When Cops Throw Bricks or Shoot Their Seniors

The recent case of a Delhi police man, captured on camera losing his cool by hurling a brick at a woman traffic violator (in retaliation to the woman driver hurling a brick at him, also recorded on camera), is indicative of an increasing malaise in policing systems and people's behaviour towards rule of law.

This sort of behaviour of both the police and the community is not a one-off incident in Delhi - there have been one too many cases like this in the recent past across the country.

This piece focusses on the police officer's conduct and the proposed corrective measures being considered by the Police Department in Delhi - whether these are holistic enough, and how else can we work on corrections for the larger good of society.

Just a few days ago, there was a case where an Assistant Sub Inspector of Mumbai Police shot his superior dead and then turned the gun on himself. It is believed that the junior officer was seeking leave, and was not getting it. This later led to a statement from the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, on the need to examine how cops can get a weekly off.

Leave in police services is a privilege and not a right per a pre-independence law that has not changed since then. Leave of police personnel is cancelled or suspended at the drop of a hat in India, a land of holidays.

There have been a few studies in recent years estimating the actual work load at police stations. Though not specifically aimed at the investigation function, these provide some clue about the existing gap.

A recently-released Bureau of Police Research report on eight-hour shifts in police stations looked at the existing "supply" and found that the majority of police stations had its staff putting in work days stretching from 11 to 14 hours. Further, most police station members could get only one or two weekdays off during the month. The report estimates that to enable policemen to work 48 hours a week with an assured weekly holiday, it will take 68% enhancements in the police stations' strength. Another highlight was that of the total strength, only a third was posted in police stations, though, admittedly, it was the most important part of police organisation. Indian police strength is 2.28 million personnel with a vacancy of 24.56% as on 1.1.2014. Source: BPRD (Bureau of Police Research and Development)

When departments have large vacancies, it leads to increased pressure on the present strength which has its own (often stress-induced) destructive behaviour.

This is expressed within the service and people in incidents termed road rage and other violence which are repeating far too often. The key difference is that just a few get publicly exposed while others go unreported, but leave behind increased hostility and a disconnect both within the department and between the cops and the people.

Such a situation cannot go on and needs urgent repair. It's a question oflife and limb of the nation.

Here are two initiatives noticed:

1. By the Police Commissioner in Mumbai where the Mumbai Police has started to look for answers to certain stress-induced or related behaviours. The rank and file have come together in batches to undergo psychological analysis to identify problems and seek remedies both for the individual and departmental resource management. The exercise is being led by Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria with the support of the Bombay Psychiatric Society. The questionnaire being filled by cops comprises of 68 questions which includes their conduct with their family, their relationship with their colleagues, and even this: "I have difficulty in remembering what I did the previous night after I was drunk".

Seniors leading this first batch said, "A larger message needed to be sent to the force that they should fill the forms with honesty and that they should not think their careers would be affected if they speak up against their seniors".

The officers assured the ranks that their responses shall be kept confidential and dealt with only by the experts. They will evaluate andcontact the concerned officer directly to suggest remedial measures required. They will, as the expert said, identify those fighting depression, stress, or addiction will be approached for treatment.

The Mumbai Police leadership has decided to cover the entire 50,000 force for psychological analysis.

Why not do something similar in other states? This in fact needs to be an ongoing exercise inbuilt to stay ahead and stay alert.

2. By Delhi Police Commissioner BN Bassi when he said, "We will need systemic changes to see that even under pressure, our officers act as per the law. No matter what the situation, they must behave with courtesy and not lose their temper." He further said, "As far as training of our officers is concerned, our objective is to see that our officers must not react out of rage".

He also suggested that policemen should carry devices to make sure their interactions with the public are recorded on audio tape or camera. He said the aim at the training level was to nurture among the personnel the ability to stay calm.

Staying calm, managing stress, the capacity to absorb hostility, feeling of deprivation of certain basic essentials, family and social responsibilities, and financial inadequacies to meet the expectations of growing children, single-income families...all this needs advanced management techniques.

There is a strong case for a comprehensive approach to Human Resource Management in police services, which ensures constant watchby seniors, periodic review, career progression, medical check-ups, closer communication, family welfare, etc.

