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| On City Roads, more 'VIPs' than commoners | | Rampant use of hurricane lamps male policing difficult | |
ET REPORTER
Jammu, July 13: The running Amarnath Yatra, Prime Minister's visit and the forthcoming event of Independence Day have all mounted the security concerns, the cops of Jammu Police manning nearly three dozen check posts in the city are in a confusion –which vehicle to stop for frisking and which to allow for the privileges position.
During special occasions, the security grid in the town always sees a tightening with regular frisking of vehicles and checking identity of their inmates to ward of the risk of elements inimical to peace. However, the Jammu Police is caught in a trouble as hundreds of vehicle passing through the check-posts carry atop a red coloured hurricane lamp popularly known as VIP lamp. "We are not sure whether the VIP us sitting inside or not but the red lamp makes it difficult for us to stop due to the privileged position", said a cops at a naka in the city.
It may not be wrong to say that at some points of time the number of vehicles with a red lamp crossing a check point is more than the ordinary vehicles. A Police official said, "particularly in the late evening we take positions to halt a vehicle coming from the opposite direction but when it approaches near we find it carrying atop a red lamp", as he added, "normally we allow such vehicles presuming that some VIP is sitting inside.
The red lamp VIP culture has gripped Jammu City so much that there is no discipline or knowledge of the protocol and every body who feels himself as somebody sports a red lamp even on his 800 Maruti Car. Few years back the Government had launched an initiative of removing the red lamps from the vehicles of unauthorised persons but this created a political problem and therefore orders had to be withdrawn. It may be recalled that this had happened during the regime of National Conference but when coalition government took over the VIP culture thrived more than any point of time in the past.
When asked whether they have noticed the unauthorised people with red lamp cars, a Police official said, it is difficult to maintain database because hundreds of vehicles cross the check point but still there are some known faces. Giving examples, the official said, "the Congress corporator Manmohan Chowdhary was long back replaced as Mayor of the Jammu Municipal Corporation but he still moves on with a hurricane lamp".
The majority of the people who carry and unauthorised hurricane lamp on their vehicles are the corporators and the office bearers of two main political parties –the Peoples Democratic Party and the Congress. Even the district presidents of the Congress and PDP, mostly coming from rural districts have red lamps on the gypsies and private cars.
When asked, a senior Police officer expressed inability of the cops to take on these violators. He said, "we had done this in a couple of cases but then there was pressure from senior government functionaries suggesting us to be slow on these VIPs". The officer pointed out that the government should come up with a comprehensive order and publicise it widely so that Police can take action.
"With so many people having VIP lamps on their cars it is difficult to ascertain identity of every one", said a cop at Bikram Chowk while narrating a personal experience. He said, "last year a Bolero Jeep with tinted glasses and hurricane lamp was asked to stop for verification but it did not. The Jeep when stopped after a brief chase was seen carrying an MLA, this led to a trouble on the road". "Not only this", the cops further said, "there was a reprimand from the officers why vehicle of the MLA was stopped".
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