Similar situation prevailed in riots in Bangalore & Delhi in recent past.
* Vehicles like tractor trollies full of huge stones were rushed in from neighbouring outside places in a particular direction with a target of attacking particular community
* Houses identified by तुलसी पौधा and vehicles having Ganesh idols were subjected to brutality & arson
* Police officers were subjected to violent attacks including by axe , stones and swords
* swords from ancient period were available with a section of attackers. These continue to be stored unchecked. .
Lessons:
* Continuous monitoring of social media platforms either technically or by being members of groups run by suspected persons
* enforcing ‘Nakabandi’ to check movement of vehicles & suspicious persons towards a particular direction suddenly
* keeping adequate reserve police squads equipped with riot control equipment including helmets, shields, tear gas , and weapons to meet any contingency in sensitive police stations
* have ‘police mitra’ in huge numbers who can inform police about suspicious developments in advance and also work with police during riots
* police officers should not rush to such spots without helmet and adequately prepared , else they are victims and sustain serious injuries or even deaths
* constant dialogue with sensible leaders to avoid flaring up of tempers
* instruct corporation officers to ensure no construction material is allowed on roads as the same can be used as missiles
* remove road blockades including tyres regularly as it hinders movement of police, fire brigade and ambulances in emergency
* continuous preventive action against known bad elements who take disadvantage of such situations and create ruckus
* have regular mock drills , once in six months , by police even when there is peace to face such violent situations
Police also need to be more equipped during the month of Ramzan as most of the riots have taken place during this period. This is allegedly linked to incitement in the name of battle of Badr, where on 17 th day of Ramazan Prophet Mohammad had attacked his enemies at Badr.
Need for Public Safety Act in Maharashtra
Praveen Dixit
DGP (Retired) Maharashtra State
On 12 September, 2004, two Maoist groups, the Maoist Communist Centre and the CPI (ML), (Peoples’ War), merged to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist). In the decades since, the movement, once confined to the dense forests of central and eastern India, has found a new battleground, the cities.
There are different opinions about the term ‘urban naxals’. But to dispel misconceptions about this phenomenon, it is necessary to study Maoist literature. The Maoist ideology, long sustained by rural guerrilla tactics, has adapted to urban landscapes, where it exploits democratic freedoms to undermine the very foundation of the Indian state. This is not a matter of academic debate but a pressing national security concern. Maharashtra, a State with deep history of left-wing extremism, now faces an urgent need for legislative action. The proposed Maharashtra Special Public Safety Act seeks to address this evolving threat, not by stifling dissent but by preventing insidious efforts to dismantle democracy from within.
To understand the gravity of the situation, one must look beyond rhetoric and into the strategic doctrine of Maoists’ insurgency. The CPI (Maoist) outlines its urban strategy in “Strategy and Tactics of the Indian Revolution”, a manifesto that has been seized repeatedly during counter insurgency operations. This document describes a three-pronged approach: the Party, the Army, and the United Front. The last of thee -the United Front- is the most potent weapon in the urban theatre. It operates through student groups, labour unions, cultural organisations, and civil rights collectives, all ostensibly legitimate but serving a deeper revolutionary cause. Their goal is to erode faith in connotational democracy, creating conditions ripe for armed struggle.
Unlike, the jungle warfare of the past, urban Maoism functions in a subtler, more insidious ways. It recruits students, unemployed, disenfranchised and even professionals into its ideological fold. It infiltrates legitimate protests, converting them into flash-points oof radicalisation. It spreads anti-state narratives through art, theatre and academia. The Maoist cultural front, epitomized by banned groups like the “Chetana Natya Manch’ (CNM) uses songs and plays to indoctrinate youth, as documented in multiple intelligence reports. Formal Maoist cadres like Milind Teltumbade, who began as labour union leader in Maharashtra’s coal-belt, exemplify this trajectory from activism to insurgency.
India has stringent ant-terror laws including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Yet, these laws primarily target direct acts of terrorism. The legal framework struggles to address the subtler, preparatory stags of urban Maoist activities. Courts have often found it difficult to convict individuals, associated with Maoist front organisations unless a direct link to valence is established. This legal loophole allows insurgent networks to operate with impunity, cloaked in the language of civil liberties.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, proactive bans on Maoists -affiliated groups led to a sharp decline in insurgent activities. Maharashtra, however, had lagged in taking similar action. According to a Union Ministry report, Maharashtra harbours the highest number of Maoist front organisations- 64 in total. Intelligence assessments indicate that the Maoist movement, stifled in rural areas due to successful counter-insurgency efforts, is shifting focus to cities. The materials seized in recent raids confirm that urban warfare is now a central tenet of Maoist expansion strategy.
