Why I Threatened To Leave Puducherry. Cleaning It Is Not For Me Alone.

I was on my tour to Karaikal, an outer region of Puducherry. 

The Union Territory has two others, Mahe and Yanam, contiguous to neighbouring states, like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. 

Puducherry is a very interesting erstwhile French-controlled union Territory. Pristine, spiritual, known as Vedapuri or a centre of Vedic learning, later the home of Mother and Sri Aurobindo, besides being abundantly gifted by nature, just like Goa. 

However I was on my first tour out to the southern region of Karaikal. 

The Collector there, a young IAS officer called Parthiban, planned my visit on August 18. Also present in the town was Mr R Kamalakannan, MLA from the area who is also the Education Minister of Puducherry.

I was informed a lot of prior cleaning happened to make the city presentable. I learnt this because lots of messages were received asking me to come more often.

My tour began with a meeting with all heads of departments of the Karaikal administration. Three other MLAs from the district were present along with the minister.

The presentation, slide after slide, revealed how the district had received "step motherly" treatment all these years compared to Puducherry. I was truly dismayed at the huge deficits as per the needs of the district. It has been more mismanaged than managed. (Barring some periods of an occasional leader.) As of today it needed attention. The Collector had just joined few weeks ago. 

The complaint was also made that no senior officer in recent memory had condescended to come and stay in Karaikal for a serious review of the district administration and to ask them what they really needed. But VIPs did make regular visits to the famous Shani temple and the district officials always facilitated the darshan. Karaikal is a part of the area's spiritual heritage. 

The presentation revealed the serious inadequacies all around. In fact, my question to the officers was, please show me what is right? And the last slide of "thank you" was the best one.

After the Heads of Department meeting, I was scheduled to meet with students. This was on a mass request. The Collector had arranged it in a sports stadium, which he said, after construction, had been kept locked up. For this occasion, he opened it up.

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I was now in an auditorium with over 2,000 students. The issue was: what do I say? Do I tell them what the government proposes to do with all its inadequacies, and assure them that it will be taken care of? Problems like the shortage of hostels, teachers, vocational guidance, buses, dispensaries, and even the issue of crimes against women?

Prior to this, I had requested my advance team led by Dr Amrita Bahl, part of the Lieutenant Governor's Office, to conduct a survey asking students what they can do for Karaikal. 

With a dip test, we realised they were looking forward to certain collaborative service with government agencies. They themselves suggested they would like to part of Swachh Abhiyaan, and also teach younger kids to compensate for the shortage of teachers.

I picked these two programs and got them in.

The following day, being a Saturday, was planned as clean up day, led by the minister himself (he is a very nice man). The minister announced the location of getting together and offered to lead the drive, even serve breakfast to all the students participating. There was a roar. And as I said bye bye to students, they asked me to come back soon. 

I told them "yes, next month", to which Parthiban later told me that he had exhausted all the cleaning funds on my current visit. This hit me hard,and the thought stayed with me as a serious concern. 

The next day, as planned, there was a huge clean-up drive. The minister led it, and the city showed its youth power. It showed the potential of collaborative energy. They only needed an induction or synergy. 
The next day was a Sunday. I returned to my weekend 6 am inspection round in Puducherry. (Since a clean, safe and orderly Puducherry has been a mission for me). I went to the lake site under cleaning, and the waste dump yard. I found all the tasks discussed/given on earlier inspection had made no/little progress. I gave a piece of my mind to the officers present. Some key implementors were missing in the team. I asked for them; no one had an answer as to why they were not there. I left the place in a fit of serious disappointment, wondering that  if this the state of affairs for a Lt Governor's visit, who else is left now to speed up the decision-making? 

I skipped a visit to another site planned earlier and decided that I will not let senior officers get away. They have got to be on site with me and ensure the work is done. 

I was now on my way to a social event full of youth, participating in a marathon race, organised by JIPMER, and Lions Clubs. Before me were the hundreds of youth to be addressed. As I stepped on the road, I saw the road littered with paper glasses and used water bottles. 

I had come from a dump yard, with soiled shoes with excreta on the soles, officers not having delivered, key seniors not present including the chief of bureaucracy who is a key coordinator, and yesterday's Karaikal visit when the Collector had told me that he had no funds to clean the city for my next visit, and this youth had littered the place, and this day was my 20th morning round. I was wondering how many rounds will it take me an LG to bring about the change all around.

With this all in my mind, I asked the youth if they knew where I had been this morning. They obviously would not know. 

