Sheila slams Delhi police

At a Women's Day function, the Chief Minister spoke about the city's deteriorating law and order situation in the presence of the Police Commissioner

Over the past few days Delhi police has been waxing eloquent about the declining crime rate in the Capital. On Tuesday Police Commissioner BK Gupta had to face the heat when at a ceremony marking International Women's Day Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit expressed concern over the increasing number of cases of crime against women in the city.


We care: Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and Women and Child Development
Minister Kiran Walia consoling a woman during the celebration of International
Women's Day at Delhi Secretariat. Pic/Subhash Barolia

"It is a matter of shame that women do not feel secure in the Capital of the country," Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said in the presence of the city's top cop.

"We invited you here to convey our great concern over the feeling of insecurity among the women in the city. Leaving aside the statistics, I want to ask you do we feel safe in the city?" Dikshit added.

Earlier in his speech, citing statistics, BK Gupta had claimed improvement in law and order situation and blamed lack of sensitivity among people for increasing cases of violence against women. "In cities like Kolkata, people react very strongly when they see a case of crime against women. Here there is no such reaction. We are very passive. Why don't people react when they see harassment of women? The incidents will come down if people intervene strongly," Gupta said.

Giving an account of steps taken by police, Gupta said all the new PCR vans will have one lady police officer while a women's desk has been set up in each police station across the city. He was addressing a gathering which included representatives of various leading NGOs, government officials and RWAs.

'Home' alone!
It's not often that P Chidambaram is caught on a sticky wicket. On Tuesday when the Home Minister was making a statement in Lok Sabha regarding the declining crime rate in the Capital, he wouldn't have expected a sensational murder in south Delhi to nullify his words.
"Crime against women was a serious issue but the number of incidents has witnessed a decline in the last few months," Chidambaram had said during Question Hour. Interestingly, he put the onus on the state governments saying they cannot shirk responsibility in implementing law and order to rein in such incidents.
Ironically, the Delhi police reports directly to the Home Ministry.

Blame game
Congress MP from west Delhiu00a0 Mahabal Mishra on Tuesday said the Home Ministry was directly responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in the Capital and demanded immediate steps for the safety of people, particularly women.
Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Mishra said Home Minister P Chidambaram should immediately convene a high-level meeting of public representatives of the Capital and summon the Police Commissioner to seek an explanation on the continued decline in the policing in the country's capital.
Terming the incident as shameful, Mishra said it reflects the total failure of the Delhi police, which directly comes under the Home Ministry. Asked if Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit was not responsible for the incident, he said the Chief Minister cannot be held responsible as maintaining law and order comes under the Union Home Ministry.