Cop to sensitise policemen against biases
Following the incident near All Saint’s Church in Malabar Hills on March 24, when a police van driver addressed a Northeastern man with the offending term “kancha”, the DCP of Zone II, Nisar Tamboli has decided to sensitise officers in his jurisdiction towards such biases.
On March 24, when Mr Kima, a native of Mizoram was offensively addressed as “kancha”, a term pejoratively used to address natives of Nepal, Mr Kima had posted a tweet on the micro-blogging site Twitter, stating that he would like to invite the policeman in question to a cup of coffee and clear his misconceptions about the people from Northeast. Incidentally, joint commissioner of police, law and order, Sadanand Date, noticed the tweet. Mr Date then not only responded to Mr Kima, but also ordered a departmental inquiry.
Mr Kima was also requested to come over to the Malabar Hill police station by Mr Tamboli. What followed was a session of knowledge sharing with the officer who had addressed Mr Kima offensively and also said, “Kathmandu se aa reyala kya? (Have you come from Kathmandu?)”
In light of the incident, Mr Tamboli has decided that officers need to be sensitised about issues concerning identities. “We cannot afford to hurt the sentiments of fellow citizens in this manner, especially uniformed policemen.”
Mr Tamboli, in his own zone, has decided to initiate measures, which will sensitise policemen, especially concerning the Northeastern people. “Though the idea is in germination stage, it is going to be completely departmental. We will include it as part of our normal daily orders, record it in the daily minutes of meetings, so that officers are sensitised at every stage and thus ensure that such hurtful incidents
are not repeated in the future,” he said.
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