Mumbai Police observes #AMomentOfSilenceForOurHeroes

A hoarding at Babulnath Junction in South Mumbai urged fellow Indians to remember those who sacrificed their lives for the country by observing a moment of silence on Twitter.

On the occasion of India's 67th Independence Day, Mumbai Police and Mumbai Traffic Police took their 'Safe Mumbai' initiative further on Twitter, supported by a billboard in the city.

As a part of the campaign, a hoarding at Babulnath junction in South Mumbai urged fellow Indians to remember those who sacrificed their lives for the country by observing a moment of silence on Twitter.

Conceptualised by Draftfcb Ulka, the campaign, with a novel twist, asked people to send a blank tweet with the hashtag #AMomentOfSilenceForOurHeroes as a mark of respect for the brave heroes.

In an endeavour to make Mumbai one of the safest cities in India, the Mumbai Traffic Police started an initiative called 'Safe Mumbai' way back in 1993. The project was aimed at spreading awareness about road safety among people. To give further impetus to this social initiative, a signature billboard spot was picked up at Babulnath Junction in South Mumbai. The billboard displays various creatives by Draftfcb Ulka around the theme of 'road safety'.

For the past 20 years, this billboard has achieved an iconic status with some of the most impactful and thought provoking messages on road-safety. Various campaigns created over the years have made motorists smile, sit up, take notice and buckle up/switch off their cell phones while driving, encouraging citizens to be responsible when they are on the road.

Speaking about the objective behind the campaign, Vivek Phansalkar, joint commissioner of police, Traffic, Mumbai, states, "We dedicate this Independence Day to our lost heroes. This is a brilliant initiative and we support it."

KS Chakravarthy (Chax), national creative director, Draftfcb Ulka, states, "I absolutely loved the idea the minute I saw it - it is simple, it asks for just a minute, and the novel idea of asking for a blank tweet as a symbolic 'minute's silence' will, we hope, help to make people pause and reflect - for much longer than a minute - how much the nation owes those who went before."

This is not the first time the Mumbai Police has used social media to connect with the citizens. In March, it had inaugurated the country's first 'Social Media Lab' to monitor the happenings on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The police termed it as an important step which will help keep an eye on issues being discussed among youth on the internet and to bridge the gap between the expectations of the public and delivery of police services.

Mumbai Police has been quite vocal on the media in terms of launching public service initiatives. In the same month, taking the theme of women's safety forward, it had launched a public service message which attempted to restore people's faith in the police force and also tackle the issue from a different angle.

The five-film campaign, that was conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather, directly tackled the issue of women who tolerate abuse or harassment because they are either afraid of the abusers or are uncomfortable reporting about it in a police station. It also addresses apprehensions about police insensitivity to the problem.