Jacob Punnoose. File photo/ManoramaKozhikode: Even as moral policing continues to be a blot on 'progressive' Kerala, former state police chief Jacob Punnoose spilled his guts at a public function that Kerala Police itself invented the now infamous moral policing in Kerala for the first time. He was presenting a paper on 'the challenges faced by policing in the modern times,' as part of the state conference of Kerala Police Officers' Association here.
It all began when it dawned on some police officers that the force had the obligation to safeguard moral justice along with the law of the land. When the police stopped moral policing, intolerant vigilante groups took over, the former DGP regretted.
It is a clear case of moral policing if individuals or groups begin to believe that they have the right to judge and control the beliefs and practices of others, if it went against their interests, Punnoose explained. Life becomes impossible when some people try to impose their beliefs and interests on others. It is a sign of intolerance. A democratic society can never allow this kind of dogma, he reiterated.
Speaking at the seminar, Police Complaints Authority (PCA) chairman Justice V.K. Mohanan, assured the police officers gathered at the function that the authority will never treat the police with vendetta.
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