Cops come knocking atowndoor
Protest of about a dozen personnel swells to 3,000 by afternoon; ends after several promises
NEW DELHI: In what many in the city police said was a first, around 3,000 police personnel and their families gathered outside the old police headquarters building at ITO on Tuesday and blocked the arterial Indraprashta Marg for around 11 hours.
They were protesting an alleged attack on them by lawyers at local courts, “unfavourable” orders from the high court in the incident, and the “lack of support” from senior police officers.
It began as a slogan-free agitation by a few dozen police personnel on Tuesday morning, but turned into a full-blown protest. They took turns to make fiery speeches in which they mocked police commissioner Amulya Patnaik and narrated the humiliations they had suffered in their professional lives.
Some had no fear of reprimand. As one policeman, constable (3rd Batallion) Sarbesh Kumar, put it: “If I am identified and punished for protesting, it is better than being punished for no mistake as it often happens.”
While some of the demands such as withdrawing security to judges and from the courts did not resonate with many of those gathered there, others like forming a union and an “enquiry before action” against them found a common voice.
The protest which began at 9am was called off at 8pm after they were informed that some of their demands — filing a review petition in the Delhi High Court against its Sunday order on the
Tis Hazari clash, medical assistance to the injured personnel and a minimum of ₹25,000 compensation to them — had been met.
Till then, repeated requests from senior police officers to call off the protest evoked strong reactions and refusal, forcing authorities to look for other solutions since the crowd appeared to be without a leader. Even the police commissioner tried and failed in the afternoon.
“The Delhi Police is a disciplined force and our North District had handled the case (Tis Hazari clash) well. I request you all to return to your duty points,” Patnaik had said, assuring them that he would work in their interests. “Ye hamaare liye apeksha, pratishtha and pariksha ka samay hai (This is a time of expectations, honour and test for us).”
But his appeal was drowned by boos and sloganeering. “Hamara CP kaisa ho...kiran Bedi jaisa ho (What should our police chief be like? Like Kiran Bedi),” was one of the louder slogans at that point.
While some speeches bordered on threats, such as marching to the courts and taking on the lawyers, their placards mainly sought protection from assaults. “How’s the josh? Low Sir,” was among the most visible slogans on the placards. “Protectors need protection,” was another.
The events leading to Tuesday’s event was a violent clash between the police and lawyers at Tis Hazari court on Saturday over a parking dispute, but there were multiple triggers for police’s agitation.
The first in a series of triggers was the police’s decision to convert five complaints of lawyers into FIRS, but limit the multiple complaints of policemen into just one FIR.
Then the Delhi High Court took suo motu cognizance of the case and ordered the transfer of two senior police officers, the suspension of two others, and monetary compensation to only the injured lawyers, not the wounded policemen.
The agitating personnel said that no senior officers visited or even bothered to call their injured colleagues. They were also angry at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who, they said, visited only the injured lawyers. “It is we who provide him security, but he didn’t feel the need to even enquire about our injured,” said head constable Ram Niwas.
While these developments had been leading to the build up of an outrage among the personnel, a viral video of a policeman being slapped and elbowed by a lawyer outside Saket court on Monday enraged them.
“No case was registered against the lawyer despite the video,” said Sandeep, a head constable who did not wish to reveal his current posting.
Adding to the anger was a purported recording of an injured policeman who cried as he narrated how senior officers didn’t bother to enquire about his well being went viral.
The agitating personnel said they gathered courage to protest when they found support on social media from serving and retired IPS officers like former Delhi commissioner Neeraj Kumar, Superintendent of Police in Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) Aslam Khan (former DCP, New Delhi) and Deputy Inspector General of Police, Arunachal Pradesh Madhur Verma (former DCP, New Delhi). The officers found frequent mention in agitators’ speeches.
More protests were organised by police personnel and their families at Narela and Pitampura.
Didn’t the court see that there were 20 of us who too were injured? Didn’t they feel the need to punish the lawyers also?
If I am punished for protesting, it is better than being punished for no mistake as it so often happens.