Editorial
CA's exhortations on DCs and SPs
Need for neutrality can't be overemphasised
THERE is hardly any need to stress the importance of the role played by the deputy commissioners and the superintendents of police in any election -- more so in the forthcoming one. The nation, having waited for the last two years, cannot afford to have the election tainted through any inability of the DCs to play their due role as returning officers, or due to lapse in law and order function of the police.
It is worth reiterating the chief adviser's counsel that a free, fair, neutral and peaceful election needs efforts of all concerned at various stages. In this respect the two most important functions involve ensuring that a peaceful atmosphere prevails in which the voters can cast their ballots freely and without intimidation, and that there is no electoral malpractice before and during the day of voting.
One cannot say with certainty that we have seen the end of the evil influence of money and muscle power in politics. There is no guarantee that a few will not be predisposed towards using these to wean voters. Therefore, the tasks of the law enforcing agencies should not be restricted to only the day of voting but should start well before that, when electioneering starts in full swing. Reportedly, there may have been an influx of illegal arms in the country of late. Identifying and apprehending possessors of illegal weapons is a precondition of establishing fear-free environment. In the same vein, known criminals who normally become hyperactive at these times, must be neutralised.
Likewise, the civil administration must resist every pressure and intimidation from any quarters and report any violation of the electoral law to the election commission. Not only must the civil administration be non-partisan, it must be also be demonstratively so, or run the risk of having the election portrayed as a tainted one.
However, there is much that the government can also do to ensure smooth functioning of the civil administration and law enforcing agencies, particularly on the day of voting. There is need to define the role of various agencies tasked with law and order duties, and to have a coordinating authority through which these organisations would be employed and directed. Also, the DCs' request for being invested with magisterial powers, during the election, may be considered.
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