Emile Borel, a famous French mathematician in the first half of the 20th century, had propounded the Infinite Monkey Theorem which stated that if a monkey is given a typewriter and allowed to pound away on its keys for an indefinite amount of time it would, sooner or later, produce the complete works of Shakespeare. Something similar holds true for the award of medals to policemen in India: if a police official serves long enough and rises high enough in the hierarchy, he would be festooned with more medals than Michael Phelps by the time he retires. Believe me, dear reader, I am not joking: I have yet to meet a retired IPS officer who has not received at least a couple of medals, regardless of the quality of the service rendered by him. As the holy Bible says: Ask and you shall receive. In the police, one doesn't even have to ask, one will get it in the fullness of time just so that the tradition of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" remains embedded in the force's esprit de corps. (We indulge in the same game in the IAS, by the way, but we play for higher stakes, like the Apex scale, Padma Bhushans and reemployment as "Advisors").
For our friendly neighbourhood cops there is a whole buffet of medals to choose from- President's Medal for Gallantry, President's Medal for Distinguished Service, Medal for Meritorious Service, Indian Police Medal, Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak, Sewa Padak, Parakram Padak, etc. At this year's Republic Day parade 1132 personnel were awarded the Gallantry medal and 102 the medal for Distinguished Service. Given the choice of medals and the numbers selected for the honour, one has to be a real wet sock or Keystone cop not to bag a medal or two before hanging up one's holster.
This is not to say that all the medals awarded are contrived or undeserved; given the genuine challenges of law and order in this chaotic country, the dangers the police face can be real at times. I know of many outstanding police officers who fully deserved their decorations. For instance: a lady ASI in Rampur, Himachal Pradesh, one Ranjana Sharma has been recommended for the Distinguished Service medal for tracing 50 missing children and restoring them to their families. Such incidents and genuine appreciation warm the cockles of one's heart. But unfortunately this is not always the case: given the way our system works, the puzzling fact that it is usually the senior officers who bag the awards and not the chaps in the bunkers, as it were, and the vague criteria adopted, these awards appear to have become just another perk of service, another suffix to the name and a by-line in one's biodata. They do not inspire any genuine respect or admiration from the general public. And the most recent reported recommendation for the awards only confirms this suspicion.
Earlier this year newspapers reported that the Haryana government had recommended the award of Gallantry Medals for six police officers for exceptional courage and gallantry in handling-hold your breath- the farmers' protests! If you will recollect, these were the farmers marching to Delhi in protest against the four farm bills; they were unarmed, did not damage any public or private property, did not indulge in any violence. The worst they did was to squat on the roads when stopped by the police. As per press reports at the time, it was even alleged that the Haryana police used unwarranted force on them and had even opened fire, killing at least one person.
So, what was the gallantry displayed by these four officers? Against innocent farmers who were neither criminals, naxalites, terrorists, insurgents, revolutionaries or any other species that threaten violence against the state? Gallantry means either bravery on a battlefield or courtesy/ chivalry towards women. Since it is the Haryana police we are talking about here, we can dismiss that second definition out of hand and concern ourselves only with the first. So, where is the bravery in using water canons, lathis, tear gas and even a live bullet or two on your own citizens, unarmed protestors (which included women, by the way)? And when was the Delhi- Chandigarh National Highway or the Shambhu border declared a battlefield? Did it ever occur to the dinosaurs in the Haryana secretariat that the recommendations only further stigmatise the farmers and add even more insult to the injuries inflicted on them, by equating them with enemies of the state ? Is this a serious proposal or a caricature of the whole system of medals and awards? Fortunately, the Home Ministry has not yet approved the recommendations and has raised some queries. A PIL has also been filed against these recommendations. One can only wish, and hope, that the proposal is incinerated at the earliest.
As I said before, police medals (unlike the Defence forces awards) don't inspire much respect among the general public. Atrocious and ill conceived proposals like the instant one can only make a further mockery of the entire system and devalue the awards given to the few officers who actually deserve them.
