This year, Jharkhand will observe the Police Commemoration Day on October 21 to pay the "real" tribute to the men in khakhi who sacrificed their lives fighting against criminals, particularly the Maoists since the State was created in 2000.
Apart from holding ritual parades, the Jharkhand police have invited families of some 225 martyrs to felicitate them and also redress their long due grievances on the spot. Besides, they will be treated with a musical concert to be performed by stars, including Bollywood singer Shaan, Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari, laughter artist Raju Srivastava and TV anchor Meiyang Chang. Team India captain MS Dhoni will be the special attraction of the show.
Veteran Bollywood actors Dharmendra and Jitendra have given their consent to attend the programme, while prominent Bollywood stars from Jharkhand, including Tanushree Dutta, and others are also likely to grace the occasion. State DGP Rajiv Kumar told The Pioneer that they had lined up a special session for the martyrs' kin to interact with him along with other senior officers and thrash out their problems.
“All senior police officers, including district SPs, will be there and take steps to redress the grievances aired by them on the spot. They will also create a database for every family and the issues which could not be resolved immediately will be taken up on priority basis later on. All the SPs have been directed to arrange vehicles to pick and send them off. The kin of the martyrs, who are based outside Jharkhand, say Bihar, will be reimbursed the fare,” he added.
“The mega show for the martyrs, being held in the State for the first time, will be different from 'Umang' which is held every year in Mumbai for Mumbai police where Bollywood’s best put up a blockbuster show to entertain them and their families,” he pointed out. “It should be a big morale booster for those jawans who are fighting a fierce battle every day against the Maoists and mafias,” said the DGP, while monitoring the ongoing anti-Naxal operation in latehar, lapung and West Singhbhum.
"It will be a message for the people also that during the days of serious disruption and trouble, a policeman works round the clock for their well being and safety and sacrifices his today so that their tomorrow is better," Kumar said. The event, to be held at Morhabadi football stadium is being organised by Innovations India Advertising & Events Pvt. ltd.
The history of the Commemoration Day can be traced back to October 21, 1959, when a patrol party of CRPF, led by SI Karam Singh, was ambushed by the Chinese forces at Hot Springs ladakh and 10 jawans were killed. The bravery and resultant sacrifice of jawans fighting at 16,000 ft. altitude, in extremely cold conditions and against all odds, is an epitome of the rarest of the rare courage. Indo-Tibetan Border Police sends a representative party of all police forces, of the country, to Hot springs, ladakh every year to pay homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives on October 21, 1959 while guarding national frontiers.
Incidentally, Kumar, a 1981 batch officer, had trekked to ladakh way back in 1983 as a representative of the Bihar Police. It was only this year that the Jharkhand police sent P. Murugan, a young IPS officer to ladakh. The DGP said that apart from focussing on welfare of the jawans and officers we have also emphasised on imparting regular training to them. "In fact, we have issued a training calendar and are developing every police line as a training hub," he added.
"We have some 50 newly recruited sergeants who have been trained in jungle warfare. Besides, we have some 80 master trainers in rank of sub inspector and head constable who have been trusted to impart regular training to the jawans," the DGP signed off.