Queen's language another victim of khaki..
To err is human! Our very own Ludhiana police seems to believe in this old adage more than anybody else, especially when it comes to English language.
While boards and barricades put by the department across the city bear a "public" testimony to the apologetic state of "English affairs" of our saviours, the media statements issued by our super cops tell a clear tale of their innate struggle with the language.
Which explains pretty much why an eve-teasing FIR reads: "Girl standing outside college accused come on car says Soniye what you doing? Come sit in my gaddi", while "rehris" and "scooters" are mentioned as accused and "gambling was being played".
Cops think and write, ‘‘If Raided Accused Can Be Arrested’’ and ‘‘Accused throw stone on my son head. ’’ Interestingly, the accused is always ‘‘above said’’ in the daily crime file.
If one reads "Punajb Police" on a barricade put up at one of the busiest roads of the city, one does not laugh. Rather, one feels the error is acceptable. After all, it has been made by the Punjab Police who spells "beggars" as "baggers" and puts it up on information boards across the length and breadth of the city for all to see and laugh! And when pointed out by the media, the cops buckle under pressure and attempt to rectify their mistake only to mess it up all the more. The billboards then spell beggars as "beggers".
The difficulty with the Queen's language is so conspicuous among the cop community that from surprising glares to criticism to apologetic sympathy to guffaws, it has generated all possible emotions among the masses.
So much so that repeated glaring spelling mistakes now seem to have become a habit with the law-enforcers of the "Manchester of India" and no longer evoke surprising gazes from the onlookers.
Press statements issued by the police department serve as precious specimens.
The fact that crime briefs penned by the cops can leave anybody bursting into guffaws going by the language is public knowledge now. Every evening mediapersons, especially crime reporters of various newspapers, can be seen and heard grappling with the crime file. Thus, if one happens to come across a certain "Mr Lion Singh", one naturally understands that the author of the crime file means "Mr Sher Singh".
Another indication of the uneasiness of the Punjab Police cops with the "Britishers' gift to India" is their tendency to address every caller as "sir" irrespective of the gender. Ludhiana police department surely needs lessons in English!
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