Police apolitical: ADGP amid furore over J&K top cop’s ‘cultivating terrorists’ remarks
J&K DGP RR Swain faces backlash for accusing political parties of "cultivating" terrorists, gets rebuffed by ADGP Vijay Kumar. Backlash leads to controversy.
After facing backlash from mainstream political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, director general of police RR Swain was on Wednesday rebuffed by his junior officer, additional director general of police Vijay Kumar, as he distanced the police department from Swain’s contentious remarks.
“These can be personal views of the DGP,” Kumar said on the sidelines of a function at Zadibal, Srinagar, adding, “Jammu and Kashmir Police is an apolitical force. We work with impartiality.”
The development comes in the backdrop of Swain accusing the region’s political parties of “cultivating” terrorists for their benefit. Notably, this is the first time in the past three decades when a junior IPS officer has rebuffed a senior in public.
Swain, a 1991-batch IPS officer, is retiring in October, while Vijay Kumar, a 1997-batch IPS officer retires in 2026. The latter is a junior officer in the seniority list for the post of DGP, but his tenure as Kashmir range inspector general of police was marked with success in countering terror activities. He is currently holding the post of additional director general (law-and-order).
Earlier on Monday, Swain at a seminar in Jammu had said Pakistan successfully infiltrated all important aspects of civil society thanks to the “so-called mainstream” or regional politics in the Valley. The statement was criticised by top political leaders, who accused the top cop of indulging in politics.
“Things had come to such a pass that the so-called mainstream political parties had started cultivating leaders of terror networks and sometimes directly to further their electoral prospects,” he had said.
Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti even demanded that the top cop be sacked for his failures, especially after taking over as the top job in the UT.
Mufti said most casualties in the region had come in the last 32 months, particularly after the appointment of the current DGP. “And when the militant comes, whose responsibility is this? Is it the responsibility of regional parties or Omar Abdullah or Mehbooba Mufti whom you blame for Pakistan…,” she said.
The Peoples Democratic Party president said the region has been under the direct rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been building the narrative for the past six years.
“When everything is under their control, why did people prefer to stand behind the voice which has been talking about the right to self-determination or plebiscite rather than those who are nationalist forces? Isn’t it their failure? They want to hide behind mainstream and regional parties to hide their failures,” she has questioned.
Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari and Sajad Lone had also criticised the DGP for his statement, which came at a time when the Jammu division especially Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Jammu, are facing a spike in terror attacks.
