LET THE SOCIETY REMEMBER
October 21 is a sad and solemn but a proud day for the Indian Police. It was on this day in 1959 that ten gallant Indian policemen laid down their lives at the altar of duty in the Ladakh region. These policemen armed only with Rifles tried to repel Chinese troops, superior in number and armed with automatic weapons, grenades and mortars, from the Indian territory where they had intruded. The Indian policemen held their ground till they were overpowered. Ten of them lost their lives while nine were taken as prisoners. Since then, October 21 has been observed every year as a remembrance day to pay homage to police personnel killed in line of duty.
Since independence, 34,418 police personnel in India had sacrificed their lives in line of duty till 2017, which means an average annual loss of about 492 trained persons. This is a very heavy loss, not reported from elsewhere. Even in the United States of America, where the cops have to deal with armed criminals more often because the “dominant culture is pro-gun,” an average of only 64 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed per year during the period 1980–2014,Ireland was one of the most violent spots in Europe for a long time. However, only 300 Royal Armed Constabulary officers and men lost their lives over the 30 year period of violence. In the United Kingdom, about 4,000 police officers have been killed in the line of duty since 1792, when the first salaried constables went on duty. According to the UK Home Office estimates, 250 police officers have been fatally shot since 1945. Since 2010, 11 officers of the Metropolitan Police have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Such comparisons of police fatalities, of course, are not very relevant. The law and order situation differs from country to country, as does the system of police recruitment and training and the quality of police-public relations. However, when a country keeps on losing such a large number of its police personnel in line of duty every year as we have been doing, it should definitely cause more concern than it does.
The death of a police person at the hands of a criminal is much more than the sum of resources invested in his recruitment, training and maintenance. A policeman is a symbol of law and state authority and when he dies at the hands of a criminal or an insurgent, a part of our “system of law dies with him”.
Some element of professional risk is involved in a police job. However, the country cannot afford to keep on losing so many of its policemen every year. It is absolutely essential to ensure that the police units sent on hazardous duties are fully equipped and trained to deal effectively with situations which they may encounter on such assignments, without losing their men. The need to develop a high degree of self protection ability and awareness in police personnel is obvious.
One good development that has occurred over the last few decades must be recognised. The government’s response to the unfortunate misery resulting from a policeman’s death in the form of pensionery benefits, ex-gratia grants, financial and other help to the bereaved family has shown considerable improvement. However, the same can not be said of societal reaction, which, except in case of those killed on border duty, remains somewhat phlegmatic and unemotional. One reason for this is the public perception about the police. They have a fairly poor opinion about how the police work and behave. The public think of them as being rude, partial, corrupt and brutal. The poor image of the police leads to lack of sympathetic public response and cooperation and that in turn perpetuates that image. The vicious circle keeps on widening the existing chasm between the police and the community. This environment produces two results. One, it contributes to encouraging public assaults on policemen. Of late, the number of incidents, in which police personnel have been humiliated, abused and even beaten in public has shown significant increase. Two, genuine sacrifices made by police personnel while performing their duty do not receive adequate recognition.
To some extent, the police departments response to police deaths in line of duty is lacking in some ways, particularly in dealing with the trauma and other problems that the bereaved families undergo. Recently, Arifa Tausif, the wife of a J&K police constable, wrote a very moving account of the hurts and sufferings that the families of police personnel have to undergo in that state. She has written how most wives of policemen raise their children on their own like a single parent and have no one to support them with their husbands being away on duty. “The risks and dangers are increasing day by day. Every single casualty of a policeman elsewhere makes our life additionally insecure and worrisome” is what she wrote.
Though welfare branches exist in police organisations, there are no departmental guidelines to provide continued emotional support and counselling for long to the shattered families of police personnel killed in line of duty.
It is important to recognise that a routine, formal and cursory recognition of police sacrifices on October 21 is not enough. October 21 should not be regarded merely as an occasion for laying down wreaths by politicians and doing ceremonial parades in police lines. The ceremony must not remain confined to the police lines; it must become an occasion for remembrance by others in the society and also for the department to recognise that the needs of the families of police persons killed in line of duty extend beyond immediate financial help.
