Police Martyrs’ Day celebrations on Punjab Armed Police (PAP) campus here on Wednesday was marked by protests as families of hundreds of police martyrs criticised the attitude of the Punjab government towards them. They protested at not being allowed by police authorities to meet Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and later submitted a memorandum to the district administration urging Director General Punjab Police (DGP) P S Gill to look into their demands, including treating police martyrs on par with Army martyrs.

Meanwhile, Sukhbir paid tributes to the officers who laid down their lives protecting the unity and integrity of the state and the country. Since 1981, 2,352 police personnel have been killed in combat.

Sukhwinder Kaur, widow of the late Constable Dalijit Singh, said her husband was killed in 1992 by terrorists, but the state had not given her anything that was promised, except the ex-gratia, which she said was “meager”. “The Government had promised me that I will be paid my husband’s salary for the number of his service years remaining at the time of his death. But it was discontinued and now I get pension,” she said, adding, “I met the DGP a month ago and told him about my condition. He again gave me the same promise, and I am waiting.”

She said police martyrs are treated different from Army martyrs, while the lives of both are equally important and the needs of the families of both are same. “We are not given any petrol pumps, gas agencies, plots and good jobs like the families of army martyrs,” she complained.

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