By Toki Blah
The Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills (DC EKH) District recently imposed Section 144 CrPC on the whole of Shillong City and also stated that all shops in the city be closed by 10 pm every night until further orders. To say that the above order has been well received by one and all would be the understatement of this century. In fact, the above order forms the subject of controversial debates and discussions all over town. Many see it as an uncalled for curfew. In attempting to trace the cause for such an order it appears the nefarious activities of delinquents, antisocial elements and criminals increase with the progress of the night, much to the discomfort and distress of other innocent citizens of this city. Once darkness falls one then starts to find groups of bikers or youths in cars parked in dark and lonely places of a locality where the occupants quench themselves of their thirst for drinks and other intoxicants. It has been proved time and again that it is under such circumstances that trouble begins.
Quarrels among themselves or with innocent passers-by begin which then break up into fisticuffs and gang fights, which in some instances have even led to fatalities. Law and order breaks down; the innocent especially women and children are affected and in the process the locality and the city itself attains a bad reputation. Having said that I fail to see the effectiveness of opening or closing of shops towards better social interaction. So if not open shops in the night then from where and how do these social ailments begin? Lets try to analyze and break down the root cause of this puzzle .
Firstly lets accept that it’s not shops whether they open or shut that cause these problems. These issues come about because of other reasons. In most localities clandestine and surreptitious drinking by gangs under the cover of darkness is the main cause. Local goondas of a locality identify ideal places or roadside corners for them and their friends to make merry in the night. Visit some localities and when you come to a roadside spot scattered with empty liquor bottles, you will instantly know what I am talking about. It’s wrong to also claim that only outsiders come and cause trouble in a locality . Its local goondas with their friends from outside who are the root cause.
So the next natural question that pops up is why aren’t such places patrolled by the police and the potential trouble makers shooed away? This doesn’t happen because most Dorbars abhor police patrolling within their respective areas of jurisdiction. “Her syrngiew ki kynthei ki khynnah lada rung u pulit shapoh dong” (The entry of police into the shnong will scare the daylights out of the women and children). Why and how this could happen has never received a reasonable answer. But the answer is not hard to find. It’s the local goondas of the locality and not the local women and children who are troubled and apprehensive of police patrolling inside shnongs. They are the ones who coerce the authority of the shnong in not allowing entry of police. Also in the past almost all the shnongs in Shillong hosted illegal hooch dens whose interest lay in not allowing any presence of the law near their moonshine shops. But times have now changed and they demand that we too keep up with the times.
If we want to preserve the tranquility, peace and the law and order in our shnongs and of Shillong, there is no other solution than regular patrolling by some authority especially at night. Some Dorbars do this on a regular basis but the sad thing is that all Dorbars are not the same. Many are rather lax about Dorbar patrols within their respective jurisdictions and remain indifferent to the gathering of trouble makers within their localities. Paradoxically both the Police and the Dorbars share a common goal – preservation of law and order plus discouragement of delinquents and anti-social elements. Why they fail to work together in cohesion towards this common good is a million dollar question that still remains unanswered.
I strictly believe that the time for Joint Community Policing; patrolling together of localities by both police and dorbar authorities working in tandem with each other and not against one another, is now urgently called for. Thanas can sort out the details with Dorbars under their jurisdiction. Today Meghalaya has a Chief Secretary for whom a lot of people have a lot of respect for. I leave it to his wisdom, if he is convinced of the above arguments to bring the Dorbars and the Police to work together towards the betterment of the citizens of this city. The least we can do is give Joint Community Policing a try.