National Police Day is a national holiday in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

that occurs each year on 25 January. The holiday commemorates and is a remembrance for 50 police officers killed and more wounded when they refused British demands to hand over weapons and evacuate the

Ismaïlia Ismailia ( ar, الإسماعيلية ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city has a population of 1,406,699 (or approximately 750,000, includi ...

Police Station on 25 January 1952. The

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

surrounded the police station, then brought tanks in and took over the station. One of the major heroes of this battle was Captain

Salah Zulfikar Salah El Din Ahmed Mourad Zulfikar ( ar, صلاح ذو الفقار; ; 18 January 1926 – 22 December 1993) was an Egyptian actor and film producer. He started his career as a police officer in the Egyptian National Police, before becoming an ac ...

. The event was photographed by a local man and photos were published, inciting anger and riots throughout Egypt. January 25 was declared as an official holiday in 2009 by Egyptian President

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

to recognize the efforts of Egyptian police to maintain security and stability in Egypt and acknowledge their sacrifices. When the Egyptian police drifted away from their duty of keeping civilians and country safe and began humiliating people to back Mubarak's corrupt regime, a number of Egyptian opposition groups had chosen this day to start mass protests in 2011, which turned into a massive popular revolution which swept across the country on January 28. This revolution is known as the Revolution of 25 January. President Hosni Mubarak stepped down from office, and the Supreme Council of the armed forces took over the governing of the country.

References

{{Holiday-stub Public holidays in Egypt January observances Winter events in Egypt Police days

See also

References