New Delhi: Appealing against any “intolerance” arising between communities, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today disapproved of politics in the name of religion and said that nobody should be discriminated against on the basis of their faith, caste or creed.
Singh said he was making the appeal on the eve of Dussehra following recent incidents that have sparked tensions among local communities in Dadri, Faridabad and Punjab.
“The news of intolerance that we are getting from electronic and print media is very worrisome. For us, these are issues of concern,” he said after inaugurating a new think tank on policing subjects here.
The Home Minister said that a day before Dusshera, he is appealing to all the citizens to remember that India is the only country that has propounded to the world the message of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam', or universal kinship.
“We should not be getting any complaints of intolerance on the basis of caste, creed, religion or sect,” he said. The Home Minister said there should be no “politics” in the name of religion or sect as he termed the latest incidents of violence in Faridabad (against a Dalit family) and in Punjab (over alleged desecration of a holy book) as “very unfortunate” and “condemnable”.
He said he has talked to the chief ministers of these states to ensure peace and law and order following these incidents.
Noting that today was national police commemoration day, Singh said that as the police and paramilitary martyrs are on this day remembered for their sacrifice, everybody should take a pledge to ensure peace in the country for which numerous police personnel have laid down their lives.
Meanwhile, talking about police issues, the Home Minister said there was a need to change the “perception” of Indian police.
It is said that when people see a policeman, they are gripped by a “sense of fear”, Rajnath averred, and added that that has to change so that they got a “sense of confidence” when they see a ‘Khaki' uniform.
The Home Minister remarked that many advisories sent by the Union Home Ministry for improving police forces and police reforms have “not been implemented” till now by many states.
“The intention of the bureaucratic and political leadership of police has to be good and then positive results will be seen in this regard,” Singh said while inaugurating the Indian Police Foundation and Indian Police Institute think tank here.
The think tank have been started by ex-IPS officers Prakash Singh and N Ramachandran.
