Ludh police lines reminds khaki force of its colonial legacy

Ludhiana: A strong essence of British architecture remains in this city’s police lines even decades after independence from the colonial rule. It lives in the pointed arches, vaulted ceilings, and large windows designed for lighting and ventilation in those buildings.Before its inauguration in 1936 by the-then inspector general of Punjab police Sir John Murray Ewart, the police lines was used majorly as a cavalry station and armoury. Even though the pre-Partition Punjab police headquarters was in Lahore, the Punjab IG would use an office built in Ludhiana as the orderly room.Now these blocks of historical significance serve the Ludhiana police commissionerate. One must go to the inaugural stone at one of its buildings to read that: “The opening ceremony of this police lines was performed by Sir John Murray Ewart, KT, CIE, IP, Inspector General of Police, Punjab, on February 29, 1936.” IPS (Indian Police Service) officer Sachin Gupta, who had served as joint CP in Ludhiana some time ago and was accommodated in this building, said: “This 1936-inaugurated building still stands strong due to its material. Its ceiling is about 25 feet high and made of expensive teakwood. Its girders are as heavy as those used in laying the railway lines. The decades-old building needs only some whitewash in the name of maintenance.”Gupta said: “In the British era, police lines was the orderly room of a Punjab that included both Pakistani and Indian side of the now divided province, besides Sindh along with present-day Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. The actual police line before that was in the old city area, behind the JMD Mall. The present place was used to keep arms, ammunition, and military horses.”Another stone at the police lines spells Ludhiana as anglicised “Loodiana-1856”. During Gupta’s posting in Ludhiana, one of these buildings was proposed to be demolished for conversion into a canteen, but his efforts preserved that part of pre-Partition history. The block marked for demolition was a non-gazetted officer’s mess, so it required only minor changes to turn it into a canteen. Gupta said: “There are also some old barracks in there.”For Gupta, preserving these buildings is “akin to preserving history”. Another police officer deputed at the Line office there said: “The police lines also includes a Kot branch where the arms are repaired since the British era. Another building where the British officials stored their guns and ammunition is still used for that purpose.” Another official described how one side of that building has point where free India’s first flag was hoisted. Since then, the tricolour goes up there at 5.30 every morning.