The Naga Council Dimapur, on behalf of general public extends its fullest cooperation to the Nagaland Home Minister Imkong L. Imchen for the prompt action initiated on the public Memorandum earlier submitted to him in Dimapur. The Memorandum, dated 11/5/09 which proposed various measures towards improvement of law and order situation and maintenance of peace in Dimapur, was presented to the Hon’ble Minister on Sunday, 24/5/09 at his Dimapur residence. The Minister instantly identified the gravity of the matter and on the spot assured total support to the proposals contained. Further, on Monday 25/6/09, foregoing all other all other official preoccupations, the Minister remained in Dimapur and chaired a public coordination meeting at DC Conference Hall to address the situation with public leaders and the civil society along with top Civil and police officials. In the said meeting, the Minister once again committed to implement all possible avenues to keep Dimapur peaceful and to instill confidence in the minds of citizens who have recently gone through a harrowing time of clashes, taxes, extortion, abduction, rape incidents etc.
As part of the Minister’s initiative, the District administration without delay convened a major public meeting on 3rd June which was held on schedule under a packed hall, to be precise, the hall overflowed with a large section of public who had to stand outside and participate as the office ran short of chairs. Many leaders who spoke agreed that public response to the minister’s initiative on the 3rd June coordination meeting was overwhelming with record attendance. It was in this gathering n DC Conference Hall on 3/6/09 that DC announced governments approval of the measures proposed by public. The large gathering of leaders unanimously approved modalities presented by District administration on introduction of Community Policing which when implemented will be the first of its kind by any city in the Northeast that is floated with government approval.
Community Policing is in practice in developed Asian cities, the West and parts of India for quite sometime, but has never been tested in the way it is being planned now by any city/town administration this part. The concept is to supplement the law/peace keeping job of the regular police whose hands are overloaded with growing crime and criminals such that pockets of a city/town/village become vulnerable where regular police patrol is absent or overlooked due to personnel constraints. Moreover, such a force becomes the bridge between public and police who more often than not tend to demonize each other creating fatal communication gaps. Constraints of space here will not do justice to the concept and success story of Community Policing elsewhere. Hence a future public write-up is required.
Community Policing. The name says it all. It is the common man looking upon as a smart, fully trained group of gun totting local commandoes as yet. They soon will be in the long run provided adequate and sustained attention is devoted to this new venture of peace-keeping model both by the government and the people. One should rather be prepared as of now to absorb the teething problems bound to arise while implementation is in its infancy. There’s a first time for everything. With public acceptance and experience, if given the chance, community policing will perhaps be Dimapur’s panacea to many ills that ails the city. The success story then can be imported by rest of the districts and elsewhere in due course.
On behalf of Dimapur Civil Society,
Savi Liegise, President
Naga Council Dimapur
W. Lemba Chang,
General Secretary
Naga Council Dimapur
