In a conflict between the defence personnel and the police of any state anywhere in the country, the former (defence personnel) are presumed to be right and the latter (the police) are presumed to be the “guilty”. The perception has been built over the years that the defence personnel observe strict discipline even in their day-to-day life. And that is correct to a large extent. Sadly, quite a contrarian opinion has been built against the police across the country. This is probably because during the British rule, the police were brutally ruthless towards their own countrymen.
However, it is not completely “black and white” as it is projected to be. Latest case being that of Patiala, Punjab, where a serving colonel and his son are alleged to have been beaten up by a group of about a dozen policemen. In reality, it was never a clash between the “army” and the “police” as it is being made to be. It was actually a “late night drunken brawl between two groups of strangers” who later turned out to be from the police and the army respectively.
There is a public outcry over the “high handedness” of the cops towards a “helpless” colonel and his son, although according to the eyewitnesses it was the young son of the colonel who picked up the fight by punching a police officer who was in his civvies. What happened afterwards is quite unacceptable as in the brawl, the colonel and his son were outnumbered by their rivals and brutally beaten up. It was all in the spur of the moment.
Later, it was made into a “clash” between the “army” and the “police”. While most of the ex-servicemen and serving personnel have come in support of their serving colleague, some of them have also expressed disagreement that a personal fight by one person, who happened to be an army officer, was being turned into an “army-police” clash.
The opposition parties got yet another axe, to grind against the government. They seized the moment, trying to “demonise” the entire police force. So much so some of these parties have termed Punjab as a “police state”. This is not to say that the police in Punjab are angelic. There are indeed many instances of police brutalities and high handedness, but to damn and demonise the entire police force for that will be unfair. Even the Patiala incident is unjustly being held against the police.
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It is true that our defence forces guard our borders and protect the country against the enemies. They lay down their lives for the unity and integrity of the country. But that does not diminish the role of the police, be it the Punjab Police or of any other state. The police personnel’s sacrifices are no less. They are engaged in a day-to-day fight. Theirs is equally a disciplined and dedicated life for the country. They maintain internal security. And they pay with their lives as well. The cumulative police casualties across the country for maintaining law and order and ensuring internal security will definitely be much more than the defence personnel.
In the case of Punjab Police, their job is relatively tougher than those in the rest of the country, barring the Naxal-hit states. Punjab Police have borne the brunt of fighting terrorism in the state. Hundreds of cops have sacrificed their lives for the unity and integrity of the country. Many of them even lost their family members, including children as terrorists targeted their families. The entire police force always stood like a rock against terrorism. This is a distinguished and unique achievement for the state police force anywhere in the country that it eliminated terrorism.
Punjab being the border state is always confronted by multiple challenges. Drug smuggling and gangster-culture is another challenge the Punjab Police is confronted with, besides, maintaining the day-to-day law order in the state. The Punjab Police are believed to be one of the most overworked and overloaded police forces in the country. But once they are assigned a task, big or small, they complete it with perfection, without much reward.
There are instances of abuse of power, but these are rare and are not uncommon in the police force. But the police personnel have faced the long arm of law. A number of Punjab Police personnel are still facing trials in various cases even after three decades of retirement. Some have even been imprisoned for life. But to suggest that the entire force abuses power is being grossly unfair to them.
Let us not judge them on presumptive assumptions. Punjab Police are not necessarily always on the wrong side of the law. They may be sometimes, but that is rare. They deserve a fair hearing and not the instant summary trial, like “mob lynching”.
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