‘Raj deserved a much better farewell’

‘Raj deserved a much better farewell’
Deccan Herald

A day after rioters took over Bangalore, Bangaloreans, from retired police officials to IT honchos to film-makers, are yet to come to terms with Thursday’s “shameful” developments.

Mr N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman of Infosys Technologies, said “what happened yesterday was really sad for Karnataka”.

“Rajkumar was an extraordinary person who wanted the best for Kannada cinema and culture. This is not the way we should have paid our tributes to him. He deserved a much better farewell,” he said.

“Yesterday’s violence is a blot on Bangalore’s image. The public perception of the City is bound to change. The unruly behaviour of mobs is making Bangaloreans feel insecure,” said Kannada writer Baraguru Ramachandrappa.

“Rajkumar deserved an honourable funeral, the fans made a mockery of it. Even his family members had to plead with them to give their final farewell. There was nothing right in the last rites,” said producer-actor C R Simha.

Police blamed

Several fingers were pointed at the police department, for “poor planning” and “soft handling of the issue”.

Retired senior police officials including M D Singh, C Dinakar and H T Sangliana minced no words when they accused the law-keepers of “lack of proactive action”.

“Through past experience, the police should have realised that anything related to Rajkumar could spark off unpredictable reactions. There was no contingency plan made in anticipation of violence. The police should have planned Rajkumar’s cremation, in coordination with family members, the film industry and the government. Ambiguity regarding Rajkumar’s cremation added fuel to the fire,” said M D Singh.

Meanwhile, Mr Dinakar believed that public sentiments had no place when the law and order situation was at stake.

“The police should have taken care of the rowdy elements rather than giving them a long rope,” said Mr Dinakar, who was heading the State police when riots broke out following Rajkumar’s abduction in 2000.

Mr Sangliana pointed out that the police should have arranged for reinforcement of personnel from neighbouring districts.

“Saying that there were not enough forces is a bad excuse,” he said.

“Even the response from the fire department was very slow,” he added.