In brief, 3 Es... Empowerment, Engagement, and an Ecosystem in human resource management.

Onus back on us after Nirbhaya, Moga cases

Can we prevent Nirbhaya and Moga kind of cases? In the Nirbhaya case, a young woman was thrown out of a bus after being gangraped. In the Moga incident, a 13-year-old girl was teased and pushed out. In both cases, the victims died.

Both cases led to massive public outrage, humbling the government of the day.

The Justice JS Verma Committee was set up to recommend changes in the law, processes and procedures. In the Moga case, the deputy chief minister (Sukhbir Badal) had to withdraw his fleet of buses plying in Punjab and even shell out around Rs 24 lakh from the transport company funds for the family of the deceased. It's perhaps a first-of-its-kind incident in recent memory.

The question I wish to pose is: are such tragedies preventable? To answer that we have to identify the root cause. And unless the root is treated, all else is reactionary, as is the case now. It comes when the damage has already occurred, as in the Nirbhaya and Moga cases.

Let me explain this. The molesting men are not born molesters. They became one. How did they become, and why did they, are the basic questions to be addressed. But not many are asking this. The incidents are getting lost more in political insinuations.

Key questions

We need not be shy of asking: who was responsible for bringing up such kind of men? What kind of nurturing environment did they get? Who did not teach them respect for others and women in particular? Who did not teach them good behaviour? Which school did they go to? What did the teachers not teach them? What did they not learn from them? Did they study or just while away time? Were they serious in their studies? Or did they drop out, or fail? What did the school and parents do then? What kind of friends did they have? Were they keeping late nights? Did they start on alcohol or drugs early on? Were alcohol or intoxicants being taken in the house by the father in the presence of the boy who became a molester? Did he take to vagrancy as a teenager? What did the parents do then? Did he tease girls and were any complaints received? Was there domestic violence in his house? And was he witness to disrespect of women? Did he have sisters? If married, how is he treating his wife?

Negligence in dealing with many of these questions creates potential deviants. All men are not similar. We have very decent people who become protectors. On the other hand, we have molesters. The difference is in grooming.

Therefore, the primary responsibility of prevention is in the hands of parents and teachers. They have to stop letting loose a new generation of potential deviants. Once we create better humanity, it will not hurt and disrespect women and the vulnerable.

Real challenge

The answer lies in creating better quality of humanity. The real challenge is: what do we do with millions who are already on the roads, in the streets, homes and buses, as employees and co-passengers?

The answer is: we rework on them. They have a family in their homes. Let their parents and wives step in. Even their siblings and children. Let them become a strong social pressure group on them to never cross the line of decent behaviour. They also have the elders in the house. Each family must resolve not to be ever a participant in disrespect for a woman. And they begin from their own homes and families.

Then come their employers. The work place must take charge. Train them, and warn them that they never indulge in such an act. Their character verification and antecedents must be checked before employment. And refresher training is a must to keep them sensitised. Their habit of drugs or intoxicants should be kept under watch as this is a serious inciter of violent behaviour.

The Moga case was preventable if other passengers in the bus had intervened. Had they protested, they could have stopped the ongoing nonsense and the tragedy.

What is the point in daily prayers, community langar and kar sevas when we are not going to help someone in distress?

Even in the Nirbhaya case, for long period of time, the victim lay naked on the Delhi road after being gangraped. People drove past, but no one stopped.

We must learn citizenship. We are neither taught, nor do we learn it. Good citizenship, learnt at an early age, makes one a good human being who would neither hurt anyone nor will be indifferent at the time of need.

We can think in terms of enacting a Good Samaritan law which makes it legally binding on the community to help and intervene. But law is as effective as its society is willing.

I think while we do this: we also ensure all buses have GPS (global positioning system)-linked buses to capture evidence of accused as well as passengers. It will record evidence of the culprits and prevent their escape. Like in the Khanna bus case, where the driver and conductor let the molester escape. Everyone will be on a watch.

But the overall situation is pretty bad, more so in our region. It's a real shame on us all. What kind of persons we gave birth to and let them become? The onus therefore is back on us, to at least save the coming generation.

