'Hate crime is racial profiling, sensitise all cops'

Terming hate crimes against people from the northeast as a case of ‘racial profiling’, the Delhi High Court today asked the city Police Commissioner to undertake the masive drive to sensitise its 83,000 strong police force about preventing such crimes.

“You know as to how the persons hailing from Northeast are being referred to? We are not worth being called a constitutional democracy. This is racial profiling.

No body can claim any title over any territory on the ground of caste, creed, region or religion. Forget common people, you need to sensitise your police force first,” a bench of acting Chief Justice B D Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul said.

Issuing a fresh direction, the court said “the Police Commisisoner shall direct all DCPs that they should sensitise police personnel with regard to the problems faced by the citizens from the northeast.”

On being told by Delhi Police that the drive has already been undertaken, it said “we are of the view that more is required to be done and each one of 83,000 odd police personnel is required to be sensitised.”

It said either education or the fear of being ‘caught, punished or prosecuted’ will work and each police personnel be told that they cannot allow the criminals to go.

The bench, which had taken suo motu cognisance of media reports about the death of Arunchal Pradesh student Nido Tania, had earlier issued a slew of guidelines on the issue of sefety and security of northeast citizens. “We further direct that a special unit be set up on the lines of Crime Against Women cell,” it said.