Wall of Valour National Police Memorial New Delhi India

The National Police Memorial in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

commemorates the 34,844 police personnel from all of the central and state police forces in India who have died in the line of duty since the nation's

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

in 1947. Located in New Delhi's

Chanakyapuri Chanakyapuri (Sanskrit: चाणक्यपुरी; IAST: Cāṅakyapurī ) is a neighbourhood and diplomatic enclave established in the 1950s in New Delhi. It is also a sub-division of the New Delhi district and plays host to the majority ...

area, the memorial consists of a tall and heavy black granite central sculpture, a museum and a 'Wall of Valour' bearing the names of all 34,844 police personnel who have died in the line of duty. The underground museum is the first police museum of its kind in India, and showcases over 2000 years of policing in the region, since the time of

Kautilya Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya o ...

's system of law and order in 310 BCE. The renovated and refurbished memorial and museum was inaugurated by the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, Narendra Modi, on 21 October 2018, which is also the Police Commemoration Day (Police

Martyr's Day Martyrs' Day is an annual day observed by nations to salute the martyrdom of soldiers who lost their lives defending the sovereignty of the nation. The actual date may vary from one country to another. Here is a list of countries and Martyrs' Days. ...

) in India.

Historical background

The National Police Memorial commemorates the police personnel who died in the fight against terrorism, militancy and insurgency in states such as Jammu and Kashmir,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...

and

red corridor The red corridor, also called the red zone, is the region in the eastern, central and the southern parts of India where the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency has the strongest presence. It has been steadily diminishing in terms of geographical cove ...

-affected regions in India. The memorial also commemorates the large number of police lives which were lost in prevention of crime and in maintenance of law and order.''Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs''
PM to dedicate to the nation the National Police Memorial tomorrow.
20 October 2018 17:59 IST. Government of India. The memorial was first conceptualised in 1984, but the plan to have a National Police Memorial was only first proposed when

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

was the prime minister. The

home minister The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...

at the time,

L. K. Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. Advani is one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a longtime memb ...

, laid the foundation stone. The earlier memorial was a structure of steel. But it was dismantled in 2008 on the order of the

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

as it violated environmental norms. Old versions of the memorial: File:All India Police Memorial 2005.jpg, The structure pictured was brought down in 2008 for violating environmental regulations in the area File:The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh laying wreath at the Police Memorial, on the occasion of the Police Commemoration Day Parade, in New Delhi on October 21, 2016.jpg, The Union Home Minister

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is currently the Deputy Leader of the House Lok Sabha. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as t ...

laying wreath at the Police Memorial, on the occasion of the Police Commemoration Day Parade, in New Delhi on 21 October 2016 File:The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju laying wreath at the Police Memorial, on the occasion of the Police Commemoration Day Parade, in New Delhi on October 21, 2014.jpg, The Minister of State for Home Affairs,

Kiren Rijiju Kiren Rijiju (born 19 November 1971) is an Indian politician from Arunachal Pradesh who serves as the Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice in the Government of India. Early life Rijiju was born on 19 November 1971 at Nakhu near Nafra in West K ...

laying wreath at the Police Memorial, on the occasion of the Police Commemoration Day Parade, in New Delhi on 21 October 2014 File:Kapil Sibal laying wreath at the Police Memorial, on the occasion of the Police Commemoration Day Parade, in New Delhi on October 21, 2012.jpg,

Kapil Sibal Kapil Sibal (born 8 August 1948) is an Indian lawyer and politician. Sibal has represented several high-profile cases in the Supreme Court of India and is widely regarded as one of the famous lawyers of India. He is a Member of Parliament, in Ra ...

laying a wreath at the Police Memorial, on the occasion of the Police Commemoration Day Parade, in New Delhi on 21 October 2012

Structures

Memorial

The central sculpture is a

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive rock (geology), stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological for ...

made of a slab of granite weighing 238 tonnes. The weight and colour "symbolise the gravitas and solemnity of the supreme sacrifice". At the base of the structure, a river represents the continuous self-service of the police personnel in carrying out their duties. The central memorial sculpture has been designed by Adwaita Gadanayak. The stone comes from

Khammam Khammam formally (Khammam Mettu) is the city in Khammam district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is the fourth largest city in the state. It is the headquarters of the Khammam district and Khammam mandal also. It is located about east of ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

Wall of Valour

Designed as part of the overall design scheme by architect Uday Bhat the names of all the 34,844 personnel who died in the line of duty from 1947 to present day are engraved on the granite, including 424 who died in 2018. National Police Memorial New Delhi 07

National Police Museum

National Police Memorial and Museum in Delhi 05

The National Police Memorial Museum is the first of its kind in India. The museum is underground and consists of five galleries over 1600 square meters. There are sections dedicated for various central and state police forces in India including

Central Industrial Security Force The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is a federal police organisation in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). CISF provides security to over 356 industrial units (including 1 ...

Special Protection Group The Special Protection Group (SPG) is an agency of the Government of India whose sole responsibility is protecting the Prime Minister of India and in some cases, his or her family. It was formed in 1988 by an Act of the Parliament of India. The ...

National Security Guard The National Security Guard (NSG), commonly known as Black Cats, is a counter-terrorism unit of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was founded on 16 October 1984, following Operation Blue Star, for combating terrorist activities and p ...

Railway Protection Force Railway Protection Force is a security force under the ownership of Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India established by the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957; enacted by the Indian Parliament for "the better protection ...

Bureau of Civil Aviation Security The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is an attached office of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India). It is the regulatory authority for civil aviation security in India. It is headed by an officer of the rank of Director general of Police ...

Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces. The CRPF's primary role li ...

and Intelligence Bureau. Police forces from all 28 states and 8 Union territories are presented, including special mention for women squads, police bands and animal squads (camel, dog and pigeon post). The role of police research organisations have also been mentioned such as the

Bureau of Police Research and Development The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), was set up on 28 August 1970 in furtherance of the objective of the Government of India for the modernisation of police forces. It has evolved as a multifaceted, consultancy organisation. ...

, the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science and the

National Technical Research Organisation The National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) is a technical intelligence agency under the National Security Advisor in the Prime Minister's Office, India. It was set up in 2004. It has the same "norms of conduct" as the Intelligence ...

. The martyrdom and stories section includes Operation Vajra Shakti (2002),

Operation Puttur Operation Puttur was an anti-terror operation launched jointly by the Tamil Nadu Police and the Andhra Pradesh Police, which captured two terror suspects in Puttur on 5 October 2013. Part of the banned Al Ummah outfit, they were planning to pla ...

(2013), the killing of

Veerappan Koose Munisamy Veerappan (18 January 1952 – 18 October 2004) was an Indian bandit turned domestic terrorist who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching o ...

(2004), and the death of Vandana Malik (1989) - the first female

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS ...

officer killed in the line of duty, and various other stories.

References