New Delhi: Target senior officers, shake their confidence and weaken the morale of the personnel working under them—ACP Arshdeep Singh Panwar has described what he alleges is a pattern behind the targeting of police officers during protests.
In a video released by Delhi Police, Panwar, ACP of Chanakya Puri in New Delhi, argues that the focus on senior male officers in circulating videos and reels has consequences beyond the individuals concerned.
The commander-and-army analogy
Panwar’s explanation centres on the relationship between police leadership and the personnel deployed on the ground. He alleges that targeting senior officers can demotivate them while handling protests, with the effect then spreading to their subordinate staff.
He illustrates his argument with a battlefield analogy: injure the commander, and the army behind him becomes vulnerable. In his account, undermining the officer leading an operation can also undermine the force carrying it out.
The reel intercuts his remarks with footage of uniformed officers amid tightly packed crowds, raised phones and close-quarter confrontations. The footage provides the setting for his argument; the claim about protesters’ purpose comes from Panwar.
“They have rights; we have duties”
Panwar says police will continue performing their responsibilities despite allegations or attempts to target them. Referring to the oath officers take to the Constitution, he says they will uphold it.
He acknowledges that protesters have rights, while alleging that those rights are being abused. Police, he says, must nevertheless discharge their duties wholeheartedly.
Delhi Police published the reel with the message, “All for one and one for all.”
The central point of Panwar’s account is that pressure directed at a senior officer can affect an entire deployment—and that police must resist that pressure without abandoning their constitutional responsibilities.
