Pran Pandit
There is hardly anybody on the surface of earth who does not wish to be joyful neither is there anybody who does not desire to live in peace. If we turn to the leaves of History, we find that on innumerable occasions people have engaged themselves in conflict and war, knowing fully well that it had to be fraught with disaster and peace would become a casualty, but still they did it for satisfying their human instinct- to dominate or subjugate their adversaries and to fulfill the desire of tasting the joy of victory and bringing peace with glory. Man is innately born selfish; he has a tendency to bite in anger; he derives pleasure in stealthily plucking an apple from the apple tree of his neighbor; and becomes worst than a beast in the heat of passion and anger. Society comprises of individuals and groups; and if an individual indulges in an undesirable act or displays obnoxious behavior with other members of the society, peaceful atmosphere gets vitiated which is detrimental to social order. From times immemorial, with the object of keeping social order and maintaining peace in society, all human societies have put in place a mechanism to regulate the conduct of individuals and the relations between the members; and the task of regulating the conduct of individuals was performed by watchmen appointed by the rulers. The watchmen were given different names in different parts of the country and elsewhere; and in J&K, they were known as “Doom”, “Harkar” and “Kotwal” etc. The duty of the watchmen was to invigilate their areas of responsibility, and, to round-up those found guilty of breaking the evolved rules and established behavior, and, present them before the authority designated by the ruler for punishment. The origin of Policemen goes back to the date when the man emerged from his animal-hood and learned to think and reason; and the watch- men of earlier times are, in true sense, predecessors of the present Policemen. They hold the most sacred trust of keeping the peace in society.
The role of Police, in any of the forms of the government, is to maintain internal security of the country and to keep law and order in the society. Police is morally and legally obliged to protect the life and property of people, keep peace, prevent crimes, detect and arrest violators of law and safeguard the rights of the people. Society’s demands and expectations from Police do keep on changing with the societal changes and often change dramatically and abruptly; and it becomes highly imperative for Police to anticipate the future challenges and remain ever prepared to meet the challenges successfully. The ever increasing social demands can be met only through mapping out a vision for the future, spelling out organizational objectives, fine-tuning the organization, upgrading the infrastructure and support system and proper management of the men of the organization.
J&K state Police organization has come into existence in the later part of 19th century. Prior to Independence, the policing methods and ideas of the state police have remained, by and large, stagnant and traditional over the generations and decades. After Independence, it started putting the bits and pieces together to meet the emerging challenges; and it did extremely well and emerged as a professional police organization in the country. Since 1988, spurts in criminal and terrorist activities started posing numerous challenges to J&K Police; and it has been passing through extremely difficult situations and performing very arduous tasks. During the initial days of 1990 when terrorism engulfed the state, particularly the valley of Kashmir, Police in J&K received severe jolts and serious setback because many of its men got killed in cold-blooded murder at the hands of terrorists who were trained in guerilla warfare and had superior weapons and communication gadgets etc. They had to fight a proxy war; and there were visible symptoms of reticence in J&K Police but this was overcome soon. In the fast changing security and law and order situation in J&K due to the eruption of terrorism, Police in the state experienced the expansion of its role in every sphere of human activity; combating cross border activities, cyber crimes, drug trafficking crimes, fake currency and hawala business crimes and preventing and repulsing suicidal attacks etc were added to the long list of its duties; and it assumed the role of a multi-tasking organization. The leadership of state Police vigorously engaged itself in revitalizing and rejuvenating the organization and procuring modern and sophisticated weapons and other gadgets on war footing and J&K Police embarked on a new journey; it started fight against ‘terror’ with whatever archaic weapons and inadequate infrastructure it had; and it led from the front in an atmosphere of pillorying press and hostile atmosphere created by the so-called Human Rights activists. While observing obligations, fulfilling commitments and maintaining the highest traditions of the men in Khaki, more than 1,600 policemen (including special police officers) of J&K Police laid down their lives in fighting terrorists; and rendered yeoman service in crime prevention and relief activities to people during disturbances and natural calamities. They played a pivotal role in blunting the sharpness of militancy in the state. When the history of the days of turbulence in the state and the role played by J&K Police gets written, the sterling role played by the martyrs of J&K Police -the prophets of light and harbingers of peace, will be written in golden letters. Undeterred by harsh circumstances, baffling challenges and the imminent threat to life, the martyrs of J&K Police observed obligation, fulfilled commitments and brought untold glory to the entire police force by fighting valiantly against evil, injustice and darkness with honor and dignity; and embraced death for a just cause- to maintain the security and territorial integrity of the country and protect the lives and the property of the people of their land.
J&K Police has been making persistent efforts to present its changed face. With a view to creating a culture, based on mutual trust and friendship, it has put in place a number of measures for developing right attitudes and beliefs in its men. Holding of workshops, conferences, seminars and interaction meetings by the Police leadership at various levels, to redefine its role and responsibilities in the wake of social dispensations, has become a continuing process. It is a matter of satisfaction that the state Police organization has been preparing itself in advance to meet the future demands in a pro-active manner and readying itself for facing the challenges of the coming decades. Its leadership is making every effort to modernize the professional outlook of J&K Police. J&K Police has increased its man-power; equipped itself with latest and hi-tech weapons and gadgets; initiated revolutionary changes in communication system; updated and augmented training infrastructure; enhanced its mobility; and established computer networking. In addition, a number of measures have been initiated for the welfare and well-being of its men which include establishing of Hospitals for their healthcare and the schools for the wards of Policemen. J&K Police has formulated a “Mssion” for the organization, which reads: “Our mission is to restore complete peace and normalcy in the state of Jammu and Kashmir so that every member of the society-without exception-lives a peaceful life, with rights secured and protected, free from fear and violence. For this, we have to prepare the members of Jammu and Kashmir Police and undertake the urgent actions that are necessary to instilling core values of excellence in service delivery, respect for human-rights, pride, dedication and devotion towards duty, Force and the nation”. And, through the “Vision Statement”, it has given a call to all Police officers and men to realize that there is no duty more important than ensuring that the welfare of the people is supreme; that the life and property of the people is safeguarded so that they live and grow up in peace; and the Police is bound to discharge its duties with commitment, imagination, diligence and compassion.
In recognition of its services to the nation, the notable successes achieved by it in the “fight against militancy” and the role played for keeping the peace and protecting the lives and the property of the people in extremely difficult conditions, “President Colors”, a rare distinction, have been awarded to it!
J&K police personnel are committed, dedicated and valorous; and they have, by and large, a good track record of Human Rights which helped them to gain and retain the goodwill and support of the people. The members of J&K Police are engaged in cultivating good police-community relations and, for this, holding of meetings and interaction programmes with the community members at various levels is a continuing process. This is not for no reason- they have grasped it well that their success depends on the confidence and co-operation of the people. Their attitude and behavior towards public is also changing for good. A mature Police organization is in the making. That is the changing face of Jammu and Kashmir Police!
(The author is a retired Superintendant of Police of J&K)
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