BOMBAY: The Maharashtra government is planning to approach the Union defence ministry for an additional supply of weapons from the government armory where confiscated weapons are stored Legislators and the Corporators will be supplied with revolvers at concessional rates said a senior minister.

The murder of the Shiv Sena MLA Vithal Chavan and the near fatal mob attack on the PWP legislator Kisan Jadhav at Nanand near Latur on February 22 seems to have shaken the state home department out of its stupor. The chief minister Sudhakarrao Naik is believed to have asked the department to be more considerate towards the MLAs demand for arms licenses. A sizeable number of legislators cutting across party lines have voiced the need for revolvers. “It is difficult to cope with the tension (without one)” feels the Congress MLA and former minister Marzban Patrawala. Adds the BJP MLA Raj Purohit “You never know on which hit-list you would figure. Eight murders right outside his office in downtown Kalba Devi constituency has rattled him A revolver is a must he claims

The elected representatives are vulnerable to the dictates of the underworld. Several MLAs feel that they cannot carry out their routine duties like filing a complaint at the local police station against a hoodlum for fear of life. A memorandum to the civic authorities against an illegal slum could invite the wrath of the slumlord says Sudhir Joshi a prominent Sena MLC.

While several MLAs already possess arms licenses under the Arms Act many are still awaiting clearance from the arms and ammunition branch of the office of the police commissioner.

The Sena MLA Gajanan Kirtikar’s application was rejected last year he described himself as a farmer and he plans to plead his case before the minister of state for home Babanrao Pachpute the final authority in the matter.

Sena MLA Sabir Sheikh sought the chief ministers intervention last week to get a revolver from the state armory. The exorbitant prices are a major deterrent “Any ordinary revolver costs anywhere between Rs.55000 and Rs.70000” said a Congress MLA. The high price is mainly because of the official ban on the import of firearms. Patrawala wrote to the Union finance minister Manmohan Singh in July last year pleading for a review of the ban. “But the ministry has not even acknowledged my letter” he said. Even if the Center approves an additional quota from its armory most of the weapons are reported to be outdated and ineffective. Patrawala is pretty doubtful about the quality of the revolver he obtained last year. “It may backfire” he says with a chuckle.

Sources said a large number of Sena legislators had asked for an arms license. This can be attributed to the party’s growing dependence on the underworld as proved in the recent BMC elections. “But which party doesn’t hobnob with the underworld?” asks Pramod Navalkar leader of the opposition in the legislative Council. “The difference is only in degrees” he adds.

Many others take a more sober view. The veteran BJP MLA and former minister Hashu Advani feels there is no threat if an elected representative is motivated purely by the spirit of public service. “If MLAs are unsafe what about the ordinary citizens?” asks Premkumar Sharma senior BJP MLA from Khetwadi a sensitive neighborhood in South Bombay. Sharma is against security measures of any kind as it will alienate the citizens.

The deteriorating law and order situation in Bombay is cited as the prime reason for the mad scramble for arms. However political waters are getting murkier in the states heartland too.

Article extracted from this publication >> April 17, 1992