Shinde assures all help to restore peace in west UP

Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in Meerut on Sunday that he had been keeping a close watch on the scenario post riots in western Uttar Pradesh and assured the state of providing every possible assistance required to restore peace in troubled areas.

Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in Meerut on Sunday that he had been keeping a close watch on the scenario post riots in western Uttar Pradesh and assured the state of providing every possible assistance required to restore peace in troubled areas.

The Union minister was addressing mediapersons after inaugurating the RAF Academy of Public Order established at the CRPF centre in Vedvyaaspuri in Meerut.

Replying to a question about the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and incidents of communal riots, the Union minister condemned such incidents and said that he had been keeping a close watch on developments after the riots and had discussed the matter during his meeting with the state governor on Saturday.

He clarified that he was also in contact with the state chief minister and had assured him of every possible assistance required to restore peace.

Reacting to BJP leader Narendra Modi’s allegations that Indian Mujahideen and CBI would contest on behalf of the Congress in the coming elections, the home minister said, “They ( IM and CBI) can not contest without having membership of the party and if they have got membership, then it is not in my knowledge”.

He also rejected the report of Goldman Sachs in which the global organisation said that Indian corporate and investors were willing for a change. “ It is the report of a private institution and we value the opinion of Indian voters. Only Indian voters will come here to cast their votes”, he said citing the example of India Shining Campaign in 2004.

The Union minister also rejected the charges that the centre was misusing CBI. He said that “those who are not in power always level charges which are baseless and far from reality”. While mentioning the naxal problem, he said that effective measures had been taken to counter naxalism and infiltration on the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Earlier, addressing a gathering of police and CRPF officials, the Union minister appreciated the efforts of CRPF for establishing the Academy of Public Order with their own resources to impart special training and courses for crowd management, riots control, public order management, media management, natural calamity management. law and human rights and primary health treatment.

The academy will train jawans and officials about use of non- lethal weapons in controlling violence in troubled areas.

The Union minister emphasised on the need of taking care of children and women during operations in insurgency or troubled areas and also insisted on providing an overall development training to the jawans and officials so that they could work effectively even in odd conditions.

Describing the jawans and officials of CRPF and other forces as ambassadors of peace, he lauded the force for having a clean ‘ human rights protection record’ and said that they must also act as friends of the people.

CRPF director general Dileep Trivedi welcomed the home minister and others and briefed the gathering about the highlights of the newly established academy. He put forward the need of additional battalions of the RAF which was immediately accepted by the minister “ You send me the proposal and I will accept it”, said the home minister.

Fefence advisor K Vijay Kumar also briefed the gathering about the concept of the academy and how it could be useful for jawans , officials and the people. The home minister along with MP Rajendra Agarwal, DG, defence advisor and IG CRPF unveiled the logo of the academy.

Chopper gets stuck
The helicopter carrying Shinde landed on wet ground in Meerut following which its wheels got stuck in the mud.

Shinde was not hurt in the incident and went on to attend the inauguration function.

“The wheels dug in the wet ground but nothing happened. The minister was safe and the chopper flew him back to Delhi,” a senior CRPF official said.