I told them I had come from a stinking garbage dump yard. And that my shoes are still soiled in excreta and filth. I was spending all my weekend mornings getting dirty drains and roads cleared for them and here they continue to dirty it again. This will not go on, I said. That is when I said, neither you nor seniors are taking responsibility. If this will continue, I will pack my bags and go. I am not here to clean your....

If we want to make Puducherry clean then it has to be we, not me alone. There was a roar...we won't let you go...

Well then, I give you time till next month's end, clean up your respective areas as Karaikal is doing now, and senior officers have to join or else I am going...

The rest is history. The Chief Minister met me and assured me most graciously that he will put systems in place. The cabinet met, decided on systems of garbage and solid waste Management. They cleared the budgets with record amounts for such services. They also realised the public servants' leadership was amiss. 

I told the Chief Minister "You are not working with a person called Kiran Bedi, you are dealing with an office called Lt Governor of Puducherry. I shall not let the dignity of this office be weakened. Join in, do what is your duty to do. I am here to strengthen you, to make Puducherry prosperous."

Article Published on NDTV August 23, 2016 16:18 IST

Get ready to harvest super monsoon or miss the bus

Summers are becoming scary in several parts of India. Two consecutive deficient monsoons have driven mass migration cities.

We have seen images of endless rows of empty pitchers around dry wells, kept in the hope of water, even if unclean. Women and children walk in scorching heat to fetch water. Farmers’ suicides makes them widows and orphans. After watching these scenes, it’s difficult to drink even a glass of water. One feels guilty and angry.

Do what we can

Weatherman has given us hope for a very good monsoon. Do not give up, but do what ‘we’ can. I share the story of what ‘we’ did to fulfil our human responsibility. ‘We’ are a team of six — Navjyoti India Foundation, a non-government organisation (NGO) working in more than 70 villages of Haryana’s Sohna belt; the KIIT Group of Colleges, Sohna; The Sehgal Foundation, NGO with technical expertise in rural development; three local government officers; and Delhi University’s Cluster Innovation Centre. ‘We’ decided to combine our strengths and start ‘Jal Kranti’ (water revolution).

How ‘we’ did it

Navjyoti has 20 years’ experience of promoting education, self-help groups, water-harvesting, and skill training in rural communities. The KIIT provided the participants with its academic hall and refreshment, besides rural academic expertise. It also assigned its videographer to document the event for wider awareness. The three government officers do it as their job, fighting the shortage of resources, in view of the scale of the challenge.

The Sehgal Foundation brought its technical expertise to the table. The fifth partner was an academic at Oxford with skills in project management. The Cluster Innovation Centre designed the questionnaire for data analysis. One of the 15 questions was to know how much the rural leadership knew about the government schemes being announced, some by the Prime Minister directly on radio. The survey results will throw up some interesting insights.

Villages not ready

Present in the audience were the sarpanches and panches of over 70 villages of the Sohna belt, invited to share their water-harvesting plans for the monsoon. We had asked them to come prepared and speak by turn. We had set up cash prizes for the best solution.

As we heard one village chief after another, it became evident that the village councils were not yet prepared or were still to gather to plan ahead in spite of the water crisis looming large, nationwide. Many of them had started having issues even before pre-monsoon. For instance, they said their ponds couldn’t take in rainwater because these were choked with the village sludge. So how will the rain water be harvested? Where do they divert it? They needed technical help.

The six partners responded to some of the issues with solutions but the absence of a concerted community plan was obvious. The village representatives seemed unorganised individuals. We did not see the community spirit in them.

Waiting for another Marathwada

None of them appeared impatient for solutions. It seemed they thought Marthwada couldn’t happen in their region. Even if it did, they did not seem worried. Was it because fetching water is woman’s burden?

The concept of shramdaan (voluntary labour by the youth and able-bodied to dig ponds and wells for saving water) was alien to them. They were banking on MNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme). No panchayat had any tree-plantation plan either.

Divided community

The team realised that ‘we’ could miss the possibility of harvesting a very good monsoon that is predicted. While there was no community bonding, there was no plan, enthusiasm, commitment, concern, skills, unity, confidence, or ownership either. Village communities are divided heavily on caste and faith lines. They belong to sects, not the village as a whole. We need the district collectors to make ‘we’ teams in every district — involving local NGOs, experts, forest and panchayat officials, students, and professional college youth to dig underground channels that will give them water even in a drought year.

Small window

The time is now, before the monsoon. Who knows when the next good one will come. Similarly for planting trees. Sehgal Foundation expert Lalit Sharma told the village representatives to prepare the pits now, with right plants identified. The ‘we’ teams of water collectors is the answer nationwide. The governments should be proactive in implementation. The coming together of professionals and the youth with a spirit of community service in their own villages is a must. The data analysis by the Cluster Innovation Centre experts is awaited. We will know what measures to take for community bonding. Haryana may offer us a model of community bonding for Jal Kranti.

