UNREST IN THE RANKS
POLICE PROTEST Cops surround own HQ, seek action against lawyers for attacks near Tis Hazari, Saket courts ACTION PROMISED Thousands wave banners, march to India Gate; stir ends at 8pm after key demands are met
NEW DELHI: Thousands of police personnel protested outside the Delhi Police headquarters on Tuesday in an unprecedented public demonstration of anger over an assault on members of the force by lawyers after a violent clash on the weekend, and to express their resentment at senior officers for not rising to their support.
The protest, which began at 8am at an arterial road adjacent to the HQ, was called off at 8pm after repeated assurances by top officials, including police commissioner Amulya Patnaik, that their key demands related to the assault by lawyers were being met. Wearing black armbands and waving placards, the policemen and women, of the rank of constable, head constable, assistant sub-inspector, sub-inspector and inspector, marched on their HQ, located in the Income Tax Office (ITO) area in central Delhi, where the number of protesters eventually swelled to about 3,000, according to eyewitness accounts.
During the day, they did not heed repeated appeals by the police commissioner to go back to work, staying on at the venue until after dusk, dispersing only at 8pm. Some of the protesters were accompanied by their families. As night fell, scores marched on to India Gate, the World War I memorial in the city’s central vista.
“We have to behave like a disciplined force. The government and the people expect us to uphold the law, it is our big responsibility. I urge you to resume duty,” Patnaik told the protesting police personnel, some of whom were in their uniforms sans their nameplates. “The last few days have been testing for us. A judicial inquiry is underway and I request you to have faith in the process.”
Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Eish Singhal assured the protesting police personnel that their concerns would be addressed. “Your concerns and anger have been conveyed to senior officials and I want to assure you that your protest here will not be unsuccessful,” Singhal said.
The appeals did not immediately work as the crowd of protesters, some of whom chanted “justice, justice”, built up steadily, disrupting traffic in the normally congested ITO area. Political parties, including Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress, waded into the controversy, criticising Delhi Police, which reports to the central government.
“How is the Josh? Low, Sir,” read the slogan on one placard, a take-off on a dialogue in the movie Uri, based on the 2016 surgical strikes carried out by Indian soldiers across the Line of Control in Pakistan. The answer in the movie is “high, sir.”
“We are human in police uniforms”, “We are not punching bags” and “Protectors Need Protection,” read some of the other slogans.
Delhi’s lieutenant governor (L-G) Anil Baijal reviewed the situation in the wake of the unprecedented protest and said it was imperative to ensure justice is done impartially in the entire matter. Baijal observed that advocates and police were “important pillars of the criminal justice system” and they should work in harmony, according to a statement.
The protest came three days after a dispute over a lawyer parking his car near the police lock-up in Tis Hazari court complex in north Delhi turned into a violent clash between the police and lawyers.
NEW DELHI: At the protest outside the Delhi Police old headquarters on Tuesday, one of the protesters came with a placard that came with the images of two retired IPS officers: former Delhi special commissioners Kiran Bedi (now Puducherry Lieutenant Governor) and Deepak Mishra.
By afternoon, there were many more placards with the same images. The messages on them ranged from calling these former officers back to the force and others accusing the incumbent commissioner, Amulya Patnaik, for not standing by them.
“How can the commissioner explain not registering an FIR when there is such a clear video of a lawyer beating up a policeman,” said Sarbesh Kumar, a constable who was among the agitators.
But the violent clash with the lawyers at Tis Hazari court on Saturday, and the subsequent attacks on policemen, wasn’t the first such incident in the recent past.
In June, a tempo driver allegedly attacked a group of policemen with a sword in Mukherjee Nagar before they overpowered and assaulted him in full public view. Following the incident, two constables were dismissed from the service.
On Tuesday, protesting police personnel frequently invoked that incident.
“Our colleagues stopped the sword-wielding man, but they lost their job because the commissioner was under political pressure. It killed our morale,” said Sandeep Tomar, a head constable.
Others referred to a year-old confrontation between BJP’s Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari and a DCP Atul Kumar Thakur during the inauguration of the Signature Bridge.
“No action was taken against a politician despite visuals of an officer getting assaulted in public. We realised that if the commissioner couldn’t stand by an IPS officer, lesser officers like us didn’t have much hope from him,” said constable Sarbesh Kumar.
Delhi BJP had then tweeted saying that during the inauguration, Tiwari was standing quietly when he was attacked by AAP MLAs.
On Tuesday, the protesting policemen and women initially limited their criticism of Patnaik to some isolated posters, talking about him only in whispers.
But that changed when the commissioner addressed them around 12.45 pm.
They booed him and drowned his appeals in slogans, forcing him to walk back into the police headquarters.
Thereafter, there was little attempt to hide their criticism.
“Such a day wouldn’t have arrived had the police commissioner taken a stand when our colleagues were attacked by a sword in Mukherjee Nagar,” said a protesting policeman during a speech.
“Our colleagues were beaten and injured, but the commissioner doesn’t even enquire about them,” said another policeman, referring to Saturday incident at the Tis Hazari court complex when lawyers allegedly assaulted police. “We are suspended or dismissed over the smallest of issues, without a proper enquiry.”