Editorial
Policy on checking mobile phone crime
It must be limited to checking criminality only
THE government plans to have in place a policy designed to check mobile phone-related crimes. No one can deny that of late threats, intimidation and extortion through use of mobile phones have risen to quite an alarming degree. These crimes vary in nature but in the end leave those affected in various degrees of distress. In the first place, it is generally young women who are the targets of unsolicited calls, to a point where these calls turn into harassment. In the second, sometimes families are the recipients of calls that leave them in a state of agitation. In the third place (and this is the worst), individuals are often threatened over mobile phones and generally asked to pay the caller and his associates a toll, failing which those at the receiving end might be in trouble. In such instances, the callers take care to hide the numbers of the phones they are calling from.
We therefore fully agree that a policy should be there to check such crimes. However, there is also a caveat here. It is that such a policy and its enforcement must not do anything that will have a negative impact on the mobile phone industry as a whole. We cannot ignore the fact that over the years the mobile phone industry has become an important sector of the economy and has made remarkable contributions to the growth of business and commerce. The expansion of the industry, especially in the rural regions, has meant a boost for agricultural activities and nationwide trade. Moreover, mobile phones, by enabling people to have access to new information, have greatly helped the spread of education. In other words, mobile phones, being an integral part of modern technology, have changed positively the way we think and act. Therefore, we feel that a concern for security, for a check to crimes must not in any way be allowed to disturb the thriving industry the mobile phone sector has become.
With technology at its most advanced stage these days, it should not be a problem hunting down the elements behind mobile phone crimes. The law enforcers must go after these elements firmly as a first step toward checking such misuse of mobile phones. Finally, steps must also be there to identify those individuals or groups involved in giving out to others the names and numbers of mobile phone users, who then become victims of harassment.
Let the authorities go for the law swiftly but judiciously. Most important, though, is the way in which it will be applied. Unless the policy is backed up by an enforcement machinery, the whole idea will lose meaning. Let there be no misuse of it, though.
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