As A Police Officer, Shaktiman Was Let Down

I am not sure if Shaktiman, our brave, handsome white horse of the Uttarakhand Mounted Police, had leg guards on when he was on duty when his leg was thrashed and he fell down and injured himself. 

We do not have proven evidence of what happened. The visuals are indicative but not conclusive. How the injury was caused is a matter of police investigation. The person suspected, a politician, was arrested and is currently on bail. He continues to deny he hit Shaktiman. 

We do not know the truth. We only have a gut feeling! 

But my question is: was Shaktiman, our brave mount, whom Maneka Gandhi addressed also as a police officer on duty, protected both on his face and legs to protect from getting hit or injured in case of stone-throwing? This is what mounted police gets in many countries - due protection.
 
If that was not done, then it was inadequate preparation for mounted police to be deployed to maintain law and order in such a volatile situation. 

Mounted Police has a distinct advantage when positioned correctly. It gives a higher visibility and allows walking on tracks which are not road-worthy. It's very good for patrolling, can walk inside parks, on beaches, in small lanes, or on undulating surfaces. But when crowds need to be dispersed, I am not sure we should use horses. It can hurt both people and horses.

For dispersal of crowds, we have better options. We have trained personnel for riot control who are reasonably protected with riot gear. We have tear gas shells. We have water canons. We have rubber bullets too, though these are rarely used. 

Mounted police is at risk when it is unguarded (face and lower limbs) as perhaps Shaktiman was, in a lawless, stone-throwing situation where even cops were hit.
 

I think it's time to restrict the deployment of Mounted Police where it can serve us as best such as ceremonials, patrolling the streets, small lanes, rural areas, and, of course, for visibility and confidence-building.  

Shaktiman's case also compels us to have a fresh look at our law...(sic!) The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960. 

It's a shame that it has not been updated till now. 

Section 11 of the said Act says, ''If any person beats, kicks, overdrives, tortures, so as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering or causes, or being the owner to be so...Shall be punishable in case of a first offence with fine which shall be not less than ten rupees, but which may extend to fifty rupees and in the case of second or subsequent offence committed within three years of the previous offence with fine and shall not be less than twenty five rupees but which may extend to one hundred rupees or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with both."

If our state assemblies and parliament do not legislate to keep up with the times, who does one complain to? Shaktiman's case also shames the legislatures to correct the law.

The Animal Board can also recommend appropriate changes (these may already be pending, who knows) to make the law effective, deterrent and respectable.

For now, the accused who has been arrested for cruelty to Shaktiman, if found guilty, will pay Rs. 10, maximum Rs. 50, since it may be his first offence. But the cost of his investigation and trial may run into thousands when measured against the time and effort invested by criminal justice system.

Besides the loss of majestic mount akin to a cop on law and order duty..the less said the better!
 

My own version of Shaktiman was Chandni, my 6-year-old horse who trained with me for nearly a year at the Police Training Academy in Mount Abu. We had riding classes every day and not once did she let me fall. Chandni was a very beautiful, well-behaved horse and there was a lot of mutual respect.

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.

Ensuring right to life and security

Just because we in India are more than a billion people does not mean we let people die in blazes, collapsed bridges, stampedes, floods, riots or even while crossing the road. Life in that case will be highly unsafe.

Insecurity breeds fear that affects human development and creativity. The biggest hallmark of civilisation has been the guarantee of human security. Or else what is the difference between earlier jungle living and now urban setting? What is the point in living in gated communities, but once out of them being vulnerable to all kinds of risks? The key to ensuring safety and security is respecting and adhering to laws made by mankind. Right to life and security is our basic need.

To provide this basic right, a country secures its borders from external invasions. Alert soldiers ward off enemies from any intrusions even if it is at the cost of their lives. That is why we daily hear of brave encounters. Brave men and women in uniform keep awake so that we are not invaded. They protect our geographical boundaries. It is because of them that we sleep in peace.

Internal security

But what about internal security? Who are its soldiers? They are both in uniform and in plain clothes. They are the civil administration. They are specially selected, elected and appointed by people. If they fulfil their responsibilities honestly and sincerely and without fear or favour, people enjoy internal safety and security. It’s when they fail that people die in fire blazes, on roads, in floods or in other manmade disasters.

