Is a Sepoy or Sipahi same as the Constable or for that matter a Head Constable or Havaldar in the Army? The roles of Army and the Police Forces are well defined, as the former addresses external aggression , the latter handles the law and order within the country, however whenever the situation goes out of hand it is the Army that the nation turns to and Army on its part has never failed the nation barring 1962, where too the political leadership was more to blame.. Well the Armed Forces and the Police Forces may be donning the uniform alright, but I am sure we all know the colour of their uniforms distinguishes one from the other. But is the distinction just because of the colour of their uniform, which too has been usurped by the Central Police Forces by getting into the Combat uniform similar to those of the Indian Army. While it is understandable that organisations or individuals try and emulate their ideals and as Oscar Wilde said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” So the Police Forces went ahead and adopted the same set of Stars, Ashoka and Baton & Swords, flags for the cars and so on.
All this was generally looked at with some amusement by the men in OGs, not realising that slowly and gradually the distinction between the Armed Forces and the Police Forces was getting blurred not just in the minds of general public but also the media and even the powers that be. Moreover with both these forces joining hands in the counter insurgency operations in the Kashmir valley as also in the North East, some sort of acceptance of this new hierarchy was also gaining acceptance. Although the bulk of the work in the CI operations was still being done by the Army but the Police had to be kept in the loop as per the laws of the land.
Why am I referring to this fact today, well it is because, that is the crux of the issue of Indian Armed Forces personnel being meted out this step-motherly treatment by all and sundry in the Govt hierarchy. So much so that ill treatment of men in OGs has become quite a common scenario, as is evident in the recent shameful incident in Patiala, where a serving Colonel of the Army and his son were roughed up by 12 policemen. The fact is that the DG Police promising that action will be taken against the guilty can’t be taken at its face value as the FIR doesn’t mention the perpetrators and has been lodged by a Dhabawalla. The culprits are roaming around free, issuing threats to the victim’s family. The fact that the Colonel’s wife is the sister of a retired Lt Gen who has been the Corps Commander in Kashmir hasn’t changed a thing. The irony is that not one politician from any party has thought it fit to condemn the incident. Without getting into the details of the case, which are already in public domain, the frequency of occurrence of similar incidents from different parts of the country is definitely alarming. We have had similar incidents in the recent past in Odisha, Rajasthan and now even in Punjab, where the Army personnel have always been given their due respect by the people, as most families have someone or the other in the Army themselves and are aware of the sacrifices which these battle hardened men have to make.
The malaise is not these incidents, these are mere manifestations of the rapid decline of the status of the Armed Forces in general and more so vis-a-vis the police forces. The perks, privileges, allowances, terms of service, the powers that they wield, and the resultant status in the society has been so orchestrated over these years that today the Armed Forces are treated with disdain,
despite their professional excellence and being the last pillar of any democracy. The powers that be indulge in mere optics in the name of respecting this great institution but on ground they just simply ignore them. The situation is precarious and does not augur well for the future.
I think it is high time, this issue is addressed at the highest level, lest the last vestige of dignity is also snatched from us. Two Constables from Punjab Police have recently been commissioned into the Army, I just hope and pray they don’t regret their decision in days to come.