They write to 4 police chiefs in MMR stressing the need for educating the masses about the importance of testing and quarantine, also ask for punishment for cops harassing the poor
Cops interact with a biker and his pillion at JVLR, Jogeshwari West, on Thursday. Pic/Sameer Markande
Social activists and civil society organisations from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region have urged four police commissioners to ensure that cops do not use force while enforcing COVID curbs.
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In a letter to police chief of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar, the petitioners have underscored the “anxiety and fear among the vulnerable communities, particularly the homeless, migrant and informal workers, daily wage earners, sex workers, domestic workers, and other marginalised groups” in the MMR.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale has already told his team to go easy on the public saying they might find it tough to cope with the second lockdown. The letter says there have been many altercations between slum dwellers and the police and that homeless people are being evicted from public spaces and asked to go back to villages. “In industrial areas, the police are forcefully shutting down small manufacturing units despite the Break the Chain guidelines released on April 5 allowing these facilities to operate during the day,” read the letter.
The activists have accused the police of high-handedness and charging hawkers, shopkeepers and others using public spaces for their livelihoods Rs 500-1,000 per day to allow them to stay open despite the guidelines giving them permission to do so.
The letter also calls for strict punishment of cops found harassing the poor.
Advocate Lara Jesani, one of the signatories, said the police risk their own health as they enforce the new guidelines, but intimidation is not the right way, legally or otherwise. “The police need to be humane...show empathy instead of resorting to any action. Any plan to contain the pandemic will work only by taking people in confidence and inciting their cooperation.” The activists have suggested collaboration with community leaders for effective communication.
Bilal Khan of the Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao movement said: “Domestic helps going to work are asked for showing proof of work. We all know that whether domestic helps or any other worker employed informally neither get any contract of their employment nor work id. So the authorities need to understand this.” Khan said the relief package announced by the government is inadequate as far as the migrant and daily wage workers are concerned.
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