Necessary safeguard
Critics argue that any expansion of state power poses a risk to civil liberties. While vigilance against misuse is necessary, equating a targeted counter-insurgency law with authoritarianism is a fallacy. The proposed Maharashtra Special Public Safety Act includes robust checks and balances to prevent abuse. An Advisory Board, led by Members appointed by the judiciary, will oversee bans on organisations. Senior police officers, not junior officials susceptible to political pressures, will be responsible for authorising arrests and filing chargesheets.
Most importantly, the law is designed to differentiate between genuine dissent and orchestrated subversion. Freedom of speech remains sacrosanct. However, speech is weaponised to incite violence, recruit insurgents delegitimize, democratic institutions, it ceases to be a matter of free expression. This distinction is crucial. Maoist organisations do not merely oppose policies; they seek to dismantle the entire constitutional framework. Their goal, as articulated in their own documents, is to replace parliamentary democracy with a totalitarian ‘Peoples’ Government’. The ultimate aim is not incremental reform but revolution by force.
Looming Threat
Maharashtra has fraught Maoism in its rural heartlands for over four decades, but urban Maoism has flourished unchecked for nearly fifty years. The failure to recognise this shift has allowed the insurgency to adapt, metastasizing into the urban fabric. The consequences of inaction are dire. If left unaddressed, Maharashtra risks becoming the nerve-centre of an urban insurgency that could destabilize governance on a massive scale.
The necessity of the Maharashtra Special Public Safety Act is not a matter of ideological preference but of national security. A democracy cannot afford to be naïve about those who seek its destruction. Vigilance is not repression. It is the price of survival in an age where insurgency wears the mask of activism. The battle against Maoism has moved from the jungle to the city, and our laws must evolve to meet the challenge.
*************** **************** **********************
Juvenile Justice:
Legal frameworks and Rehabilitation of children in conflict with law
Praveen Dixit
In following lines, it is proposed to underline the heinous crimes committed by juveniles. Thereafter, legal provisions to tackle this sensitive issue would be discussed. Efforts made and which need to be made to rehabilitate these juveniles would be explained with case studies. Every effort needs to be made by everyone to integrate these juveniles by making all out efforts to provide a chance to reform these youngsters not only for their wellbeing but also for the benefit of the society at large.
Memories of horrible incidents such as Nirbhaya episode in Delhi are never forgotten. Unfortunately, similarly terrible happenings are being reported from urban as well as rural areas and from all states without any exception. On few occasions, it is an incident of gang rape on helpless especially abled destitute, small girl belonging to scheduled cate or scheduled tribe, or rape on a girl after deceiving her with false identity. In some instances, the kids are not even able to narrate who committed the atrocities, but keep on complaining of severe body /stomach pain. Invariably, videos are made of such heinous happenings and if the victim is alive, she is constantly blackmailed and the heinous act is repeated several times. In most of these cases, the perpetrator is grandfather, step-father, cousin, relative or a person claiming to be close to the family. The offender may be working as security guard, housekeeping staff in housing society/school, cleaner, driver or conductor in school buses. If the victim refuses to marry, or there is apprehension that the identity of the accused may be disclosed, she is murdered ruthlessly and the body is disposed of beyond recognition in a remote place. Persons who commit these offences against children are dealt with under the provisions of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). A section of these acts is committed by juveniles in the age group of 16-18. List of these offences committed by juveniles include robbery, snatching, gang rape, rape, robberies, murders, attempt to murder, thefts and many more. Recently they have been noticed indulging in cybercrimes including hoax calls and sending alarming fake e-mails threatening the school authorities and law enforcing agencies. Separately, hit and run incidents due to rash and drunk driving by juveniles from nouveau riche families in expensive cars resulting in death of innocent pedestrians or two-wheeler riders are being increasingly reported. In some left wing affected parts in Dandakaranya young persons are noticed joining militants.