The Sordid Reality of Marital Rape

"My husband raped me daily. He forced himself on me, every single day, even on the days I bled. He did not spare me all through the pregnancy and even till the last day of delivery of my child ... I want no woman to lose time to speak up against such an atrocity. Speak out early, so that you do not continue to suffer as I did. I was scared of him all along."....Now I am strong to reject such a man." (A woman on a TV program)

"Is a wife merely body parts?" I ask.

What compels a wife to continue living with her husband who is a sex-maniac? What kind of man commits such atrocious acts on his wife, almost daily? Why does he treat the mother of his own children in such an inhuman way? How does he get away with this brutality? Is it because marital rape is not a criminal offence, compared to one committed on an outsider? Is he abusing this distinction? Is marriage for such depraved men a license to rape because of the 'implied consent' which comes with wedlock?We had a rather insensitive statement from Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary in the Rajya Sabha on April 29, 2015. I quote:

"It is considered that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors, including level of education, illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs, and values, religious beliefs, mind-set of the society, to treat marriage as sacrosanct."

It is this statement which has stirred the latest debate on marital rape. And legal luminaries and social activists are expressing strong arguments for a change.

Wonder on basic tenets of common sense, how does a cruel marriage remain sacred? What is sacrosanct about it?

Unreported marital rape is a sordid reality of millions of women in our country as surveys conducted by the UN and other agencies reveal. Men themselves too are confirming the results. It's as high as 75% women subjected to marital rape at some point or the other. Not to forget millions of girls in our country are married off at a young age.

Victims continue to suffer for several reasons, dependent on their socio-economic-psychological situation.

Bertrand Russell in his book Marriage and Morals wrote "Marriage for a woman is the commonest mode of livelihood, and the total amount of undesired sex endured by women is probably greater than in prostitution."  

In December 1993, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and declared marital rape as a human rights violation.

Similarly, the Council of Europe Convention, in force since 2014 August, declared non-consensual sexual acts committed against a spouse or partner as illegal. This convention is legally binding in Europe. Other countries where marital rape is illegal include the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Sweden, Russia, Poland and many more.

In India, marital rape can come under cruelty clauses of section 498A of Indian Penal Code. Cruelty, though not specifically defined, covers physical and mental harassment. Punishment is maximum three years with fine.

Another section of law, 375 IPC defines rape, but says it is not rape if it is intercourse between husband and wife, and when such wife is not younger than 15.

Very few women include sexual assaults/cruelty in their complaints to police, courts or family counselling centres. Information about this is deficient in the public domain.

Under the Domestic Violence Act of 2005, sexual violence is a non-criminal violation. On a complaint received from an aggrieved wife, the Court can call the husband to hear him. Once heard, (lawyers not mandatory), the case is usually referred to a mediator for resolution, if possible. If the complaint is found correct, and mediation fails, the Court can pass a Protection Order directing the man to correct his conduct. The direction of the Court is legally binding. On violation of the direction, the wife can go back to the Court to complain. Violation of the Protection Order can call for short imprisonment. Police help can be taken. However, the process remains a protracted civil matter between the victim, the accused and the Court.

This is functional to an extent. But not effective in practice, as has been seen and reported - in part because of long queues and infrastructure inadequacies. Also, if mediation does not work, the victim has to fall back on herself or family support.

In Washington State laws on marital rape, there are heavy financial penalties imposed in cases where marital rape is established.

One of my Foundations has been running family counselling centres for the last 25 years. Its records show that once the woman acquires the courage to complain, she does not go back to endure cruelty.

But she wants to see her husband punished, and finds no avenue for that. Instead it is she who struggles and suffers most if she has children, no financial resources and is without family support. The IPC sections of cruelty take years in trial. In view of this, victims remain victims. They either give in, or give up.

One thing is evident - that in cases of sexual violence in marriage, the woman is a victim. If a marriage is still continuing, it is because she is submitting to it, she is weak, poor, and afraid, has children, is dependent, roofless, and reconciled to fate. She is also often ignorant of the legal help available.  

