Joykumar Back as the DGP :: The second innings
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 25, 2012 -

Not exactly a 'come back performance'. But significant nevertheless. A second innings is usually seen as an opportunity to finish what could not be achieved in the first and it would be interesting to see what Mr Yumnam Joykumar has up his sleeves now that he is back as the DG of the State police.

More importantly does the new DG have any unfinished task, a mission which he could not complete as the top cop in the State in his first innings, which lasted nearly five years ?

Ever since MPCC (I) president Mr Gaikhangam took over as the new Home Minister, he has made one thing clear and that is he is intent on revamping the image of the State police and make it more people friendly. Does the new DGP fit in the overall plans and priorities of the new Home Minister ?

As a man who has been the DGP for nearly five years, from March 16, 2007 till the time he was transferred as the Managing Director of Manipur Police Housing Corporation on January 5, 2012, Y Joykumar is perhaps best placed to oversee the internal cleansing of the police force.

The moot point however is whether he is willing to go the way or not. A tough call, no doubt about it, for cleansing the Police Department is not about taking up a broom and sweeping the stable, but about changing the thought process that has become synonymous with the men in khakis.

It is not so much about infusing a new process but rather about undoing the past, a past from which Mr Joykumar cannot easily snap the cord. Much before he was catapulted to the hot seat, Mr Joykumar talked at length about community policing, an idea which The Sangai Express had found appealing.

However this idea was condemned to the cold storage once the badge of DGP was stapled onto his uniform. A cruel irony, in a sort of a way.

The State police did not exactly cover itself in glory during the first innings of Mr Joykumar as the DGP. Nearly three years down the line and the ghost of the July 23, 2009, BT Road incident continues to haunt the image of the State police.

It was not a scene from a circus, but definitely cops on their fancy motor bikes, wielding lathis with the pillion rider standing and announcing pack up time as curfew hour came during the tense days after the July 23 BT Road killings, only went on to re-inforce the badge of arrogance worn by the cops.

The infamy of the State police was complete when a London based newspaper carried the photo and a story on Manipur. That arrogance had nothing to do with efficiency was highlighted numerous times, most prominently by the lethod attack at the official residence of the Chief Minister even as the State police was celebrating its raising day at the 1st MR banquet hall some years back.

That Mr Joykumar has returned amid the stated and hyped intention of Home Minister Gaikhangam to revamp the image of the State police should make innings number II interesting.

The shadow of the past will continue to hover over the present and is indicative of the future trend and for the DGP to make his fresh innings more significant there is the pressing need to go back to the past and undo the errors of judgement.

A fresh start, sans the past, is a misnomer.