Force should be used responsibly when tackling violence: PC

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) Asking paramilitary forces to
tackle violence with "patience, tact and understanding",
Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday stressed that the
right to use force should be exercised responsibly.
In dealing with violence, he said, the state alone has
the right to use force.
"If the state uses it force, it has to be used
responsibly. The state cannot use excessive force. The state
cannot use force against unarmed and defenceless people. These
are the limitations that come with the right to use force,"
Chidambaram said while speaking at the Investiture ceremony of
the Border Security Force (BSF).
He requested all paramilitary forces to "remember that
while the state has power to use force, we must respect its
limitations because if we do not observe the limitations of
the force, the people will question the intentions and the
goals that have been set. The people will question the
legitimacy of the state to use force."
He said violence is not new to India or any other
country and that one must remember that "we live in a very
troubled world" and a "very volatile neighbourhood".
He said that within India there are groups who claim
to speak for people with different causes and regard violence
as legitimate.
"No one in the country other than the state has the
right to use force," he said and expressed confidence that the
country will be able to tackle terrorism.
He said the country has seen an 18-month period sans
any major terror attack, except the Pune blast, or any major
incident of communal violence. He said many modules of terror
have been busted during the period.
The Home Minister also awarded President's gallantry
and police medals to the BSF personnel and led the force and
those present in taking a pledge against violence and
terrorism on the occasion of Anti-Terrorism Day Friday. PTI