Goons on highways

One news-item carried by this newspaper on Page 5 on Monday has attracted the attention of all right-thinking and law-abiding citizens of the state. The news-item says an Army personnel from Assam, who was on his way from his hometown Kampur (in Nagaon district) to the Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Aiport on Friday to catch a flight for his place of posting in Jammu and Kashmir, was attacked by a group of goons on the National Highway at Deusal near Jagiroad, following which he could not reach the airport at all. This is a highly condemnable incident, and while all law-abiding people should stand up against such goonda-giri on the highway, one should also hold the police responsible for such lawlessness on highways. This is not the first time that law-abiding and peace-loving people have come under attack from goons on highways. In June 2016, the wife of then Arunachal Pradesh Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa had faced a similar incident when she was travelling without any police pilot or escort with her. The incident incidentally had taken place at Sonapur when Rita Rajkhowa, the Governor’s wife, was travelling in a Raj Bhavan car from Guwahati to Itanagar with only one PSO accompanying her. Groups of people including women blocking roads and forcibly collecting money for organizing Bihu, puja and other functions is common sight across all over Assam and there has been hardly even a single instance when police or district administration has taken any action and arrested such lawbreakers. While keeping highways free is the bounden duty of the police and district administration, the Central government has provided funds to the state governments – including the Assam government – to purchase specialized vehicles for patrolling the national highways. While such patrol vehicles are hardly to be seen in Assam except one or two near Kaziranga National Park, those belonging to Meghalaya Police to keep highways free are often seen escorting ministers and VVIPs from Shillong to Guwahati. The Assam government must ensure that the highways – and for that matter all roads – in the state are safe and that there is regular patrolling to ensure that law-abiding citizens are not harassed as had happened to the Army personnel last Friday. The present Assam Director General of Police, who is known for having contributed immensely towards making the police people-friendly, must particularly look into this aspect.