THELIGHTOFANDAMANS: CHALTE | CHALTE: Police Polite: Yes, Believe it

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

CHALTE | CHALTE: Police Polite: Yes, Believe it

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 36 | ISSUE 03 | 01 NOV 2012

CHALTE | CHALTE

Police Polite: Yes, Believe it

A barricade near Mazar on Corbyn's Road and a few police personnel stood there at around 9 PM of Saturday 20th October. One of them waived me to stop. Irritatingly I took my car to the side. A person in Khaki, quite young approached and pleadingly asked me to show my driving license with a suffix of 'Sir'. My ears could not believe the tone of the official. He noted my license number, returned the same and left me dumb with his softer 'Thank you sir'. Another day on 21st October I was stopped at the entry of Chouldari village. The police official literary 'requested' me to make an entry with the police official waiting at a make-shift counter at the road side. The young lady police official in Hindi wanted to know again with a prefix of 'Sir', whether I was carrying my driving license. The tone was as if it was not a crime to drive without license. I produced the same and she smilingly returned it back after an endorsement. She did not forget to throw a 'Thanks'.

The same day I was stopped at IP&T-Air India Office junction and was denied to go straight from Secretariat to Rajniwas side as I had to go to Shadipur by a police personnel. It was a declared one-way for smooth movement of traffic but I had to cross hardly 100 meter to take a right turn on a common road. And this time the tall built Dy. SP (Traffic) himself came to my car, bowed his head to my car-window and said, 'sir, this is one way and please take a bit longer route. This is for the cause of smoother ways for many others too. Please bear with us'.

Unbelievable? But believe it. Not a shocking but a pleasant experience. In a place where within a radius of 5-6 KM, 12-14 Puja-pandals existed with minimal possible road diversions, the Police could truly manage the situation splendidly more with their politeness than their skill, I trust. In our country, a personnel in Khaki will behave polite is a common man's dream but during these Puja days, the Andaman and Nicobar Police did it. Kudos!

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About The Light of Andamans

The Light of Andamans’ was born out of the zeal and determination to fight against the suffocating Kafkaesque atmosphere on the society that existed even after 30 years of Independence under bureaucratic rule. It was a hangover of the ‘Raj’that extended much too long in the Islands.

The Light of Andamans’ was started in 1975. The paper had always been a crusader, taking up the causes that no other newspaper would touch. In doing so, it very often stepped on the toes of the authorities and had to face persecution in the form of denial of advertisements and numerous court cases against it. For a small stint, the publication came to a halt in 2003.

Gezira Publications Private Limited took over the paper in the year 2005 and transferred the title in a bid to revive the second oldest newsmagazine from extinction and also to carry forward the mission.

The Newsmagazine, under the new management, has undergone a sea change both in form and content. It turned into a full-fledged tabloid with 10 pages with plenty of photographs making both pleasing to the eyes and soothing for the mind. “It has acquired a position where it influences the policies in vital matters concerning the development of the islands, protection of aboriginal tribes and addressing the problems of the disadvantaged groups. The newsmagazine is known and appreciated for its bold, free, fair and balanced reporting.”

Late Govinda Raju and his team worked very hard to rebuild the reputation, goodwill and a healthy new image of the newsmagazine brick by brick. After the demise of Mr Raju in 2010, the magazine is now being edited by Zubair Ahmed and published by Basudev Dass. The newsmagazine continues its mission of highlighting policy issues pertaining to the Islands.