VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 263 Date: 31.12.2018
Contents:
1. Nawazuddin Siddiqui As Balasaheb Thackeray
2. 'Snoop' Authority Dangerous To Citizens Freedom In Present
Government's Hands
Government's Hands
3. Scrap The Traffic Sentinel Scheme
Nawazuddin Siddiqui As Balasaheb Thackeray
Nawazuddin Siddiqui has been variously criticised by members of the film fraternity for taking on the role of Balasaheb Thackeray in his bio-pic and delivering some of the vitriolic and inflammatory dialogues attributed to the late Shiv Sena leader. Apart from that it is really surprising that Nawazuddin was chosen, notwithstanding him being a fine actor, for the role what with the present strident positioning of the Shiv Sena on itshindutva plank. Or is this an 'embedded' tactic by Udhav Thackeray to give the Shiv Sena a secularist sheen preparatory to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
'Snoop' Authority Dangerous To Citizens Freedom In Present Government's Hands
The 'snoop' notice allowing some 10 government agencies to be allowed to access all computers and tap all telephones in the country as announced on the night of 20.12.18 underlines the Orwellian direction our country is taking in the name of security. Unwarranted surveillance of personal devices is an invasion of privacy of the individual and is a breach of the first principle of democracy. Responsible access by authorised agencies is the cover under which this snooping is proposed but the fear is the unfettered misuse that will be exercised what with even agencies like the CBI having been completed compromised under the present regime. With a conscious and responsible person you can trust a loaded gun but with the present government what we are seeing is immaturity, a tendency to cover up mistakes and use authority very brazenly and therefore handing them a loaded gun like in this authority to 'snoop' is a very dangerous affair for common citizens.
Scrap The Traffic Sentinel Scheme
Pre-brief: The Goa Police have since a year ago introduced a traffic sentinel scheme wherein interested citizens can enrol to be the seeing-eye of the police force for traffic violations. Such citizens are expected to take pictures of the offences and inform the police on which basis the police issue challans to the offenders involving fines. These citizens get a fee from the police force for the trouble that they take in reporting the traffic offences.
The traffic sentinel scheme of the Goa Police was wrongfully conceived from the beginning. The police cannot pass on their policing functions to people from the public. This implies abdication from their primary responsibilities. This, however, is the trend these days of an agency passing on their denominated work to others on some pretext or the other and irrespective of whether these people can do this job or are trained for it. There is also the aspect of legality which in the case of the traffic sentinel scheme has probably not been verified and if an offender challenges the usurping of a law enforcement agency by common citizens then the whole scheme will be thrown out of the window. Just like what happened at Shiroda where the traffic sentinel's shop was closed and he was asked to move out, the public will not like being reported upon by one of their own. The police are looked at generally as impartial enforcers of the law. While in the traffic sentinel scheme the perception is that these people are sneaking on the people of their own kind and may do it for reasons other than factual and on top of that are making money out of it. The fact that the police are giving the scheme publicity as money can be made out of it is also irresponsible. The problem in our country today is that agencies do not do the work assigned to them and pass on the work to others so that they themselves can have an easy time which can only lead to confusion and creation of nuisance for the common man.
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