Must be true for police. But it's even more rampant in Armed forces. Distinguished service awards like AVSM, PVSM, VSM are now almost part and parcel of higher rank package. Unlike police these awards are appended to your name. They also mean monetary awards by state governments. Just check the honours of Sam Manekshaw and earlier Generals and compare with oast 3 chiefs and below to get perspective
ReplyDeleteOh!That's why Shambu was a battlefield.
ReplyDeleteThis is an analytical example of the fuctioning of the bureacracy.In present century Goveranance of our country, "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" , is the dominating principle. Alvin Toffler in his book Future Shock wrote about Adhocracy I.e about specialisation of skills for organisational needs. We are still carrying the burden of obsolete system of administration.
ReplyDeleteFarmers! We have seen how these guys tried to kill police at lal Qila. These guys are no farmers but terrorists. Most dangerous
ReplyDeleteHow true, and how sad. But I observe that at least one reader thinks otherwise, that the farmers at the Red Fort were dangerous terrorists!
ReplyDeleteIndian governance has, from inception, been rather arbitrary in its conferral of honours upon citizens. The oversight and examination of such recognition appears benign, structured to placate those in power, with a reluctance to introduce any degree of stringency in the evaluative system. The selection of the Bharat Ratna is at the forefront of this unconvincing process, one that has seemed profligate in some of its distributions. None more than in this election year, when as many as 5 individuals were bestowed with the nation’s highest honour, a number unprecedented that diminishes its prestige. This is an unwholesome departure from the practice of rigorous assessment and thrift when culling potential awardees. If the criteria for the highest award of the land can be stretched, then the procedures involved in identifying lesser honours will also get sheared.
ReplyDeleteIt is therefore unsurprising that the constabulary, positioned arguably at the lowest rung of governance and perhaps the most beleaguered, mirrors those above itself.
True
DeleteThe article was nice barring for the farmers point. I hope we do not see an article on Vinesh Phogats victim card now
ReplyDeleteIt is ludicrous to think that those who swamped the Red Fort and chased policemen away were terrorists, not farmers storming in from Punjab. Is the nation’s law enforcement so feeble as to run away from those identified as extremists? The truth is that the police were instructed to resist retaliation by higher powers because the intruders were identified as real farmers who had marched their way into Delhi. The violence witnessed on the ramparts of the Red Fort was no more than a spontaneous outburst of pent up frustrations of the hapless agrarians, who had overcome immense obstacles to reach their destination. It was commendable that the Delhi Police observed restraint, than responded to the outpouring with batons and bullets. Does anybody believe that the police had permitted terrorists to enter the city by laying out road routes for them days before their arrival? And upon being attacked, they preferred to flee by jumping into the dry moat that perimeters the Red Fort?! Those alleging such cowardice by the police force perhaps have no idea how the Mumbai Police reacted to the real terrorists in November of 2011. They fought them with obsolete rifles and took assault bullets from 6 feet into their chests, but stood their ground. There is no doubt that the Delhi Police would have responded similarly had those mud-stained Sardars in dishevelled kurtas and pyjamas been real terrorists.
ReplyDeleteThose with a differing vision must cease to get deluded and snared in an imaginary pogrom by spinning such meaningless yarns. It distorts the truth of what really happened - an exhibition of non-lethal desperation from a community duty-bound to fight for its livelihood.
This passage may appear quite opposite to the content of the blog, but a closer reading may convey that it complements it. It serves to represent the farmers in their true persona as tillers of the fields, not mindless radicals as they have been accused. It also tries to convey that those among the police force who may have appeared cowardly by retreating during their attack are perhaps worthy of a medal for sacrificing their honour at the altar of a greater purpose.
I am yet to understand why a certain police officer is mentioned in newspapers as " encounter expert". All that happens in an encounter ,as shown in Indian cinemas, is that the under trial is transported in a police vehicle when midway through he is freed and allowed to escape and the: "Expert" then shoots him down from behind!
ReplyDelete