J&K police personnel feel CRPF men get a better deal

Five years ago, Sarfaraaz, then a fresh graduate, was waiting for his life to begin.

Now a cop with the J&K police, his eyes are restive the moment someone peeps from a window or a vehicle seems in a bit of an extra rush in curfew-bound Srinagar. “Watching others — that’s not much of a life,” says the policeman, who wanted to be a teacher. The salary is “so-so”, hours are long and “rules” of combat are often not followed, he adds.

Regarding work conditions, Kashmiri cops have two points of reference — the CRPF and the Punjab police which, like them, has handled a popular insurgency. “Punjab police has a 12-hour duty, we do 24. These days, off days are rare and you could even be on the job from 5am. A J&K constable earns `20,000 a month, a Punjab constable earns `36,000,” he says.

“The CRPF men get to go home on long leave. But we are always here. In our own land, we have the image of oppressors,” says Sikander (name changed), a cop at Bemina, adding, “Yet in a situation of increasing turmoil, we do almost the same work as the CRPF.”

“The state budget says we have to wait two more years for the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission,” says the cop. “The CRPF get 80 days leave, we get 20.”

The Valley has a paramilitary police force of nearly 80,000. “There are four paramilitary personnel for every Kashmiri,” says Akram (name changed), a cop at Lal Chowk.

K Rajendra, DG of J&K police, could not be reached for comment.

Most policemen say the reality of work is different from what is given in the training manual.

In over 50 days of curfew, more than 500 people have serious pellet wounds. Are cops exercising enough restraint? “During training, we are taught that when a mob appears, take the magistrate with you, give a warning, give the people five minutes, start counting, and then start action to scatter them, and, if need be, shoot at the legs… the reality is orders are given to go on offensive from the word go,” says a cop at Gawkadal.

Sarfaraaz says what he can perhaps never say during office hours. He wants “aman” (peace) and “azadi”.