Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has urged police forces across the country not to behave in a brutal or rough manner with the people but to behave only in a civilized manner befitting the modern era.

The Home Minister was taking part in the silver-jubilee celebrations of the launch of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), a specialized wing of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which is meant to deal especially with riots and crowd-control situations.  Singh was the chief-guest at the celebrations held in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

“Police officers should display utmost patience and concern for the people while handling or faced with challenging situations such as protests, agitations, etc.  Likewise, it is for the Centre and the States to introduce novel techniques on how to handle such scenarios.  Psychological solutions to be used during emergency and aimed at changing the mind-set of the people involved in protests should be found.

“Security forces should always watch out for and guard against those who are out to destroy the sovereign fabric of the country and abet caste or religion-based clashes.  We are in the 21st century and it is high time the forces are trained to behave in a civilized manner with the people rather than projecting a tough, brutal image.  At times, though, the forces are compelled to use violence which should be limited.  We can achieve huge benefits by using minimal forces,” Singh concluded.

It may be observed that RAF, which functions directly under the control of the Union Home Ministry, operates across the country from Hyderabad, Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Aligarh, Coimbatore, Jamshedpur, Bhopal and Meerut.