One wonders what kind of children does such a woman in distress give birth to and nurture. What kind of home environment will these children grow up in? What kind of fathers do such men make? And will the victimised mother welcome a girl child who may grow up to suffer the way she has? Can such a mind-set be ruled out? I have seen this prevailing with its serious social implications, contributing to the imbalance in gender.  

The need of the times is to considerably transform our humankind, their values and education - this is real long-term prevention and correction. It begins with every home, every school.

We need to educate our boys and girls differently and equally at the same time. The criminal justice system can effectively serve as a deterrent only if the law breakers are a small percentage, but not if the crime is an un-reported 75%. This is an epidemic.

Hence, Indian society needs comprehensive socio-cultural-legal solutions to this prevailing unstated cruelty if it wants healthy children from happy parents in caring homes. In the West such changes came post the 1970s. When will we introduce them?

Till then, political leaders must realise that there is nothing sacred in an exploitative marriage. They must stop making regressive statements.

(Kiran Bedi is the first woman to have joined officer ranks of Indian Police Service. Recipient of Magsaysay Award (1994) for police and prison reforms, she has also worked as a UN police advisor. A tennis champion, she earned a PhD from IIT Delhi and is a Nehru Fellow. She's founded many NGOs and is the author of several books.)

Story Published: May 04, 2015 00:54 NDTV 

Empowerment: Teachers, parents can create leaders

When does leadership begin? Is there an age for learning leadership? Is there an environment for learning? Is leadership about access to opportunities? Why do we need a leader? Should leaders be looked up as role models? And are they? How can we become leaders?

These were some of the questions raised and even mailed to us subsequently after the launch of ‘Making of Top Cop’, an illustrated story book on my formative years, by head boys, head girls and more than 1,020 students from 28 schools in New Delhi, accompanied by more than 120 teachers, parents and others.

The subject of an open house was ‘It begins with us: the role of parents and teachers in inculcating early leadership’.

After a brief presentation by Dr Amrita Bahl (editor) on early leadership learnings drawn from the book, we the organisers had planned to invite students to ask questions on early leadership, and also think through, with short responses from us - the panellists comprising tennis champion Karman Kaur, Delhi Public School (DPS) principal Dr Racha Pandit, Navjyoti Foundation director Neetu Sharma, IIT alumnus Ashok Kumar and Diamond Publications publisher Narendra Verma, besides myself.

We chose the subject based on a very successful experiment in one of our remedial education projects being run by Navjyoti Foundation.

In this, as we worked on the project, we realised that our reach was below the needs of many other thousands of children of the resettlement colony. The challenge now was how to increase our reach to bring the other deprived into our fold.

We decided we would first create leaders of those already with us and then make them reach out to others. Leadership begins with what you have… and from where you are... as we believe.

We asked hundreds of our own children to share their interests; what they liked doing and if they knew something on their own.

Promoting skills

We grouped children as per their interests, across classes. They formed themselves into faculties of IT (information technology), music, yoga, sports, crafts, drawing, drama, teaching, book-reading, story-telling, dance, singing and so on. They all chose their coordinator themselves, on six-monthly rotation, and declared themselves as departments.

Now they chose a registrar, a girl and a boy. We the teachers became mentors. We steered them to promote their respective activities. And provided need-based self-help guidance.

They came together for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Environment Day, celebratory days, while focusing on promoting their own skills, within the group and outside.

They started to run literacy, home work and skills classes on their own initiative. Each one assumed responsibility to reach out to more and more members of their community. They planned collective activities of the weeks and ran their own events to which we got invited.

Early leadership

They intervened and stopped early marriages of their friends in the localities and brought back dropouts to school.

Some made their parents and older siblings literate. Seeing their confidence, we as their teachers organised inter-school competitions. And also got them admissions in specific vocational institutes which would hone their skills.

They returned with recognition and more confidence as also visibility and respect in the community. This increased their capacity to give and share. In a nutshell, early leadership was born and was being expressed already.

These children, born in first-generation learning, crowded schooling, but being nurtured and steered by an NGO (non-governmental organisation) with local volunteers in post-school education gave them values required in leadership. Today, each one of them is growing up to serve.

