Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday, 16 February, suggested to the Delhi Police that they should be ready to deal with miscreants with “firm hands” and at the same time remain calm despite “provocation.” Delhi Police’s recent handling of the students in Jamia Millia Islamia university on 15 December 2019 has come under criticism after a video emerged showing the police lathi-charging students in a library.
Speaking at the 73rd Raising Day ceremony of the Delhi Police, Shah called the police force “one of the leading metropolitan police forces in the country.” Citing a speech of the India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1950, he said,
“Despite all the anger and provocation, Delhi Police should remain calm but it should also be ready to deal with the miscreants with firm hands to protect the people. I believe, on many occasions the Delhi Police has lived up to this advice of Sardar Patel.”Amit Shah, Union Home Minister
According to PTI, Shah also observed that while constructive criticism of the police is always welcome, it must also be kept in mind that more than 35,000 police personnel laid down their lives on the line of duty.
The home minister, in his speech, also paid homage to the five Delhi Police personnel who lost their lives in the 2001 terror attack at Parliament building, and to Inspector M C Sharma who died in the Batla House encounter with terrorists, reports PTI.
The event was also attended by Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal and his Puducherry counterpart Kiran Bedi, Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik, and top officials from other agencies.
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