Boost Police Morale

Parmeshwar Devkota

The kicking and fisticuffs between an immigration officer called Chhayanlal Muktan and a police security officer on duty at the Tribhuvan International Airport last Friday has shed light on the bullying attitude of civil servant towards security forces. Civil servants tend to think themselves as superior to other staff just because they are considered permanent government. Because a state hold them in high regard, they should be soft, polite towards the staff and abide by the laws and procedures provisioned for the work, but the government officials must embrace these virtues so as to better serve the public.

Instead, the service of a police officer is so dedicated and vulnerable that s/he may pay the cost of discharging his duty with his job or even life. So, the job differentiation between a civil servant and a policeman can be expressed with the following example. 

As two English words ‘democracy’ and ‘demography’ sound alike from phonetic point of view, but they are entirely apart semantically. Likewise, the word civil service and police service are both government services, so they look alike. But they are significantly different. When a policeman stands at the gate in the middle of the night discharging his/her duty without winking his eyes in the chilling winter, a civil servant may be found wrapped in the quilt in his comfortable bed. 

So, the police, the confident apparatus of the state, are security providers. Their major tasks are controlling crimes, protecting property of the state, giving security to the citizens, enforcing law and order situation in the country. They are also an integral part of the criminal justice. Therefore, the police on duty have every right to check everyone on the path and in every turn and movement.    

A present-day police force is well-trained and capable of bearing huge responsibilities, including controlling illegal activities. If you look back, even in the Panchayat era, the police force was almost neglected and was not well established. After the multiparty democracy was established, the Police Reform Commission was formed in 1992, which played a crucial role in modernising the Nepal Police. So, a policeman these days knows his/her duties and responsibilities well.  A policeman works for the betterment of the state rather than for the betterment of an individual. 

In a democratic country, the major role of a policeman is to establish law and order situation where s/he stands, making the responsibility of police immense, unique and challenging. Therefore, the state should allow police to work without hassle. The Parliament, for its part, should enact laws making police force strong and capable. Too much interrogation and harassment of a policeman for doing his job will discourage him. A policeman who is dutifully fulfilling his responsibilities and living up to the expectation must be placed where he is. 

If we want to develop our country, we must boost the morale of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force, because they are the indispensable to maintain law and order as well as normalcy in the country. If the state mechanism devaluates the works they have done in good faith, it will give negative message to the society.