CHANDIGARH: A rather surprising proposal of the Haryana government to decorate six police officers with the President’s Medal for Gallantry for stopping protesting Punjab farmers at the Shambhu and Khanauri inter-state borders in February this year has raised eyebrows.
This has prompted the Union home ministry to seek clarification from the state.
Haryana government said in its recommendation on July 2 that the six officers displayed ‘exceptional bravery’ in stopping the farmers who were marching to the national capital in February. Of the six, three are Indian Police Service officers and the others from the Haryana Police Service.
The Union home ministry on July 8 wrote two letters to the Haryana government seeking “firing details of all recommendees’’ for the award. This has put the state government in a tough spot ahead of the Assembly elections as it has maintained that there was no firing by the police to stop farmers.
The home ministry also observed that personnel of the Rapid Action Force, the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Sashastra Seema Bal were also deployed, but were not recommended for the award. “A ‘no’ has been mentioned in the question of joint operation,” the home ministry wrote. Sources said the state government is yet to prepare its response to the Centre’s query.
Objecting to the recommendations, Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider them.