Key Points
Gurugram:None of the six Haryana police officers recommended for gallantry awards found place in the list of medal winners released by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on the eve of Independence Day.. The Haryana government had recommended the names of these six police officers, including three IPS, in recognition for their role in dealing with farmers protests at the Shambhu border in Ambala and the Khanauri border in Jind, in February...
Additionally, the list featured three Deputy Superintendents of Police: Amit Bhatia, Narender Singh, and Ram Kumar...
In July, Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan wrote to PM Narendra Modi objecting to the Haryana governments decision to recommend gallantry medals for the six police officers, citing their role in preventing farmers from marching to Delhi during the Delhi Chalo movement...
The MHA, meanwhile, also questioned Haryanas assertion in its proposal that the police operation to stop the farmers was not a joint effort as there were personnel from the Rapid Action Force (RAF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) involved as well.. Devinder Sharma, author, researcher, and columnist on agriculture, welcomed the omissions and argued that the decision to recommend officers for awards in such a context was misguided, adding that it could have sent the wrong message about the use of force in civil demonstrations...
While no officer from Haryana made it to the gallantry medal list, Vikas Arora, Commissioner of Gurugram Police, was selected for the Presidents Police Medal for Distinguished Service, an honour reserved for officers with exemplary records...
