Bengaluru: While many parts of the country, including Mangaluru city, witnessed violent anti-CAA protests, the scene in Bengaluru was quite different. While there were several protests in the city, the crowd management strategy employed by the city police was markedly different.
Bengaluru police, on Friday, urged the residents to avoid sharing unverified information. They were even seen speaking to the protesters politely and reasoning with them, instead of acting violently like seen in other parts of the country.
Several videos of the protests in Bengaluru have gone viral on social media. In one video, DCP Chetan Singh Rathore is seen explaining the consequences of a violent protest. When the crowd gathered near the Town Hall refused to disperse, he began to sing the national anthem to pacify them, soon after which the protesters dispersed.
#WATCH Karnataka: DCP of Bengaluru(Central),Chetan Singh Rathore sings national anthem along with protesters present at the Town Hall in Bengaluru, when they were refusing to vacate the place. Protesters left peacefully after the national anthem was sung. #CitizenshipAmendmentAct pic.twitter.com/DLYsOw3UTP
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2019
In another video, police inspector Tanveer Ahmed can be seen firmly, yet politely explaining to a slightly elderly woman not to instigate the people into staging the protest and asked her to leave. “Don’t spoil the careers of the students,” he can be heard telling the woman while asking her to leave the premises.
Yet another video shows a police officer taking the time and the efforts to explain to the protesters what the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 is actually all about.
The police, however, did not hesitate to detain unruly protesters as and when needed in order to maintain law and order.
Even the detained protesters were looked after by the cops. Reports have stated that Koramangala police took detained protesters to a wedding hall and fed them tomato rice as it was lunch hour and they did not want the people to go hungry.
Netizens went gaga over the viral videos showing the Bengaluru police’s civility in treating the protesters and began showering them with praises for their protest management style.
Twitter user @adcajay wrote: “Keeping calm and making the people understand and engaging dialogue with the people. He has showed how actually police should behave and handle the situation and solve it.”
Another user @IHarjeetR tweeted: “Hey @BlrCityPolice Salute to you Incredible crowd management! Take a Bow.”
Twitter user @theskindoctor13, however, pointed out, “Incredibly heartwarming. But the problem is that this incident will be highlighted as the “face of peaceful protests” to cover up for the stoning, assault and lyn**ing attempts of security forces by vi**nt mob at other places.”
Section 144 of the CrPC is still in force in Bengaluru. A heavy police presence remains in order to monitor and maintain the law and order situation.