Internal security keepers must consider themselves akin to soldiers on the borders, envisioning what would happen if they fail their countrymen? We will be overrun by marauders who will come and exploit our vulnerable sections, rob us of our wealth and resources, enslave us and perhaps kill us too. Just as we expect our soldiers on the borders to secure our borders without being reminded to, we expect the local administration to be civil soldiers within, protecting and ensuring our internal safety.

Police, civil servants, elected or nominated or selected representatives are internal soldiers, whose duty is to guarantee internal security by doing their duty without fear or favour. Anyone coming in the way is the enemy of society and has to be dealt with as per laws.

Rules flouted

Had rules been followed, we would not have lost over a hundred lives at the Kerala temple with hundreds suffering from burns. It has left behind orphaned children and grieving families. If the district administration had denied permission to the temple authorities for fireworks, it was also their duty to prevent its violation by courageous enforcement. They failed in their duty to protect people as internal soldiers, which is a criminal breach of trust.

All manmade tragedies have a few common factors: Neglect of one’s duty, callous behaviour towards others’ safety, greed or highly selfish motives behind neglect, showing off of one’s pelf, power or position, taking risk at others’ cost and indifference to others’ suffering.

We, the billion-plus people, need to be a better humanity with a better sense of responsibility. We should have an enhanced consciousness towards our duties. We should respect human rights and live our lives for a higher purpose. We have got human life to do good, and not to injure and destroy others. Let’s be trustworthy civil soldiers to serve humanity, and protect our people with the same courage and patriotism with which our armed forces protect our borders.

Had predicted Kolkata flyover collapse, writes Kiran Bedi

I had anticipated the collapse of the Kolkata flyover on one of the recent visits to the city and asked it on Twitter who was in charge of this ghost structure. Left unattended for years, the rusting, concrete juggernaut without a workman near it was just waiting to cave in. It had to take lives to let the world know it was dying.

Cases would be registered and a few company officials arrested but no one would say a word about the other public servants (political or non-political) responsible for the oversight. We’ll hear public statements that they will spare no culprit and compensate the families of the victims. Then politicians will descend on the scene. It has become a predictable drill.

When under pressure, politicians wait for the next disaster or the public memory to fade. In our subcontinent, disasters occur too frequently for the general public to keep track of all. They who must be held accountable will never be.

Bureaucrats first

The clean-up should start with the public works department, from the lowest secretary to the highest bureaucrat. It was their duty to oversee the work, clear the bills, do regular site inspection, audit/test the material, and ensure that safety standards were followed. How many times since 2008 did they review the project? We do not know, nor will we get to know, unless we file an RTI. It will be months before we get the information, which will be incomplete and not of much help.

Files will show where the matter was kept pending at the administrative and political levels. The construction company went bankrupt within a year of the project, so blame will be shifted to it, without transparency and accountability, even though many politicians also deserve to go to jail over this.

Leaders retract

Can the area legislator and MP be held accountable? I heard the MP say on television that monitoring the rusting flyover was not his job. The Trinamool MP of Kolkata North said that by the time the flaws had come to his notice, 60% of the work had been over. He forgot what he owed to his voters. Did they pick him or his party? No one knows. No one can ask. No one will reply.

What about CM’s accountability?

As CEO her government, is West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee not supposed to review the progress of pending projects for public safety? But she said on TV that her predecessors had awarded the contract and it is they who should be asked why they had hired a blacklisted company.

Information in the public domain suggests that she knew the company was untrustworthy. The question is who will dare to ask her what her government had been doing for almost five years? No one can. She has already put the blame o the company and washed her hands off it.

Opposition not innocent either

How about the Opposition parties who also seek votes? Did they protest to seek time-bound completion of the project? If they did, when and to what effect? Did they persevere, or gave up? They can say it’s best to protest when the structure has collapsed, not when it is collapsing. Imagine the votes the tragedy will get them. They say the Opposition’s accountability is never certain; tell them so is the case with public vote.

Public guilty, too?

Cities have their media and citizen groups for taking up causes. Did they find out what the government was up to? I fear they, too, will turn around and say: “O’ please, we do only campaigns like marathons, environment runs, save the tiger, school charity (that don’t question the government).”

It’s not safe for the local media to ask the government uncomfortable questions. Then who will? Who killed the people?

The hand of God?

Did the voter under the bridge not have the duty to exercise safety? Was it the hand of God, as a company executive said, as another man on TV said: “The state anyway is run by God.” Since God is neither visible not accessible, how do we make God accountable? But the case should not be closed. The challenge is to fix responsibility.

@SivadasTV2, who follows me on Twitter, had the following suggestion. I think it’s worth considering. “Pass a law requiring all elected representatives to file a monthly intelligence report on illegal activities in their constituencies.” Will the voter demand it? But again, from whom? They who do not understand the words ‘responsibility’ and ‘accountability’? India begs for accountability, from its corporate houses, public servants, and appointed and elected representatives.

