Police stations in the dark for Divali

However, several po-licemen yesterday expressed dissatisfaction with the CoP’s refusal to grant permission. Newsday learnt that at least six police stations in the Southern and South-western Divisions had applied for permission to stage Divali programmes outside the stations.

The stations are — Gasparillo, St Margaret’s, Siparia, Penal, Barrack-pore and Princes Town.

Police sources told Newsday that Paul ex-pressed the view that the celebrations would disrupt the normal routine of operations at the stations. However, a senior policeman complained to Newsday that Divali celebrations were held outside the stations last year.

A senior policeman told Newsday yesterday that those officers who had planned to stage the celebrations would be off duty.

The policeman said, "If he is debarring us from holding Divali celebrations, then this should also apply to other celebrations, including Christmas. It has to be across the board." He added that several police officers were disappointed be-cause they had been anxious about staging Divali celebrations for the communities in the respective districts.

"Many of the programmes had to be cancelled," he added.

When contacted yesterday, Paul told Newsday he was very busy and could not be frequently disturbed by the media. He referred Newsday to the Police Service Communi-cation’s Unit.