The Run for Martyrs

Whether you do it to stay fit or just for the joy of it, many of us enjoy running. And when it’s for a good cause, it gives us added motivation. Come Sunday, nearly 8,000 participants will take part in the second edition of the Indian Police Martyrs’ Memorial Run. The event is organised by the Telangana State Police in association with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Talking about the initiative, IPS officer Ramesh Reddy Mastipuram, who participated in the 15th annual New York Police Department (NYPD) memorial 5K run, says, “In the month of May last year, there was a delegation of Telangana police, including DGP Anurag Sharma, CP Hyderabad Mahender Reddy and Home Secretary Rajiv Trivedi to see the technology in the US and UK. When we landed in New York, there was a marathon conducted by New York City Runners for NYPD’s fallen heroes of 9/11. It was the 15th edition of the run. Since I was there, I immediately went and registered online. I was the only Indian at the run. There were people from 20 countries. I was happy to see so many civilians, even old people, running for those martyrs. Some of them were the family members of those killed and had pictures on their t-shirts. On mine, I wrote ‘Indian Police Martyrs’.”

Here’s how you can register
The IPMMR will feature 2k, 5k and 10k runs. The events will be organised at Necklace Road on October 15 as a prelude to the Police Commemoration Day slated for October 21. One can register on www.policerun.in 
to participate.
Creating awareness with an expo
 The ‘Police Expo’ will be organised. Paramilitary forces and the police of different states will put up their stalls.

500 martyrs each year
The Telangana DGP said that on an  average over 500 police personnels 
sacrifice their lives every year for the country while performing their duties.

Infographic

After coming back to India, the idea of holding a similar event was discussed with the DGP. “He immediately agreed. A committee was formed and the Indian Police Martyrs’ Run was coined. Our DG wrote letters to all the DGs of India, Central Police Organisation and paramilitary forces. Last year, people participated from across the country.

There were stalls from these organisations at the expo. It was a huge success and in the run, the Governor himself ran for 2 km. Rajiv Trivedi was the organising chairman and Soumya Mishra, IGP CID, was the convenor. This year, too, we have invited all the officers and bureaucrats of Telangana. We have set up a martyrs’ wall like India Gate, on which the names of all police officers who were killed in the last 50 years will be there,” he says.

This has become an annual calendar event with the support from the Central Armed Police Forces, Central Police Organisations and several State Police Departments among others.

DGP Anurag Sharma, Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and Aruna Bahuguna address the participants during last year’s Indian Police Martyrs’ Memorial Run

Raising awareness
Soumya Mishra, IGP CID, who was the convenor last year, says, “In other places in the world, people run for various causes and show solidarity for the people who died in the line of duty through a run. Most people are not aware that more policemen die than army officers at the border, especially in demilitarised zones. At Kargil, 500 army people died. So many police officers die throughout the year. We wanted to raise awareness about it as a run-up to Commemoration Day, which is on October 21. We also celebrate Martyr’s Week. We call the families of police officers who have laid down their lives and find out if the benefits that were supposed to come from the government have come or not. They should not feel that we have left them after the officer has died.”

Last year, the response was incredible and around 5,000 people ran in the event. “We had written to the Ministry of Home Affairs and from there a directive has gone to all police departments to participate in the event and make it a national programme. BSF, CRPF, She Team and Cyber Crime had stalls, which attracted a lot of people. This year, Assam, Kerala and other Central Police Organisations will also participate. This is basically a social message for creating awareness about the rights, duties and functions of policemen. Moreover, this will help the public to better understand our role in society,” she says.