Bravery lies in the eye of the beholder
For a DIG, a dip in the pool gets a Presidents medal; for lower cops, even a bullet in the leg goes unnoticed
Reuven Proença
If youre a cop in the Goa police, check the stars on your uniform before you decide to confront a leopard and kill it to save your colleague, or take on a drunk brandishing a pistol in a crowd of partygoers. The chances are that if you do not have the right rank, risking your life wont get you any brownie points. However, if it happens to be an Inspector or better still a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, then even a dip in the pool is enough to get you the Presidents medal for bravery.
The state polices skewed principles in awarding bravery awards are taking an increasingly heavy toll on the departments rank and file, many of who feel that their superiors hog all the credit.
A Head Constable, speaking on the condition of anonymity, put it very simply, We do all the work and our bosses get the credit.
Consider this: on the days preceding 20 February 2004, a leopard was terrorising the villagers of
Pequen-Mercurim in Agassaim. That fateful day the leopard had already attacked four persons. Police Inspector Nolasco Raposo dispatched armed police patrols to kill the wild animal.
One of the patrols comprising Head Constable Anand Kenkre and Constable George DCunha was walking through the area when the animal attacked them. It pounced on DCunha who wrestled it to the ground, while Kenkre, showing presence of mind, pumped three bullets into it, killing it instantly and saving his colleague from being mauled. DCunha suffered serious injures and had to be rushed to the Goa Medical College (GMC) hospital, but survived.
Instead of the two policemen being honoured with the Presidents Medal for Meritorious Service for their bravery, the award for the year 2004 was instead given to DIG Muktesh Chander, the first of two he was to receive. His act of heroism: jumping into the shallow end of a swimming pool at Porvorim to pull out a child who accidentally slipped in. A doctor who
happened to be present actually resuscitated the child and saved her.
Another apt case is that of Constables Samir Gawas and Abhay Palyekar. The duo, then attached to the Calangute police station, were on patrol on the night of 4 November 2003 when they were asked to rush to a popular nightclub on the beach strip where a man had shot one partygoer and was waving his gun at the huge crowd present.
The two Constables unmindful of the fact that they only had their wooden batons, which were no match for the powerful handgun the man was wielding - fearlessly tackled the inebriated man to the ground but not before Palyekar was shot in the thigh. Only after the man was subdued did the Constable realise that he had been shot.
The police department did not react to the bravery of its men until Gomantak Times publicised the incident prompting then Director General of Police (DGP) Seva Das to announce cash rewards for the duo. When the Presidents Medal for that year was declared
it consisted of two officers with no mention of the two Constables who had probably saved the lives of dozens.
Interestingly the last non-officer to be awarded the Presidents Medal was Head Constable Ulhas L G Naik who was decorated for meritorious service in 2000. Of the 30 Chief Ministers Medals issued to the department since 2000, only 13 were awarded to policemen and women below the rank of Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI).
The rank and file say that this a clear indication of how they are conveniently sidelined by their superiors gunning for laurels with the help of a little political patronage.
A Constable complained, Whenever we get some information about a criminal, we are bound to inform our superiors. They in turn instruct us to take action. We keep watch and then inform the superiors who will enter the scene only when the arrest is to be made so they get the credit while we do all the work.
It works like that throughout the hierarchy. Our
superiors will take credit and their superiors will take credit. Finally there are so many people taking credit that we, the actually people who made the arrest possible, are forgotten, the policeman added.
(courtesy: Gomantak Times)
- Forwarded by http://www.goa-world.com
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