Former Delhi Police ACP Rajindar Pathania has shared two recollections from a visit to Germany, saying they modified the best way he checked out policing, public service and civic accountability.
In a publish on social media, Pathania recalled an incident during which his tour bus, carrying a bunch of Indian travellers, was stopped and surrounded by German police.
In keeping with Pathania, the passengers had been taken to a police station, the place they had been requested to get off the bus one after the other. Their passports and visas had been checked, whereas their baggage was additionally searched.
The police motion initially made him involved, he mentioned. Nonetheless, what occurred in the course of the baggage inspection left an enduring impression on him.
Pathania mentioned German law enforcement officials personally picked up the passengers’ baggage, carried it to the luggage scanner and returned it to the bus after the checks had been accomplished.
🇩🇪 जर्मनी की यात्रा में दो दृश्य देखे… दोनों ने दिल को छू लिया!
जर्मनी भ्रमण के दौरान एक दिन हमारी पूरी बस को जर्मन पुलिस ने घेर लिया। बस में हम सभी भारतीय यात्री थे। पुलिस हमें थाने लेकर गई।
एक-एक यात्री को बस से उतारा गया। पासपोर्ट और वीज़ा चेक किया गया, सामान की तलाशी ली… pic.twitter.com/SReJhCj49Q
— Rajindar Pathania (@rajenderpathan4) September 2, 2026
After greater than 38 years within the police service, Pathania mentioned the expertise gave him a special perspective on the uniform.
He mentioned the incident confirmed that policing can contain strict enforcement of the regulation whereas additionally being carried out with respect, sensitivity and a way of service.
“The actual dignity of the uniform lies not solely in authority, however in exercising that authority with humanity,” he wrote.
Pathania mentioned his second memorable expertise in Germany was the cleanliness of its streets and public areas.
He described seeing clear roads and public areas with little pointless litter. He mentioned he was sharing quick movies from the journey that confirmed the environment.
The previous police officer questioned whether or not Germany’s cleanliness was merely the results of higher authorities programs.
Whereas acknowledging the function of administration, he mentioned he believed the larger distinction was in residents’ attitudes and their sense of accountability in the direction of public areas.
Pathania argued that governments can present infrastructure, make use of sanitation staff and run cleanliness campaigns, however residents finally play a serious function in protecting public locations clear.
He urged individuals in India to look past blaming authorities for poor sanitation and ask themselves who throws garbage on roads, dirties public partitions or fails to deal with public areas with the identical care as their properties.
For Pathania, the 2 experiences supplied separate however linked classes. The primary was about how these in uniform ought to train authority, whereas the second was about how residents ought to train their freedom responsibly.
He mentioned travelling overseas shouldn’t solely be about admiring one other nation’s magnificence or infrastructure. It can be a possibility to deliver again classes that might assist enhance one’s personal nation.
Pathania concluded that India can turn into cleaner and higher when each public servants and residents take accountability for his or her roles.
