With the very pronouncing of the word khaki , the first thing that comes to our mind is the dutifulness , sincerity , discipline and faithfulness . And these things we find in many of the service holders . But the word khaki and all the qualities it signifies are found together in none other than military regiments and police force . Here in this article I will specifically focus on the police force . Why I am writing on police force , for there are some reasons and reasons are as such :

• In this period of ‘Lockdown’ when the roads are human less , animal less , hornless and we don’t feel busy enough to solve the traffic maze , our eyes can clearly see policemen patrolling the areas we wade through . In ordinary days we generally give a miss to have a look at their duty .
• During this period of lockdown , when we are staying mostly indoors as per the directives of the government I am getting a lot of time to think over the police force , their duty and problems they face while pursuing them .

As per the instructions of the government the police force are directed to check whether any person is moving out unnecessarily , whether social distance is being maintained or not , whether needies are being rendered  help in time , whether nuisance and mob are in check , whether dispersing unnecessary crowds or not . To  follow this strictly and in toto they at  times make use of same force . Well in this case what else they can do.  What else can a brown clad sincere officer do when he is himself under pressure ( If found not following instructions he would be suspended ), when he is himself feeling sick because of sleepless nights ? But in return what does he get ? The undue crowd , the staged mob , injuries , stone pelting , politically and communally backed violence . I simply fail to understand where his fault was . Is he responsible for the non – refund of cancelled train tickets for which crowd occurred near Bandra station . What will he do if angry mob of some thousands  pound on 10 khaki clad to find the answer for their queries ? Who will save them ? What will he do when angry nihangs slit his hand when he is doing his duty ?

At present  I am reading “Let Me Say It Now” written by Rakesh Maria . From there I came to know many ground realities faced by police force . They spend sleepless nights just to solve a case of murder or terror . They can hardly spend time with their family and see happy moments together . They even care less for themselves , their hunger and needs when they are at work which is almost 24*7*365 .

Yesterday when I was at office doing my work , catering customers who had mostly came to withdraw their Garib Kalyan Yojana Allowance for COVID-19 , the inspector incharge  of the nearby police station came and told me not to allow so much gatherings at branch unnecessarily . Those who are needies should stay and others should not be allowed . I could sense his helplessness , for if anybody sees this unnecessary crowd , in case , then he would have to answer .

So we as a citizen should have sympathy towards their sincerity  and respect their work .

WE MUST RESPECT KHAKI …

Written by

Sonia Sarkar, Officer, Canara Bank

Mobile Number- 9777573729