Each one feels others’ needs as their own, and that they can contribute to meet it with all they have. It’s an inclusive growth of leadership as against the exclusive development of only competing with others for oneself.

Today’s youth needs this. Rich or poor. Rural or urban. Boy or girl.

This change does not need much money. It needs passionate partnerships, willingness, and orientation among our existing corporates, schoolteachers, parents who themselves may not be literate or even poor.

Youth of the wealthy, where there is too much to take, and parents very busy in their own commitments, need to be engaged in giving and sharing, beyond social networks and engage with the community and social issues early on.

By this we shall create a new generation of young Indian leaders, skilled in the areas of their choice, but sound in character with a strong sense of ownership. They will be givers, collaborators, compassionate, inclusive and sensitive towards others, because they were so when they were small.

Budding collaborators

The interesting part is that even when they compete, they are learning to be collaborators. When they win, they learn to respect defeat. When they speed, they also learn to offer a hand to someone fallen. And when defeated, they go up and congratulate the winner.

Our Gurukul model of Navjyoti as an experiment is going through these tests. We have created a critical mass of hundreds of student leaders already. It is for anyone to see and learn.

But our concern is with millions beyond.

A country of the youth needs each child/youth to be a leader within. Skilled with a tool kit of values, and who learns to share. We cannot lose time.

But who will provide this learning and sharing environment for leadership not to be a mere position, but transformative and entrepreneurial human power, generated in India to build India? It is this concern which led us to initiate this introspective dialogue.

We believe it begins with us, the teachers and parents, harbingers of life and living. We know the way, we are showing the way, we now wait for it to become a caravan.

kiranbedi2005@yahoo.co.in

Agenda for women

Just a few days ago, we organised convocation upon the successful completion of a vocational course for women in the villages of Haryana.

It was sheer joy hearing the beneficiaries of the course recount what they had done since they had become skilled. Each was self-confident and financially almost self-reliant; and in many cases, even supporting the family financially and running the home. Many had put their children in better schools, started small businesses, saved some money, and earned a great deal of confidence.

They recalled how it all started.

They shared with us how they dared to venture out of home, stealthily in most cases. They would switch off their mobile phones so that their husbands did not get to know they had come for training, as one of them narrated. She would tell her husband that the device had run out of battery and there was no way to recharge it, as the village had no electricity.

The same woman said that her husband would not allow her to even leave home, while he himself was posted outside the city, and after his death, the skill of stitching and tailoring that she had learnt now had come to her rescue. She now was the family’s lone breadwinner, sending her two children to school, and looking after her ailing mother-in-law.

Learning to step out

She now runs a small shop to sell designer garments, employs other women, and trains them free of cost. Before this convocation, the students had been asked to present whatever cultural programme they liked. They presented a small skit. They scripted it and acted it out. It showed a family where the daughter was not allowed to step out of the house but told to stick to cooking and cleaning. One day, an NGO worker visits the family and asks the girl how she spends her day.

The girl says she does nothing much. 

The social worker invites her to learn how to stitch, tailor, and design clothes. She says she cannot until her father allows her.

The social worker approaches her father, and sure enough, he declines to give her permission, saying his honour would be hurt if he allowed his daughter to step out of the house. When the social worker goes into the merits of the daughter’s being skilled and ensures her father that no way the family honour would be hurt, he relents. This was based on a true story, but not all stories end this way.

The play was written and enacted by the women of the village. It reveals what is still the general condition, with some emerging exceptions no doubt but few and far between.  It exposes the huge restrictions that girls and many women of today are living under. They are still being held back, even when an opportunity to learn is next door. Imagine how it must be when the opportunities are far.

The most harmless domestic animal

What do we do? How can India moves forward fast enough, if fathers, husbands and brothers continue to be so closed-minded, insecure, and selfish? It hurts me to see girls held back in 2015 only because of gender, place and lack of opportunities; opportunities that many of us got decades ago.

I am reminded of a story I read long ago. Titled “The Most Harmless Domestic Animal”, here’s how it goes in the words of a daughter: “When I breathed for the first time, you told my father: ‘Start saving, it’s a girl.’ At 5, you told me, learn to read and write, so that a boy will come for you. At 10, you told me: ‘Save yourself, you are a girl.’ At 15, you told me stay home, learn to cook, wash, and remain silent and obedient. At 20, you told me don’t come back to us. Years went on and I kept my promise, nobody ever had a complaint. I was the most harmless domestic animal man ever had in history.”

