The Indian Army stands for staunch nationalism and patriotic pride, at least to some extent for all of us. They represent a selfless love for one's country that can be matched by little else. One could say that the Indian Police Force stands for similar ideals, but for some reason, they do not seem to command the same respect, let alone awe, from the people of the country.That is because the average Indian doesn't interact with the Army on a regular basis and look at them as doing great service to the nation by defending our borders whereas most people would interact with the Police on a regular basis and more or less have a fair idea about their misdeeds.
Ask people in states like J&K or Manipur about their opinion on the army, they wouldn't be so defensive I think it's also because of good PR. You see the army jumping in to the rescue whenever there is a disaster. Media covers this exclusively. I don't remember a media post along the lines of 'Police helping disaster victims...'
Most of us see the army as the last line of defense. If you hear about the police men being killed in the line of duty as regularly as you hear about the army then people would have a softer spot for the police too. Also most of the people complaining about the army excesses aren't spotless characters themselves. So it is easy for people to dismiss them as separatists or something else.Do the officers of the police force deserve the reputation they have? Do we perhaps tend to glorify the army more than they deserve? We should ponder over it
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