The promise of a safe life

The City administration has finally decided to wake up to the fact that the crime graph here has gone up. The special anti-rowdy task force, which will be constituted in the City very soon, will be responsible for making the City and its outskirts safer. Metrolife asks Bangaloreans if it will help in curbing crime or whether it would invade one’s privacy in the garb of implementing the law.

“The task force will be constituted soon and the teams will monitor the City as well as its outskirts to protect citizens,” informs a police official.

“Assigning a task force to reduce crime rate is a good initiative, however, I fear that unauthorised people will take advantage of the situation and might create hooliganism on the roads. As a youngster, I fear going to a pub or a party after the Guwahati and Mangalore incidents. Women are definitely not safe now,” says Manini, an IT professional.

Ranjit Singh, a lawyer, feels that the privacy laws in the country are very ambiguous and till the ‘Right to Privacy Bill 2011’ is passed by Parliament, things will remain unclear. “India needs an independent privacy law. Though there are a number of provisions in existing legislations that protect a citizen’s privacy, we definitely need a stronger privacy policy and stricter implementation of the existing laws. They could go a long way in curbing most privacy issues,” he says.

He adds that the ‘Right to Privacy Bill’ has certain prohibited acts which have been identified and for which civil remedies as well as criminal sanctions are created.
Sunil Bhardwaj, an engineering student, is of the opinion that the special task force has every right to stop illegal and criminal activities taking place in the City, but when it comes to moral policing, the task force should refrain from doing so.

“According to me, the main reason for moral policing is because of the difference in the way two generations think. If a special task force is being commissioned by police, it should definitely have educated and qualified youth in it,  who will use logic and reason before taking action,” he explains.

Many youngsters fear that the latest addition to the City’s law and order might just disrupt their parties. “The Mangalore incident is pretty intimidating and you never know who might come barging into your house or into a pub in the midst of a party. I feel that the task force should check all this instead of being party to it,” sums up Balu Nair, an advertising professional.