Will the judiciary take suo-motu notice?

Delhi Cop Monika Bhardwaj, Ignore The Trolls. You Did Good.

It's a curious, hungry, angry world on social networks. Social Media reflects the microcosm of our society. We have cynics as well as applauders. But we also have marauders who use the anonymity of space to be offensive too - trolls!

After this tweet by a sensitive and a communicative Delhi Police Officer, she was horribly trolled.

Here is what she tweeted, and see what happened. (Monika Bhardwaj is a young IPS officer, an Additional Deputy Commissioner Police, West District in Delhi Police.)

I recall I was asked a question on my Twitter handle as to whether it's appropriate for a senior cop to disclose the nationalities of the accused, to which I tweeted back saying, yes, if it is to nip nefarious rumours and in the larger good of society, if it is to maintain peace and harmony. (I believe it helped )

The police was swift in taking action in arresting the accused involved in the brutal lynching of dentist Pankaj Narang, who was killed with hockey sticks and his rods by a mob at his own home in Vikaspuri. The police were well-aided by technology - pictures captured by CCTVs privately installed by other residents in the area

The good news is that people have become very conscious of maintaining security in their own area. They are filling a vacuum.

But the question I wish to highlight is whether Indian Police services are using social media enough, both for crime prevention and crime detection? Is it being used to its full potential to raise general awareness and seek participation and support?

The fact that Ms Monika Bhardwaj got trolled and was abused is indicative of not enough use of the social network in normal and better times...and certainly not enough two-way traffic.

There is a sniff of cynicism from within the department also for reasons not understood (I can only conjecture). I believe the police organisation is still at the stage of formulating the policy on use of social media. An occasional page on traffic information or creating issue-based circles for views is just not enough. It's not vigorous to engage, provoke and encourage visitors to come to social network sites.

I believe it could do the police services good in current times to formulate and implement a proper social media plan when there is a large proliferation of smart phones. Use Facebook and Twitter and others in local languages for maximum participation, positive or negative. At least it will tell the police what people are thinking, which is important to know.  

Here are a few other steps which I think the social media policy could incorporate.

First and most important: the purpose of its use. What are the goals? What is being set out to be achieved? Social media could have various sections of traffic, crime prevention, crime interdiction, behavioural issues, satisfaction levels, ideas, observations, alerts, safety issues, initiatives, recognition, awards, new policies, experiences, feedback. The object is engagement with the community which increases security.

In a two-way communication, social network sites must become essential "go- to places".

Social networking is cost-effective. It comes at lightning speed. It enhances accountability of the police service (while providing anonymity to the troller - so be it!) I thought the police world over is used to brickbats, not kudos. The former is a daily affair while the latter is occasional. But this will increase once communication is well-conducted, has a face from the police department side, and is always well meaning for the larger safety of the community.

So what if Monika was abused? We cops are trained to deal with it. Earlier it was to our face. Now it's on the wire!

Well done, young friend. Keep up your communication, and do not get bullied by bullies. You also were appreciated. Hope your department appreciates what you did. You stopped rumour-mongering. You checked escalation of any further breach of peace.

You did your duty well. You are the new generation of tech-savvy, communicating cops, and a woman at that.

Arrest of JNU students, and the policing side of it

So much is being debated about police arrests these days in view of the students of an elite university in Delhi having been arrested. Here, based on my experience in policing, I will try to explain when police make an arrest and when they don’t. Why do police in one case make an on-the-spot arrest, while in another they may wait, defer, delay or even not make one? Is it because it is to favour anyone? Or be unfair to another? What does the law say? Does it give the police any discretion? Further, who are the police accountable to when they use the power of arrest? Also, when and why do police seek police remand for some people they arrest, while in others they let them out on bail soon after? Also, why are some taken into custody for interrogation while some after arrest are released on bail either by police themselves or the courts.

Why these differences?

The answer to this lies in understanding the law and its processes. To arrest or not to arrest, when and where to arrest, are important discretionary powers the investigating officer exercises. It is a responsibility with full accountability and justiciability before the judiciary. In many democratic and developed countries, false arrests call for heavy penalties and loss of job for erring police officers under the law, which enables civil penalties and damages. In India, it calls for suspensions as well as criminal proceedings leading to prosecutions.

