Karnataka police planning another protest?

BENGALURU: The government may breathe easy after successfully thwarting the proposed police strike on Saturday, but the constabulary is in no mood to give up. They are now coming up with a plan to once again build pressure on the government by going on hunger protest if their demands are not fulfilled.

It is learnt that hundreds of constables have united without any organisation or forum to put pressure on the government. “As the government invoked ESMA, the Saturday’s strike failed. As ESMA was invoked, there was pressure on us to turn up for work. Also, as per the police manual, we were not supposed to protest. Even if we go on mass leave again, the government will obviously apply the same and again thwart our plans. So, we are uniting together to send a strong message to the government without breaking any law,” a head constable said.

“If the government does not pay heed to our demands by July 4, we have decided to go to work in empty stomach. We will work, but stay hungry without protesting or breaking any law. There is no any rule or guidelines that a policeman should not go to work on an empty stomach. It will be difficult for the government to bind us by law or threaten us by using ESMA. We will not take any food until our demands are fulfilled,” the head constable added.

It is said that the message is being passed to all constables so that they won’t fail this time. “In fact, there was tremendous support for Saturday’s strike, but it failed because of the pressure tactics of the government. We do not want it to repeat again. Thousands of constables across the state have agreed for this. We are hopeful that it will work this time,” another constable working in Ramanagar district said.

Further, they also thinking of not using their personal mobile phones and vehicles for official purpose after July 4. “All these years, we were using our personal phones and vehicles for official work. If our demands are not met, we will stop using them and will impact our functioning,” another constable said.

In police force, no bonding between officers, men: Retired Colonel
Lower rung policemen are the unsung heroes in a country like ours, said a retired army colonel, who is concerned about the news of discontent among policemen. “Policemen trying to resort to a protest for their wellbeing speak volumes about their state of life, both professionally and personally,” said Colonel Rajan.

You cannot find this attitude in defence forces, he emphasized. In the army there is tremendous bonding between the  officer and his men. The officer is in charge of the welfare of his men,” Col Rajan said.

“We cannot find this bonding in the police,” he added. After their training IPS officers get their postings and are most of the time confined to their air-conditioned cabins and cars. They hardly make any contact with the constabulary, he said. “In the army, we take our men for a 32-kilometre route march and once they return to the barracks, the officer-in-charge personally checks if any soldier needs first-aid or rest. Moreover the officer shares a cup of hot tea or chocolate with them,” Rajan said.

Will an IPS officer do the same, I doubt, he quipped. The army officer is in charge of the welfare of his men, be it his driver, his sahayak or any jawan or havaldar, Rajan said.