New Delhi, Nov. 11 (PTI): In the wake of a clash between Army and police personnel in Arunachal Pradesh’s Bomdila town, Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said both the institutions should respect each other as they are serving the nation.
In a Facebook post, Rijiju said the Army is country’s pride which secures “our motherland” and police are the pillar of internal security.
“We must respect both great institutions. Every individual and institution functions under a system governed by law... Let’s respect and strengthen each other,” he wrote.
The minister’s comments came in the wake of some soldiers allegedly vandalising the Bomdila police station, and assaulting police personnel and civilians last week.
During a visit to Arunachal Pradesh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Rijiju took stock of the situation arising out of the clashes between Army and police personnel.
“Our uniform people sacrifice their personal comfort and family for the nation...There are always elementary human errors which can be taken care of and the matter will be resolved.
I appeal everyone not to jump into the matter with loose comments without knowing the facts with prejudice mindset (sic),” he said.
Rijiju, who hails from the state, said the “spontaneous” decision of the defence minister to visit Bomdila, where she interacted with local people and district administration, has “generated a huge goodwill” among the residents.
Sitharaman met local people during a visit to Arunachal Pradesh to celebrate Diwali along with soldiers posted in the forward areas along the Sino-Indian border.
In a Twitter post, the Union minister of state for home said that due to “indecorous” acts at individual level, a “reprehensible” incident took place but the whole institutions can’t be dragged along.
“My constituency people are peace loving. But some outside elements are making hateful comments on social media without any factual knowledge,” he tweeted.
The Bomdila incident occurred when a group of soldiers allegedly misbehaved with civilians and police personnel at the Buddha Mahotsav celebrations last week, officials said.
Following this, the local station house officer went to the spot and two soldiers were brought to police station. After that some soldiers allegedly vandalised the Bomdila police station, assaulted police personnel and civilians, they said.
