HYDERABAD: The recent emergence of videos of policemen dancing to tunes at private events in plain clothes and the consequent punishment of these personnel have drawn mixed responses from the lower-rung staff and their bosses.
After an Inspector from Shadnagar and five personnel from Kothur police station were relieved from their duties and subsequently attached to the headquarters, several lower-rung officers have begun questioning their bosses: “Do we not deserve a personal life?”
Though their bosses agree to the fact that they do, in fact, are entitled to personal life, they say that such events must be organised privately and not in the public. This sends out a wrong message, the superiors add. It may be mentioned here that the function at Shadnagar was in the know of higher-ups and that the staff from Kothur were on official leave for a colleague’s wedding.
The action against their colleagues has sparked a debate among the constables and officers from other ranks over WhatsApp groups. Their common concern is, “Aren’t these people humans? Don’t they deserve any recreation? Even when they’re not on duty officially, can’t they participate in such activities to overcome work-related stress?”
A few of them opined that there were occasions where all the officers met for ‘Bada Khana’. No action is taken against such events, they add. One of them said, “The staff are extremely stressed. Whenever we gather to beat the stress, we are faced with such results. We don’t understand how these incidents damage the image of the force. But they definitely affect the morale of the staff.”
While a majority of them were unhappy with the way the incidents were handled by their bosses, a few spoke of it in support. “We can relax, enjoy and celebrate amongst ourselves, but should also be alert of the blacksheeps among us,” they said.
Senior police officials, however, did not justify their decision said that it was a corrective measure. “We should remember that being in force, we are always in the limelight. And we must behave accordingly,” an official said.