Caste divisions add to security woes

By M H Ahssan

With the battle lines for the Election-2009 being drawn on caste lines, the police in the state are redesigning the entire security map. Against the largely accepted security manuals of previous elections where not more than 10-20 per cent of the total polling stations were considered sensitive, the new graphs are throwing an entirely new picture.

According to the new charts, the hyper-sensitive and sensitive villages could touch a record 60-70 per cent of the total polling areas in the state. This is, thanks to the expected division of electorate based on the caste lines. Police believe that the entry of Prajarajyam Party coupled with consolidation of Kamma and Reddy voters behind TDP and Congress respectively has changed the situation.

Earlier, the hyper-sensitive and sensitive areas were identified purely based on the faction and extremist violence reported in a particular village. According to sources, the police have re-jigged priorities in identifying the sensitive areas, taking the local caste factors into account.

The field officers have been asked to map each village and hamlet with the head count of electorate and their castes. “We are expecting that the elections could throw up keen fights, particularly with regard to the caste struggles in the villages,” a police official attached with graphing of the new charts told HNN.

According to him, faction and extremist-related violence have occupied fourth and fifth slots on the five-point agenda to prepare the security map.

Though not many incidents of riots or clashes between various caste groups were recorded in the past, the police are fearing caste reprisals in this elections. Previously, most of the clashes in the villages used to be branded as “political” in spite of the role of some caste groups.

“This time the division on caste lines is deep-rooted and highly sensitive to gauge,” confirmed an intelligence official. He observed that routine security bandobust near the polling stations and route parties might not be sufficient.

Sources told HNN that police are overhauling the security arrangements. More mobile parties are likely to be pressed into service around the villages to keep a close watch on the troublemakers. “We have told our cops to forget about the previous history of the candidates and elections. They have to be in tune with the latest intelligence inputs from every village. We are making pucca arrangements to ensure a fair polling,” explained a DIG-level officer. Sources indicated that most of the 13,000 villages in the state will be given the ‘sensitive’ tag till the completion of the elections.