INDIA'S ELECTION DILEMMA
Chaos Vs Governance
When one heard that terrorists had attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008, night, one shouted, “Oh, my God,” and rushed to TV to have the first glimpse of the fight. One had suspected that the Malegaon blast “Hindu Terrorist” accused, whom the High Court at Mumbai had given relief from “further interrogation” by the investigating agency, were the culprits. The suspicion proved wrong, as it were the familiar terrorists, who have been terrorizing India for a long time.
That was the reaction of undersigned, a hardboiled, skeptical journalist. What do you think the common man would have thought?
Thanks to our elected Government leaders – and their childish political manoeuvres to win theelections – the security forces are taken off the right track and sent on a wild goose chase. In the current case, evidently, the forces were relaxed and had neglected the harbour from where the intruders came.
Not even a single constable was posted there. The Government expected the villagers to report intrusion.
The police of any city, including Mumbai, is an overworked force in India. I am talking of honest police officers. The other variety knows how to dodge responsibility and earn an extra buck on the sly. One anti-corruption department official confided that they were doing their best to have an honest law-enforcement agency, but the task was an uphill one. There was always political support available to the inefficient.
My own interaction with the police had not been very happy. My mobile number 9811348898 was stolen and I reported to the police. (Generally there is no hope of recovering stolen mobiles.) My daughter, however, kept ringing for many days the number. Once it rang. The “gentleman” at the other end did not pick it up, but used a land line to answer.
I reported the land line number to the police. The voice at the control room said ,”Now that you now the number, why don't you go and recover your mobile ?”
Fortunately, for me, a senior officer was listening to the conversation. He intervened and said, “We will recover your mobile.”
The story does not end there.
At the police station I sat with the “suspect” and his family. The suspect was a young student and I did not want to spoil his life by pressing charges. We discussed compensation and I cut my demand by half.
Meanwhile, the family had called another “friendly” police officer from another police station.
His advice to the suspect in the police station : “You should have thrown away the chip and kept the mobile.”
And none of the police staff present uttered even a single word of condemnation against their colleague. Later, one officer whispered he has contacts at very high places.
Recently, some children's skeletons were discovered in a drain adjacent to a posh house in Nithari, Noida, in National Capital Region (NCR). Whether they were killed for their meat or organs remains a mystery till today. But what is not mysterious is that policemen were seen enjoying the hospitality of the accused.
The area falls under NCR, but the Capital's police has no jurisdiction over it !
Aarushi Talwar, a teen student of a respectable school, was found raped and murdered in her house. The Noida police accused the father, Dr Talwar, of both the crimes and interrogated him intensively. Some say “harassed him intensively”. The case was closed inconclusively. And the local court put its seal of approval on the closure.
In a country like India where the daughter is thought to be an incarnation of Mother Goddess by a majority of the parents, father raping the daughter and killing her is heresy. But the police had been using this ploy for a long time in NCR.
There are many Government appointed commissions for the security of women and children. But in Aarushi's case one saw the office bearers of these commissions beelining for Talwar household only after TV channels started rolling their cameras. After having themselves photographed, they left the scene – not to be heard again – for or against Aarushi or her father.
o0o
(To be concluded)
Chaos Vs Governance
When one heard that terrorists had attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008, night, one shouted, “Oh, my God,” and rushed to TV to have the first glimpse of the fight. One had suspected that the Malegaon blast “Hindu Terrorist” accused, whom the High Court at Mumbai had given relief from “further interrogation” by the investigating agency, were the culprits. The suspicion proved wrong, as it were the familiar terrorists, who have been terrorizing India for a long time.
That was the reaction of undersigned, a hardboiled, skeptical journalist. What do you think the common man would have thought?
Thanks to our elected Government leaders – and their childish political manoeuvres to win the
elections – the security forces are taken off the right track and sent on a wild goose chase. In the current case, evidently, the forces were relaxed and had neglected the harbour from where the intruders came.
Not even a single constable was posted there. The Government expected the villagers to report intrusion.
The police of any city, including Mumbai, is an overworked force in India. I am talking of honest police officers. The other variety knows how to dodge responsibility and earn an extra buck on the sly. One anti-corruption department official confided that they were doing their best to have an honest law-enforcement officers, but the task was an uphill one. There was always political support available to the inefficient.
My own interaction with the police had not been very happy. My mobile number 9811348898 was stolen and reported as such to the police. (Generally there is no hope of recovering stolen mobiles.) My daughter, however, kept ringing for many days the number. Once it rang. The “gentleman” at the other end did not pick it up, but used a land line to answer.
I reported the landine number to the police. The voice at the control room said ,”Now that you now the number, why don't you go and recover your mobile ?”
Fortunately, for me, a senior officer was listening to the conversation. He intervened and said, “We will recover your mobile.”
The story does not end there.
At the police station I sat with the “suspect” and his family. The suspect was a young student and I did not want to spoil his life by pressing charges. We discussed compensation and I cut my demand by half.
Meanwhile, the family had called another “friendly” police officer from another police station.
His advice to the suspect in the police station : “You should have thrown away the chip and kept the mobile.”
And none of the police staff present uttered even a single word of condemnation.
Recently, some children's skeletons were discovered in a drain adjacent to a posh house in Nathari, Noida, in National Capital Region (NCR). Whether they were killed for their meat or organs remains a mystery till today. But what is not mysterious is that policemen were seen enjoying the hospitality of the accused murderer.
The area falls under NCR, but the Capital's police has no jurisdiction over it.
Aarushi Talwar, a teen student of a respectable school, was found raped and murdered. The Noida police accused the father, Dr Talwar, of both the crimes and interrogated him intensively. Some say “harassed him intensively”. The case was closed inconclusively. And the local court put its seal of approval on the closure.
In a country like India where the daughter is thought to be an incarnation of Mother Goddess, father raping the daughter is heresy. But the police had been using this ploy for a long time in NCR.
There are many Government appointed commissions for the security of women and children. But in Aarushi's case one saw the office bearers of these commissions beelining only after TV channels started rolling their cameras. After having themselves photographed, they left the scene – not to be heard again – for or against Asrushi or her father.
o0o
(To be concluded)
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