October 21: Police Commemoration Day

Every year National Police commemoration Day is observed on October 21. The day is observed to pay homage to the CRPF personnel who lost their lives during an ambush by the Chinese troops in 1959 in the hot spring area of Ladakh region.

Background

On October 21 1959, at a height of 10500 feet, a small CRPF petrol was ambushed by the Chinese army. The Chinese army threw grenades and opened fire at twenty CRPF personnel. 7 were taken as prisoners and ten of them died. The day is commemorated to honour these personnel. Since 1961, around 33000 polish personal have sacrificed their life in their service to the country.

Parade

In order to honour the police personnel, police commemoration parade is held at the National Police Memorial located in in Chanakya Puri. This is being conducted since 2012.

National Police Memorial

the memorial was renovated in 2018 as a museum. it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi  on the police commemoration day. The day is also called police Martyrs Day.

Martyrs Day

There are several other Martyrs Day being celebrated in India as follows

Martyrs Day

Martyrs Day is celebrated in India on 30th January. the day was chosen as it marks The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

 Pakistan

the Martyrs Day is celebrated in Pakistan on 23rd March.  The death anniversaries of Sukhdev Thapar, Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru fall on 23rd march. They died in 1931.

 Odisha

Odisha observes Martyrs Day on 17th November. This is to to commemorate the death anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai. He died in 1928 he was called the Lion of Punjab and was a prominent leader during British raj.

 Assam

19th may is celebrated as language Martyrs Day in Assam. It is also called Bhasha Shahid Diwas in the state. On 19 may 1961, 15 people were killed by the state polis at Silchar railway station. The Killing occurred when the police tried to control a protest by the Bengali language movement of Barak Valley in the state of Assam.

The protest was conducted against the Government of Assam in its decision to make Assamese as the only official language of this state. There is a significant population in the state constituting of the Bengali people. In the Barak Valley, the Bengali population constitute the majority. Thus, they wanted to add Bengali language along with the Assamese language as official language.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2020