This discourse is against the backdrop of arrest of students from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for alleged seditious slogans raised in the university. Since the police arrested them for grave offences, which were non-bailable, and wanted to investigate intensely, they sought police remand and the courts gave it. By now, all arrested students have been sent to judicial custody by the courts and the bail petition of one of them is to be decided soon. On the other hand, the police, while dealing with the same case, did not make any spot arrest of riotous lawyers on the Patiala House court premises even when their ‘hooliganism’ was captured on camera. It’s a different matter that some of the advocates were summoned and later arrested and granted bail. In their case, the police released them on bail as the offences were bailable by police. While in the case of students the bail could be granted only by the courts.

Both happenings are under investigation, so I will desist from drawing any conclusions.

Power with responsibility

Coming back to the power of police to arrest, in my experience, every arrest is a power to be exercised with a great sense of responsibility. Because arrest means restraint on the other person’s fundamental right to freedom of movement.

No arrested person can be detained beyond 24 hours by the police without being produced before a magistrate. This ensures protection from illegal detention. Every arrest is a discretionary power to be exercised with total accountability. The police may or may not arrest. In both cases, the officer is answerable to his seniors and to courts.

Here is what the section of law on arrest says, and I quote here only the headline that is meaningful. Section 41 of Criminal Procedure Code says: When police ‘may’ arrest without warrant. The police ‘may’ arrest. It’s not ‘shall or must’ arrest. This is where the police officer on the spot gets the discretion by law. Now, the discretion which the officer exercises is scrutinised by the courts when the person arrested is produced before the magistrate. If the court feels the discretion has been abused, the court can even discharge the person and seek an explanation from the police. The police are defended in the court by the state prosecutor, who is not subordinate to the police. He is independent. Therefore, chances are that he will not defend before the court an unjustified arrest. The accused on production is made aware of the grounds of arrest. The accused has a right to defend and is also given legal aid in case he cannot afford a lawyer.

It is this discretion in power of arrest that comes under debate daily as it did in the incidents of both the JNU students and riotous lawyers.

Under court scrutiny

We may or may not agree with the timing or decision of arrests, but this is to make readers aware that justification of all arrests made or not made is scrutinised by courts. These are situational keeping in view several factors. Because it is the duty of the police to ensure law and order and not let it deteriorate. As then Delhi police commissioner BS Bassi said to the media that he did not order the spot arrest of the lawyers at Patiala House court “to avoid collateral damage or further aggravation of law and order situation”.

The courts, meanwhile, are reportedly issuing contempt notices to erring lawyers too. The Bar Council, too, is examining their conduct under the Advocates Act.

It’s a question of our believing or not believing in the judgment of police whenever they make arrests.

Over the years, we have been losing faith in police; we tend to doubt their intentions every time even when they are in keeping with the law or the discretion it gives. There is a thin line between prudence and cowardice.

The real test of such situations is the intention known only to the police officer in charge. But, we judge them and often doubt them, which is what makes the job of policing most challenging in polarised situations.

Had cops touched lawyers at Patiala House Court, it would’ve been mayhem:Kiran Bedi

IPS officer Kiran Bedi discusses police-lawyer run-ins old and new with AVISHEK G DASTIDAR & PRAGYA KAUSHIKA

What is your opinion of the violence by lawyers at Patiala House Courts?

Public memory is short. This is not the first time this has happened. Except that it has happened before a younger generation…

Do you believe that lawyers involved in the violence should be arrested?

Of course. They must be arrested, held for contempt of court and licences cancelled too… Had we been doing so in the past, anywhere and wherever they committed breach of professional ethics, we would not have reached this situation. We only saw a repeat…

How well do you think the police handled the current situation?

Had the police tried to arrest lawyers, mayhem would have happened. So the police acted with maturity and prudence. It was a question of minor injury versus major injury. From my experience I know, had the police touched even one lawyer that day, all the lawyers would have ganged up and more violence would have taken place.

In 1988, you had ordered a lathicharge on lawyers in Tis Hazari Courts…

The lathicharge was in a different situation. It was in a narrow space, so because of physical proximity, the matter led to a scuffle and a lathicharge. Here, it was open space, police had the choice of escalating it or not.

What have your personal experiences with lawyers been?

Showing the law book to unionised lawyers for violations they commit, least of all arresting them, is like putting your hand in a hornets’ nest. You will be stung several times over. And almost left to yourself to deal with its fallout for the rest of your career, if not your life.

In I Dare, you wrote of a ‘nerve-wracking’ time after arresting a lawyer.

Indeed. It was like going through fire! What started with handcuffing of a lawyer who committed theft in St Stephen’s College… went on snowballing… for almost a decade of protracted legal battle impacting my career… No one was willing to appear for me… till the SC intervened and K T S Tulsi agreed… Later I faced a hostile commission of enquiry… I as a former tennis player was used to playing a three-set match. With the then legal fraternity I played a nine-set match.