Collective effort required

Girls are products of home and school. Both nurture her. What if she is deprived of these, of if none lays the foundation for her growth?

We have a duty, each one of us here, to make individual and collective effort to give our new generation of girls easy, secure and assured access to opportunities for a robust India. We need to create measurable systems where the local administration with the help of people’s representatives takes on the challenge to address these social issues at every level starting from panchayat, to reach out through dialogue. Credible NGOs at the grassroots, working with women in rural areas, need to be co-opted. Only then will I say that our India is inclusive society, the India of our dreams

What it takes to be a leader

While preparing my presentation on leadership for Warwick University, India Forum in the UK, my views have substantially evolved over the last few weeks.

Earlier I used to bunch together ideas on leadership as one group, such as the need for self auditing, trust worthiness, and so on. But it was not the same with this preparation.

This time, soon after the Delhi election results, when I got to know that I was not elected, and was hence free to be my own master and will have time to travel, I confirmed my pending invites, beginning with a talk at Warwick on leadership, women and social work.

As I got down to think and plan, I questioned myself as to which leadership I was talking of? Is leadership of only one kind? Is it not a set of different skill sets in different set of circumstances or positions?  Dependent on the role, does it not need a specific tool kit for success?  If so, which are those qualities?

And are there any common traits across all leadership positions? If so, which are the common ones that are absolutely essential?

It is amazing how one’s mind debates with one’s self. If only one would listen. I penned down my answers and thoughts on a white sheet of paper. I did not want any technology to come in between the thoughts and my paper. I had got hold of a packet of coloured sketch pencils to express the rainbow of my inner thoughts (which became my slides for Warwick).

For the first time I divided leadership in clear segments such as academic, corporate, civil service, social work and finally political (from my new hard-earned experience). It is this last learning which has expanded my thinking on leadership.

It also made me realise how different skills sets are needed for political leadership. I identified, based on my lifelong experience and observations, the key leadership qualities needed under each leadership head/ box.

I listed them down, and realised how each position was different in priorities and how vital it was to know the differences. But I also identified two commonalities across all kinds of leadership that are essential to be a leader — endurance and communication.

Without endurance, no leadership can be achieved and sustained. Endurance is a comprehensive sustaining power. It implies physical and mental tenacity which is learnt, acquired and practiced over the years.

Hence, if women who want to make it to the top in physically demanding fields have not played competitive sports as students, it will be exceedingly hard for them put to compete at the highest stressful levels, for the demands of the position will not be a level playing field.

It requires a reservoir of physical stamina and mental strength. (This applies to both, men and women). Second quality is communication skills. If a leader cannot communicate, he cannot survive.  This means a strong voice with strong shoulders (robust health). Both these qualities of leadership are basic and essential for all forms of leadership.
But now let us look at other forms of leadership.

Academic

The main keys to stay ahead in this category are: depth of research and its communication. Without this, the educator would exhaust his ideas after a while and the students would stop following him.

Corporate

The keys are strategy and vision, without which the business or the corporation will stagnate and perhaps go into losses.

Civil service

He is one who is selected on merit and is there till he retires. The key quality of leadership expected of him is, commitment and being self-driven since he has the most secure leadership position. He stays on in service even when performance is average.

Social Work

Key quality is to have a missionary zeal based on compassion. This is one service which one volunteers to do out of sheer love.

Political

This category demands raw ambition and cultivated networks. All other skill sets follow. But no political leadership can sustain without ambition.

My aim of sharing these critical differences of youth leadership at Warwick was to help students to choose what they wanted.

And that if they make leadership switches they must do it with knowledge of the required skill sets.

And if they wish to cut across what are the essentials, they can ignore only at their own peril. Of course everything in life can be learnt. But how do you do it if you have no time, and at what cost?

At nation’s cost — when the quality of life and the time of millions is at stake? I wanted the budding leaders in Warwick youth to be conscious of these vital needs, to minimise mistakes.