October 21 is a sad and solemn but a proud day for the Indian Police. It was on this day in 1959 that ten gallant Indian policemen laid down their lives at the altar of duty in the Ladakh region. These policemen armed only with Rifles tried to repel Chinese troops, superior in number and armed with automatic weapons, grenades and mortars, from the Indian territory where they had intruded. The Indian policemen held their ground till they were overpowered. Ten of them lost their lives while nine were taken as prisoners. Since then, October 21 has been observed every year as a remembrance day to pay homage to police personnel killed in line of duty.
Since independence, 34,418 police personnel in India had sacrificed their lives in line of duty till 2017, which means an average annual loss of about 492 trained persons. This is a very heavy loss, not reported from elsewhere. Even in the United States of America, where the cops have to deal with armed criminals more often because the “dominant culture is pro-gun,” an average of only 64 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed per year during the period 1980–2014,Ireland was one of the most violent spots in Europe for a long time. However, only 300 Royal Armed Constabulary officers and men lost their lives over the 30 year period of violence. In the United Kingdom, about 4,000 police officers have been killed in the line of duty since 1792, when the first salaried constables went on duty. According to the UK Home Office estimates, 250 police officers have been fatally shot since 1945. Since 2010, 11 officers of the Metropolitan Police have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Such comparisons of police fatalities, of course, are not very relevant. The law and order situation differs from country to country, as does the system of police recruitment and training and the quality of police-public relations. However, when a country keeps on losing such a large number of its police personnel in line of duty every year as we have been doing, it should definitely cause more concern than it does.
The death of a police person at the hands of a criminal is much more than the sum of resources invested in his recruitment, training and maintenance. A policeman is a symbol of law and state authority and when he dies at the hands of a criminal or an insurgent, a part of our “system of law dies with him”.
Some element of professional risk is involved in a police job. However, the country cannot afford to keep on losing so many of its policemen every year. It is absolutely essential to ensure that the police units sent on hazardous duties are fully equipped and trained to deal effectively with situations which they may encounter on such assignments, without losing their men. The need to develop a high degree of self protection ability and awareness in police personnel is obvious.
One good development that has occurred over the last few decades must be recognised. The government’s response to the unfortunate misery resulting from a policeman’s death in the form of pensionery benefits, ex-gratia grants, financial and other help to the bereaved family has shown considerable improvement. However, the same can not be said of societal reaction, which, except in case of those killed on border duty, remains somewhat phlegmatic and unemotional. One reason for this is the public perception about the police. They have a fairly poor opinion about how the police work and behave. The public think of them as being rude, partial, corrupt and brutal. The poor image of the police leads to lack of sympathetic public response and cooperation and that in turn perpetuates that image. The vicious circle keeps on widening the existing chasm between the police and the community. This environment produces two results. One, it contributes to encouraging public assaults on policemen. Of late, the number of incidents, in which police personnel have been humiliated, abused and even beaten in public has shown significant increase. Two, genuine sacrifices made by police personnel while performing their duty do not receive adequate recognition.
To some extent, the police departments response to police deaths in line of duty is lacking in some ways, particularly in dealing with the trauma and other problems that the bereaved families undergo. Recently, Arifa Tausif, the wife of a J&K police constable, wrote a very moving account of the hurts and sufferings that the families of police personnel have to undergo in that state. She has written how most wives of policemen raise their children on their own like a single parent and have no one to support them with their husbands being away on duty. “The risks and dangers are increasing day by day. Every single casualty of a policeman elsewhere makes our life additionally insecure and worrisome” is what she wrote.
Though welfare branches exist in police organisations, there are no departmental guidelines to provide continued emotional support and counselling for long to the shattered families of police personnel killed in line of duty.
It is important to recognise that a routine, formal and cursory recognition of police sacrifices on October 21 is not enough. October 21 should not be regarded merely as an occasion for laying down wreaths by politicians and doing ceremonial parades in police lines. The ceremony must not remain confined to the police lines; it must become an occasion for remembrance by others in the society and also for the department to recognise that the needs of the families of police persons killed in line of duty extend beyond immediate financial help.