In the current case, do you feel the Centre has acted as it should have?

This is a police matter turned highly political… What has Centre or state to do with it? Police responded to an FIR by a MP… Allegations made out a case of seditious behaviour. Police registered the case, collected evidence, arrested an accused who happened to be a union president… Matters got heated when the university got visited by politicians making provocative statements and these getting widely televised…

Give health the respect it deserves

It’s something we experience daily. Yet we do not give it the kind of respect it deserves. It is a healthy body. The real wonder of the world is the gift of good health to a living being.

In the past few months, we in the family, close friends and relatives had been in a spin, attending to a loved one who was not keeping good health. He was hospitalised, discharged, hospitalised again and finally set himself free of all suffering. But what is left behind is the deep loss to the family, friends and the causes he was serving. He paid inadequate attention to his health despite being regularly advised by family, friends and doctors.

Everyone has to die one day. But one need not hasten it. This kind of loss is caused by personal negligence, when a person takes the gift of good health for granted. In this attitude, he chooses to ignore early indications and delays attending to his health. Such a person does not “stitch in time to save nine”. We usually tell ourselves, ‘Nothing will happen’, ‘everything will be all right’, ‘it’s all destined’ and ‘time will heal’. Many do not seek timely help, medical or social, when it’s available. Such an attitude ignores proper diet, personal management, lifestyle or the environment causing the decline or other contributing factors.

Dealing with crisis in health

Dealing with crisis in health of a loved one places highly stressful demands on family, friends and finances, causing heavy dislocation on all three counts. The departure of a loved one causes deep deprivation, leaving behind a void.

We witness this frequently, but many do not realise that the inevitable will happen to the observer one day. Apparently, the realisation of consequences of this attitude is absent in our grooming systems, be it home or education.

We over-eat, consume unhealthy food, do not nourish our mind and body correctly, overuse it, overload it with extraneous responsibilities, and also make stressful acquisitions way beyond required needs, little realising that one day all this will be left behind, and counted by those who may not even be there to perform the last rites.

If we truly love our family, our first responsibility is to maintain ourselves for our own sake and for those whom we do not want to see suffer. Despite that, if one takes ill, there is a willing support and acceptance, as the situation was not invited by that person. That is why daily correct nourishment of mind, body and soul is vital and has to be an integral part of growth, upbringing, schooling and community life. It’s also about collective social health.

Asset to society

Being healthy adds to national wealth. Every healthy person is an asset to society as he contributes his energy and productivity to the well-being of the community in one form or the other. Since maintaining good health is a personal responsibility, it’s left to the conscientiousness and maturity of individuals as adults, parents and citizens.

The interesting part is: we all tend to expect this from others, forgetting about ourselves. By this failure, a great amount of suffering is caused. We need to learn and practise to prevent and minimise it. We know the inevitable will come anyway. But why fast-forward it? As Galib said, “Age travels at a galloping pace, who knows where it would stop; we do not have the reins in our hands, we do not have our feet in the stirrups.”

Therefore, do not call for accidents on your own. Respect, serve and guard the human temple as its priest with joy and gratitude.

Are we preparing children for challenging years ahead?

This Children’s Day, I was invited to speak to teachers at a well-known school in Delhi. I thought I had three options. One, share with them my thoughts on what good teaching is. Second, to ask them to share what they had to say to a question I had in mind. Third, to get them to answer the question that needed to be addressed and then share with them my views on good teachers.

I chose the third option. The question I asked around 200 teachers present was what they thought was the one thing they needed to do to prepare children for the next 70-80 years. They were requested to write down the answer for later analysis.

I hinted at a few things, like growing environmental stress, climate change, infrastructural inadequacies, traffic congestion, population pressure, security concerns, health access, likely deficiencies in support services, nuclear families and the ageing challenges. I asked them how they as teachers were grooming their children, who would outlive them. And a follow-up question was: who is primarily responsible to prepare them?

The answers I got

Here are a few responses to my first question. “Nowadays, children do not have clarity between what is right and what is wrong. They should have moral values. They don’t understand what struggle their parents have undergone to meet their demands. They think it is their duty anyway. Children should understand their responsibilities too. In today’s world, children think having a bank balance is success. But they should understand that fulfilling their moral responsibilities nicely is success.”

Another response was, “The most important quality a child should have is to be able to be a good decision-maker. If this quality is imbibed, the child will be on the right path and will be able to devote him for others’ well-being.”