But I began by saying that one is always a person first and then a leader. Ask yourself, who are you? What do you want to be? What do you think is the bigger purpose of your life? Have you thought it through?

Or will you grow up, get married, have children, earn well, grow old and die? If so, then why be at Warwick? Why not at a zoo? Because this is what all animals do. They are born, grow up, bear children, grow old and die.

India needs true leaders, who are authentic, focused, can self evaluate, remain creative, are trustworthy and more.

But other than the basics of endurance and communication, to be successful, every form of leadership demands a special skill set, while knowing yourself.

An open letter to fellow Indians.

An open letter to fellow Indians.

Indian Democracy if it truly wants many well meaning people to stake their experience for mature and good governance, needs a civil culture and law abiding environment. ( I am being mild in saying this) 
Here is my tryst with electioneering.
Hope to see it change in my life time....
-----------------------------------------------
Am relieved my parents were not alive to hear the foul words hurled at me. 

I opted for electoral politics not for position or power but for serving the city which is my home for last over 40 years.  A city which I have served  in various capacities, though thick and thin.
I saw it through various challenges, International sports events, VIP security, political upheavals, communal riots, agitations, and more...

On crime front I saw it through when Delhi was hit by terror from outside. I spent years to catch a wink with boots on and with wireless blaring to get on the street any moment. 
I did crime prevention saving women from being raped in rural areas on dark nights by erstwhile criminal tribes with literally no cops on roles..by involving village young men to patrol at night. While I was personally out 5 nights a week. 

Conducted traffic managment for Asian Games with hundreds of students doing traffic duties, when my senior wanted to send me to Japan on a course, just to edge me out. Traffic was revenue for some...
Another time when a district was ridden with bootlegging I managed to dry them out and rehabilitate them to honourable living...or rag picking children sent to schools, now become community colleges and many of the same children become teachers...

Or opened drug abuse treatment centres from police stations never heard of...
All this became a life long mission and will remain..

I did it all not for any glory,  I did it because the service and situations demanded it...
I stepped into electoral politics because I wanted to give my city all I still had, when i was given the feeling that I could be of value. I wanted to see it get a stable government in alignment with Government of India to get all that Delhi needed. 

I also wanted to not die one day with a guilt that I was commenting only and never daring to pass the ultimate test of electoral politics. 
I have failed the test. And take full responsibility for my decision. 
But inside me has not failed. Because given the time I gave to myself I gave it all the energy and experience I had. Obviously it was not enough. 
In such trying situations one does not meet the challenge alone. There are several factors which play a vital role. And each one did.  I wish to add nothing more. History will keep analysing till cows come home. And as I read them, each one of them makes sense. And worth being reflected upon. 
The wise will read each one, and take due notice...

On the election trail I wish to say, we need to rework the way we campaign. Whole City or State comes to a grinding halt. Should it? 
Roads are in disarray, and work just stops. Everything is too loud,  uncouth at times, insulting to thin skinned, false, insinuating, biased, revengeful,  corrupt, wasteful, highly disruptive of common man's needs,  breaking all laws, and sending all wrong messages. It's not a level playing field for the levelheaded serving people. It's a field for might and muscle in all respects. 
We need to address these. Hope to see it in my life time.
People need services to be delivered. They want integrity, trustworthiness, and professional commitment. But they also want an implementable vision and plans.  But they also want freebies...more you give, more you get.  
They do not get it still, that there are no free lunches in life. If  you rob Peter to pay Paul, it won't be long before all get robbed. 
Also all campaigning must be become lawful, transparent, facts and evidence based, civil, organised, more technology driven, reasonable, unbiased, neutral through different mediums, etc.  
Space could be allocated through neutral empires appointed by the Election Commission as per laid down rules based debates and also grass root work done, and let candidates be chosen on the basis of performance or implementable ideas. Which means widespread use of Television reaching out to the last mile...
Public 'appeals' through use of congregations must be not be allowed and considered a violation of laws. Hence must be banned.

Its time every public servant becomes a stake holder in governing this country. Needs of people have far outstripped what the country can provide for,  be it water, power, roads, public transport, schools, teachers, doctors, jobs, skills, and even girls. Forget about security for women...Only God knows how long women will continue to suffer...

