Police officers can’t be treated like specimens in a lab experiment

hurry. It has approached the Supreme Court for exemption against a judicial order that prohibits the appointment of acting DGPS. It has cited the precarious law and order situation in the state as a reason for why the post cannot remain empty till the final appointment goes through the UPSC panel. Fair enough. But then why oust Vaid till the new, permanent appointee was in place? This heavy handed response — in the absence of any publicly shared information or context — not just undermines Vaid; it will undermine the very post itself, whether Shiv Sahai or Dilbagh Singh or someone else is the new incumbent.

Read together with the appointment of Satypal Malik as Governor and the other changes in the top bureaucracy, it is clear that the Modi government wants its own team in place before the October civil polls. Remember the state’s assembly is not yet dissolved and there is every chance of a new political formation being formed with the BJP in alliance with a new political grouping.

But experimenting with the security apparatus in the worst phase of the 27-yearold turmoil is not something Kashmir can afford. Policemen especially cannot be moved around like specimens in a laboratory experiment.

Barkha Dutt is an awardwinning journalist and author The views expressed are personal

WASEEM ANDRABI/HT A file photo of former Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Shesh Paul Vaid (centre) during a ceremony in Srinagar. It is believed that one of the controversies that cost Vaid his job was the swap deal the police were compelled to make