Another answer was, “Children are sensitive and they follow what their parents do as they are their role models. So first of all, we will teach the child to express himself, whether it is right or wrong. When he will grow up, he will know the right from wrong. If we develop this habit in the child, we will be aware what is going on in his mind and can direct it in the right direction.”

Yet another response was, “Children should understand the meaning of change as they always have to face this. They need to learn how to accept changes in their life and how to make changes in their environment. If they are able to learn, they will be able to survive anywhere, at any time and in any decade.

Parents, teachers to provide nurturing

To my second question as to who would provide this nurturing, the unanimous answer was parents and teachers. Here is a response, “As the saying goes, ‘Practise what you preach.’ So it’s we who have to imbibe these qualities and act; only then our children will be able to think, act and imbibe. Only we as teachers and parents can teach our children by asking their views about a social issue. This way, we can inculcate the habit of expression. If we ask their viewpoint it would help children think and choose options and develop the habit of decision-making, and they would gain confidence. This way, children will become good human beings besides being sensible and responsible citizens.”

So the ball was back in our court as parents and teachers.

Advice to teachers

What I told teachers was: ensure due respect to every child’s viewpoint; make sure you are accessible to them all the time; enable shared expectations; encourage self and love of learning; and teach collaboration.

The teachers I got the feedback from were from Delhi International School, Rohini, and Navjyoti India Foundation. Next time, I will connect with schoolchildren and ask them what they would like to see in their parents and teachers that would help them prepare for the next 70-80 years, and who they think can best provide them the grooming? I cannot wait to know their views.

Time management, a matter of seconds

“Do you know how many seconds we get each day?” Just one hand went up to this question in an audience of more than 1,500 students at a business school where I was invited to speak on time management. The others did not have a clue. They were amazed to know they had 86,400 seconds in their account each day.

Every night, this account becomes empty as we go to sleep. We are left with no credit, as we cannot store these seconds. We also cannot even overdraw. Each day opens with a new account, this is the law of nature. How we invest these 86,400 seconds is in our hands. Our good health, happiness and success depend on it. Whether we fail or pass depends on variable factors.

Every one of us arrives with the gift of energy, visible from the moment we are born. We enhance this energy when we breathe well, sleep well, live well, think well, work well, plan well, and also maintain and cultivate our relationships well. We draw energy from all things we do, but doing it in the right way and right amount is important.

Listen to the body clock

Our body’s system has inbuilt clock. It gives us an alarm when we are fatigued, hungry, depressed, sleepless, stiff, ill, and ageing. It tells us to listen to the body and change our lifestyle when we must. Our body asks us to replenish, repair, restore, detoxify, relax, rest, recover, and treat it. It wants attention, care and right use. Not all of us are built to be marathon runners, weight lifters, boxer, or sprinters. Even champions are not for life. Every purple patch has a time span. Overstretching the body burns it out.

Three periods and their purpose

There are three time periods in our lives - the past, the present, and the future. The past is for learning from experience to live well in the present and prepare for the future. Those who learn from history do not fail. Hitler would not have lost the war had he learnt from Napolean’s experience that Russian winter is the invaders’ deadliest enemy.

We must know our high-output and low-output hours, so that we can complete the difficult tasks when we are most active and easy work when the energy is down.

All creative people and meritorious students know this. Socialising during peak hours and studying during weak hours is doing it the wrong may. It requires only normal intelligence to know that we need to complete the urgent and important tasks first, or everything else in life will become urgent.

To do more in less time

If we are to achieve more in less time, personal discipline is the key. Treasure your time; evaluate regularly how and where your seconds are going. Stick to first things first. Make a to-do list and budget your time. Remember that 80% of the success comes from 20% of your activities, so remain focussed.

Set clear objectives and deadlines. Know why you are doing whatever you are up to. If you want to have fun, you must enjoy. Flow with it. It will help you cut your losses in terms of precious time. Do not stress and overburden yourself. Set realistic goals, and as said earlier, finish the difficult tasks first.

What have you sown?

You reap what you sow in those 86,400 seconds. I asked the B-school students: “If you want trust, are you sowing honesty? If you want friends, are you sowing goodness? If you want greatness, are you sowing humility? If you want victory, are you sowing perseverance? If you want harmony, are you sowing consideration? If you want success, are you sowing hard work? If you want reconciliation, are you sowing forgiveness? If you want improvement, are you sowing patience? If you want a miracle, are you sowing faith?”

Be careful in what you sow in the 86,400 seconds you get each day, for it will determine what you will reap. Fruits of labour are based on the choices you make through the day, one day at a time. Time flies, change is the law, growth is optional, choose wisely.