Invariably, these incidents result in hue and cry and electronic and print media demand explanations from law enforcing authorities and seek explanation from the government for its effectiveness. Many a times, the public anger goes to the extent of demanding immediate hanging of the accused even though the suspect may be juvenile. National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) which compiles data of these offences from all states reveals increasing number of incidents involving juveniles in the age group of 16 to 18 as suspects. As per the Juvenile Justice Act (JJA) 2015, a person below the age of 18 is considered as juvenile. The JJA further provides for minors in the age group 16 – 18 years to be treated as adults in the case of heinous crimes. Heinous crimes are those offences where punishment is more than seven years. Decision regarding an offence whether it is heinous or otherwise is taken by Juvenile Justice Board consisting of Judicial Magistrate First Class, and two other social workers out of which one is a woman. The object of the Act is to ensure the needs of children and protect their human rights fully. The second part deals with the care, protection and rehabilitation of children in need. Protection includes protection from harm to the life of a child, even from the parents and relatives. The children/victims should not be produced before multiple authorities and protect the interest of the victims of the sexual offence. While legal provisions to deter the offenders are adequate, effective implementation of the same by all agencies without getting influenced by extraneous sources is highly imperative.
Important factors which contribute in making children juvenile include absence of care and affection from parents because of divided family, large family and poverty resulting in absence of facilities. In view of urbanization, and easy availability of access to internet, children witness what they should not or get addicted to porn/violence videos. Many of them are also addicted to watch online games which encourage them to commit suicide or shooting as adventure. Today, social media platforms including Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegraph and many others are attracting young minds towards darknet which is full of spreading falsehoods, radicalising them to fundamentalism, and encouraging them to indulge in investing large amounts in bitcoins. There are several incidents when young girls have fallen prey to flirting and have been deceived with ulterior motives. Several countries including USA, Canada, Australia are contemplating seriously to make enactment where children below 14 would be prevented from having free access to internet. Australia has already enforced such enactment. Social platforms are likely to implement these reforms in these countries at the earliest. India also needs to make strident call in the same direction. There is adverse impact of advertisements and serials on TV/OTT and cinemas. After watching films with violence/ porn, children have made efforts to follow these in reality and ended up in remand homes. In red light areas, women force children to go outside at the time of business and these children fall in bad companies. Children become addicts to bad habits including drugs, drinks, smoking and other objectionable materials. Adolescent children try to impress their female friends and to satisfy various requirements particularly under the influence of drinks/drugs, do not hesitate to commit thefts/heinous offences. Either due to anger against their parents for petty reasons, or because of luring by someone including women to provide an opportunity to work as model, higher education, job or marriage, thousands of very young girls under the age of 18 have been noticed leaving their parents. Very few of these are traced and it is speculated that these might be ending in some brothels or might have been killed or transported to war zones including Syria, Afghanistan and other places.
Analysis of undertrial juveniles reveals from their statements that most of them were from deprived background. All of them had either dropped out from school or they were never regular to school. As a result of lack of education or no vocational skills, many of them were working as casual labourers. Due to dysfunctional families, these children had no mental or social support from their families. Family situation of undertrials was characterised by poverty, children forced into labour, inadequate parenting and their families were under continuous stress or there was sudden crisis like death, desertion etc. NCRB data underlines increasingly children from affluent families, having parents who do not pay attention to their upbringing, are indulging in heinous crimes, due to drug addiction. In addition, religious fanatics are noticed to be providing large funds and using these youth to deceive young girls and converting them under compulsion.
Though these children might have come in conflict with law, it is necessary that police officers remain sensitive to their plight. As Commissioner of Police in Nagpur, I ensured that these children are provided counselling by social workers. Those who were eligible to attend schools, were sent there. Others were provided vocational skills including driving. They turned out to be responsible persons and contributed to the income of their families. Similar initiatives are taken by many police officers. It is imperative that even after the change of unit-in-charge, these well minded initiatives need to be continued for a long time. It should be an effort of police officers to move the Juvenile Justice Board for action against parents of such children. Police officers need to strive to safeguard these juveniles from adult offenders who might be forcing such children to indulge in these heinous offences. Invariably, assistance should be taken from voluntary organisations, or child psychiatrists, child guidance clinics, social care workers, and probation officers to cure the cause behind such incidents. Police officers should also visit shelter homes/remand homes frequently to ensure adequate support and security is available at these places. Efforts should be made to detect such children at pre-delinquent situation and isolate destitute and neglected children. In a town, geographic areas which are breeding grounds of delinquency may be identified and these should be regularly patrolled. Initiatives including organising recreational programmes, sports tournaments, holiday camps, band displays create enthusiasm among one and all. While working as DGP, Maharashtra, we had initiated regular interaction with radicalised youth including young girls. Assistance was taken from seniors in their community and we persuaded them to realise the dangers of joining ISIS. In spite of these, there were few instances when these youth managed to leave for Syria and were caught there or got killed in war-zones.
To conclude, holistic approach, combining enforcement with compassion and proactive intervention, can help rehabilitate at-risk youth and prevent them from becoming entangled in criminal activities.
*************** ************* ******************