The Over Zealousness of the Mumbai Police

The Over Zealousness of the Mumbai Police, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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I have great respect for the Mumbai Police and yet they baffle me at times , our Police is the best but yet they startle me if they cannot recognize a photographer with a Press card from a criminal or a terrorist.By reading a persons body language the cops know the veracity or untruth of a person such is the astounding perception of the Mumbai Police .

And of 1 lac 37000 pictures posted on the Internet of Indian cultures feasts festivals I have always included the Police as part of the reality and the safety of our lives and when I am told not to shoot the food lane from JJ Bridge by the cops after showing them my Pres card it hits me in the guts as a person who is showcasing Ramzan and above all Hindu Muslim amity by shooting Hindu feasts as passionately as my own Muslim feasts.

I mean I am not even dressed like I normally do, yet I am treated like a leper by the Mumbai Police I have in most of my photo blogs of Lal Bagh Cha Raja that I shoot barefeet and my Ramzan fast shoot the cops and their task they do with exemplary skill and humanness..

And so requesting to shoot two or three frames of the food lane next to Minara Masjid and told rudely to move away gets on my goat as a law abiding citizen and blogger.


I understand security risk,but they can frisk me before allowing me to take a shot and they could talk to their Senior Police officer on their mobile but no such luck because I am a blogger not a photojournalist from Times of India DNA or Hindustan Times.


Most of the times the grassroot cop would be confused if I told him I was a Blogger .

Luckily at Bandra thanks to my visibility shooting the events here social political religious the cops all know me including Senior Inspector Mr Prakash George..

And I do all this without money without any sponsor I show you India that I have visited and shot or Mumbai its ethos its effervescence through street pictures .

I think photography too should be a compulsory subject to be taught to the police to make them feel what hardships we undergo to shoot pictures post it on the net.

I even offered my services free of charge to the BKC cyber cell if they ever needed my help regarding the Nigerian Scam I have written intensively with a collection of Scam letters all at my Flickr photo steam.


i think if the top cop reads this he should tell his juniors to give us some respect as we give them too on the roads.

And I have yet to meet a Mumbai Police officer who is a blogger as prolific as I am....

But this will happen when the cop is told there is a lot of difference between a blogger and a criminal..

So I shot this picture through my cab to register my protest as a citizen of India and as a Mumbaikar.

And I dont sell my pictures nor am I monetizing my Flickr stream through Google Ad Sense

And one day after another 50 years websites instead of charging us for blogging will pay us too including Google Search who survives on our content and images unfortunately i wont be alive at that time.

So I have made my two year old grand daughter Marziya Shakir the favorite of Bandra Police a photo blogger with her own Press Card ..

And I hope they dont stop her when she raises the lens to shoot her favorite Uncle Mr Prakash George Senior Inspector Bandra Police Station Hill Road.

And I shoot for people who have now migrated and yet miss Mumbai I post my pictures and let them revive their memories of this beloved city Mumbai the heart beat of India..
I share a message I received from a Facebook friend..


K H August 18 at 4:32pm

Salaam Alaikum Firoze Bhai,
Can you post some pictures of Ramadan, specially from Minara Masjid, Bhindi Bazaar and other part of Mumbai...
I am missing it...
Thank you