In the end I wish to thank all those who reposed their trust in me. And to say I am sorry I could not measure upto theirs. 

And also all who called me with foulest possible names. 
I am relieved my parents were not alive to see this...

Relieved that my parents not alive to hear the foul words...

I opted for electoral politics not for position or power, but for serving the city which is home to me for the last over 40 years. A city which I have served in various capacities, through thick and thin.
 
I saw it through various challenges -- international sports events, VIP security, political upheavals, communal riots, agitations, and more.
 
On crime front, I saw it through when Delhi was hit by terror from outside. I spent years to catch a wink with boots on and with wireless blaring to get on the street any moment.
 
I did crime prevention, saving women from being raped in rural areas on dark nights by erstwhile criminal tribes with literally no cops on roles by involving village young men to patrol at night, while I was personally out five nights a week.
 
I conducted traffic management for Asian Games with hundreds of students doing traffic duties when my senior wanted to send me to Japan on a course, just to edge me out. Traffic was huge revenue for some.
 
Another time when a district assignment was ridden with bootlegging, I managed to dry it out and rehabilitate illicit liquor sellers to honourable living. I sent rag picking children to schools, which are now community colleges and many of the same children working as teachers. I even opened drug abuse treatment centres from police stations which were never heard of.
 
All this became a lifelong mission and will remain so.
 
I did it all not for any glory; I did it because the service and situations demanded it.
 
Wanted to give Delhi all I still had
 
I stepped into electoral politics because I wanted to give my city all I still had, when I was given the feeling that I could be of value. I wanted to see it get a stable government in alignment with the Government of India to get all that Delhi needed.
 
I also wanted to not die one day with a guilt that I was commenting only and never daring to pass the ultimate test of electoral politics.
 
I have failed the test and I take full responsibility for my decision.
 
But inside me has not failed. Because given the time I gave to myself, I gave it all the energy and experience I had. Obviously it was not enough.
 
In such trying situations one does not meet the challenge alone. There are several factors which play a vital role. And each one did. I wish to add nothing more. History will keep analysing till cows come home. And as I read them, each one of them makes sense and worth being reflected upon.
 
The wise will read each one, and take due notice.
 
Need to rework the way we campaign
 
On the election trail, I wish to say we need to rework the way we campaign. Whole city or state comes to a grinding halt. Should it?
 
Roads are in disarray and work just stops. Everything is too loud, uncouth at times, insulting to thin skinned, false, insinuating, biased, revengeful, corrupt, wasteful, highly disruptive of common man's needs, breaking all laws, and sending all wrong messages. It's not a level-playing field for the level-headed serving people. It's a field for might and muscle in all respects. We need to address these and I hope to see it in my life time.
 
People need services to be delivered. They want integrity, trustworthiness, and professional commitment. They want an implementable vision and plans. But they also want freebies -- more you give; more the demand and in return more the gains.
 
Many do not get it still, that there are no free lunches in life. If you rob Peter to pay Paul, it won't be long before all get robbed.
 
Also all campaigning must become lawful, transparent, facts and evidence based, civil, organised, more technology driven, reasonable, unbiased, neutral through different mediums, etc.
 
Let candidates be chosen on basis of performance or implementable ideas
 
Space for public speaking or visual presentation could be allocated through neutral empires appointed by the Election Commission as per laid down rules based debates and also grass root work done, and let candidates be chosen on the basis of performance or implementable ideas -- which means widespread use of Television reaching out to the last mile.
 
Public ‘appeals’ through use of congregations must be not be allowed and considered a violation of laws. Hence, it must be banned.
 
It’s time every public servant becomes a stake holder in governing this country. Needs of people have far outstripped what the country can provide for, be it water, power, roads, public transport, schools, teachers, doctors, jobs, skills, and even girls. Forget about security for women, only God knows how long women will continue to suffer.
 
In the end, I wish to thank all those who reposed their trust in me. And to say I am sorry, I could not measure upto their expectations.
 
And also, all who called me with foulest possible names. I am relieved my parents were not alive to see this.