OPEN HOUSE: What should be done to avert terror strikes and ensure safety & security of the public?

People should report suspicious activities

It has become a common practice of not searching a person thoroughly before entering any public building in the city. The practice poses a very serious threat as anyone could carry any dangerous weapon with them and use it at innocent people. Proper checkpoints must be made mandatory at all of the buildings with thorough checking by security guards. CCTV cameras must be installed at all key locations so that any suspicious activity can be traced and averted. People should be vigilant and report any malicious thing to the authority concerned so that a probable attack can be averted at the earliest.

Jatinderpal Singh Batth

Time to Intensify night patrolling

In the past two decades, cases of murder, theft, burglary, snatching and robbery have seen a steady rise. There is hardly any law which is not violated with impunity by the ‘sons of the powerful’. The common man, the law abiding citizen, is put to shame when violators jump the red light in the very presence of the authority and goes scot free. I think we should now stop blaming road conditions and actually start following the rule of the road. A simple “Keep to the left and no overtaking”, if followed in letter and spirit, can fetch pleasant results if slow traffic is strictly regulated on the left hand side. A smooth and streamlined traffic results in punctuality of all services and a heightened sense of discipline. Violators should be brought before the camera to face shame of the society and their particulars noted for stricter action if required. The idea that Amritsaris love only fun and food should be qualified that they are also a disciplined lot. All this is not to deny the role of the police who hardly ever use their patrol bikes blaming all the while price of petrol. Regular patrolling at night should be intensified.

Mohan Singh

Safety of public at large in danger

As the Assembly polls are approaching the terrorists with the help of Pakistan are bent upon creating ruckus in Punjab. As a result safety and security of public at large is in danger. The present Congress government needs to take stern effective measures in order to maintain law and order in the state. To begin with, intelligence services operating in the state should be directed to become more vigilant and provide inputs for any terror attack at the earliest. Secondly, the police administration should be geared up to respond immediately and do whatever they are required to do to maintain law and order in cities. Lastly, awareness amongst general public should be created not to touch any unidentified object lying in public places and to report to police immediately on seeing it.

Sanjay Chawla

Maintaining law and order top priority

The Ludhiana blast in District Court Complex just before 2022 Punjab Assembly elections reminds us of Maur Mandi blast, just days before voting took place in 2017 Assembly polls. Even the two Punjab police’s SITs have failed to get to the bottom of Ludhiana incident, which should have been handed over to either the CBI or NIA. Due to the lack of political will these crimes remain unsolved till date. The police and people of Punjab need to stay ever-vigilant as such more disturbances cannot be ruled out. Political as well religious leaders must exercise restraint in word and deed as divisive forces might go all out to pursue their nefarious agenda and exploit the volatile situation. Moreover, political one-upmanship is getting nastier by the day, with battle lines hardening after registration of a drug case against a former minister in the earlier regime. It should never be forgotten that Punjab, which has regained peace at the cost of thousands of lives and also suffered huge economic losses, can’t afford to see those dark days’ nightmarish era all over again. All efforts must be taken by the administration for maintaining law and order before and during the Punjab assembly elections which are going to take place in few weeks.

PL Singh

Huge gatherings should be banned

The recent bomb blast in the district courts complex in Ludhiana has shocked and stunned Punjab. With Assembly elections just round the corner, massive gatherings will be a common sight in the coming days thereby increasing the perils of more such incidents. Consequently, the public at large is concerned about its safety and security and that of its near and dear ones. Terror is one of the most significant threats to the safety and security of the people. Hence, adequate and effective measures should be employed to avert Ludhiana-type incidents. The administration, the police and security agencies should rise to the occasion to garner accurate information to nip the possibility of another bomb blast here or there. Unnecessary huge gatherings should be banned and the government, the public, and the media should join hands to create awareness among the masses so as to foil the nefarious designs of the inimical forces bent upon creating terror in the state to further their vested interests. The need of the hour is to be extra vigilant in places with large numbers of people for example buses, trains, festivals and shopping malls. Any unidentified object should never be touched and any type of parcels should not be accepted from strangers. Explosives may be concealed in anything like tiffin-boxes, toys, vehicles etc. Any suspicious looking person or article should be immediately brought to the notice of the police. Abandoned vehicles should also be communicated to the police without any delay. Spreading rumours should be discouraged to avoid worsening the situation. The police should monitor the suspects who my pose a terror threat. Capabilities of intelligence and security services should be enhanced manifold. It is a well known fact that the ISI of Pakistan is using drones for dropping arms and ammunition in Punjab to disturb peace and communal harmony. To check that, vigilance at borders adjoining Pakistan should be increased. The use of internet for terror purposes should be countered effectively. Websites using hate speeches or calls for violence or discrimination should be taken down. A cooperative and coordinating approach should be adopted to counter terror attacks at all levels. When people are ready to work shoulder to shoulder with the security forces, there is no reason why the menace of terror strikes cannot be contained.

Tarsem S Bumrah

Beef up security at public places

It is the foremost duty of administration to safeguard the lives of residents but every year some anti-national elements try to commit evil acts which put people’s life at risk and also disrupt the calm environment of country. Recent bomb blast at court complex in Ludhiana caused injuries to people and one succumbed. By god’s grace, counting was low and most of the people escape unscathed owing to the lawyer’s strike on that day. The government ordered the probe but clue is yet to be ascertained and this is normal. There are numerous pending cases of such incidents and timely actions are not being taken, aftermath of which encourage these acts to be happen again. This seems to be mere negligence on part of investigating agencies. To eradicate these anti-nationalisms, the government should beef up security at public places and accelerate its investigation process to find offenders so that these incidents would not happen again.

Sukhmeet Kaur

Intelligence agencies should work in tandem

The recent bomb blast incident at the Court Complex at Ludhiana is a clear-cut case of terrorism with strings attached with handlers located abroad. The term terrorism was first coined in 1790s to refer to terrorism used during French Revolution. But in the modern times, especially in a country like India, terrorism involves the use or threat of violence and seeks to create fear not just within the direct victims but among a wide audience thereby mostly causing polarisation on religious basis. Moreover, in the past almost all terrorist incidents were planned in foreign countries. So the most important preventive measure is to strengthen RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) our primary foreign intelligence wing. Further all state and central intelligence and security wings should work in close cooperation. The last but not the least preventive measure is to avoid gathering of people in avoidable circumstances such as road shows and rallies during the forthcoming state Assembly elections. Above all our political leaders, belonging to any outfits, should avoid remarks against any religion or community which create ill-will among people.

Naresh Johar

QUESTION

The Election Commission has announced dates for the Assembly elections in five states, including Punjab. As the poll schedule is likely to coincide with the anticipated Covid peak, do you think the EC should revisit its decision to conduct elections on the scheduled dates in February and March?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to [email protected] by Thursday (January 13)

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