WHY THE GHOST OF AURANGZEB MUST BE EXORCISED

WHY KALAM REPRESENTS INDIA, AND AURANGZEB DOES NOT

While reading Gopal Krishna Gandhi's argument against Aurangzeb  being brought to life by this act of renaming Aurangzeb Road after APJ Abdul Kalam (you may read the article at this link: http://linkis.com/thewire.in/2015/08/3/qogyO), he has fallen into the familiar bogey of the Indian brand of secularism. What he is saying in effect is that while he completely agrees that Aurangzeb was evil, it is not advisable to discuss him in the open, as the debate would polarise the discourse. Besides, he contends that Aurangzeb's actions or Aurangzebiyat should be disconnected from him. This is rather disingenuous.

So the murderer of his father, brothers, nephew, and sister; the oppressor of the Hindus for their faith, the man who would not honour his words upon Qur'an (Reference: Zaffarnama of Guru Gobind Singh), and who would apply Sharia law in a Hindu majority country, the man who ordered the Sufi saint Sarmad and Guru Tegh Bahdur beheaded, who destroyed the temples of Kashi, Mathura and Somnath to build mosques on the sites; should not be discussed as it brings his ghost alive much to the discomfiture of many who either want to avoid Aurangzeb's Talibani narrative or secretly wish it to take root again. People need to know that Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed after being found guilty of blasphemy under Islamic Law. How was he different from the Taliban or Al Qaeda, if not ISIS?

Much though I admire the erudition of Gopal Krishna Gandhi (He was in the Mussoorie Academy last year to deliver a lecture to the common group of Phase V and Foundation Course IAS and Civil Services officers), I find this timidity to tackle an extremist narrative head-on a typical weakness of liberal democratic countries. It can be seen in Obama's assertion when he says that what ISIS is doing is not Islam, whereas every follower of ISIS believes that they are doing exactly what is contained in the Islamic scriptures. Even Europe was living in this world of make-believe till Charlie Hebdo happened and they woke up with a rude shock. India too has to counter the hate narrative contained within post-Quranic Islam with a counter narrative - not only of the syncretic values epitomised by APJ Abdul Kalam and Sarmad but also to emphasize the Indian spiritual thought which considers unquestioning belief the lowest form of spiritual calling, and even that Bhakti Yoga process or path is a completely non-violent one. This blending of Bhakti Marg and Sufism is what Dara Shikoh (some Persian lovers would prefer it as Dara Shukoh but Dara Shikoh is what India at large knows him as) was attempting when Aurangzeb's extremist Islam won - not in the heart of Indians or the battlefield of ideas but on the battlefield of war of succession.

For the first time, I am making public a letter written by Muhammad Akbar, the second son of Aurangzeb to Sawai Ram Singh of Jaipur. This is part of the documents and firmans kept preserved in the State Archives of Bikaner and form part of the extraordinary research of Dr. Mahendra Khadgawat, Director of that Institute. The original letter written in the style of a firman is followed by its Hindi translation. Even his own son avers in this letter that Aurangzeb is biased against Hindus and his father's actions portray his prejudice.

It is clear as crystal to any impartial observer that the only thing common between APJ Abdul Kalam and Aurangzeb was their love for playing Veena. Even these cultural activities were banned by Aurangzeb as he became more and more radicalised and gave up the more tolerant style of his predecessors. He decided to bring in the extreme Arabic version of Islam into a country in which Muslims were in a considerable minority. Forced conversions, imposition of a religious tax on kaafirs (infidels or non-believers), destruction of holy sites, extreme forms of torture of adversaries all led to a collapse of authority and rebellions broke out everywhere. He first tried to annex Rajput kingdoms, but that resulted in loss of authority in North India. Then Marathas and his own son, Akbar rose up in revolt and he had to spend last 26 years of his 49 year rule in the Deccan playing a game of roulette with the Marathas and Bahmani sultans. His foolhardy ventures ultimately paved the way for the end of Muslim rule and Sharia Law in India forever. Even Pakistan hasn't been able to bring full fledged Sharia Law of the Aurangzeb era.
So both the apologists for Aurangzeb, and those unwilling to confront his ghost have to just take a gulp and adjust to the new realities. The Aurangzeb narrative must be discussed, confronted and defeated. No use evading it on the grounds of a hollow secular argument. There was  nothing secular in what Aurangzeb did nor is there anything secular in the ideology that he sought to impose on India. Kalam, on the other hand, is the very embodiment of India's secular ethos in the Dara Shikoh mould.
Aurangzeb, therefore, is a ghost which India has to openly exorcise.  As the progenitor of Aurangzebiyat, he cannot escape scrutiny on the basis of some phoney differentiation. Aurangzeb and Aurangzebiyat are one. Three fourths has been done by renaming Aurangzeb Road as APJ Abdul Kalam Road, let the remaining one fourth be done by renaming Aurangzeb Lane as Dara Shikoh lane.

BRILLIANT DIPLOMACY BY INDIA

DOES OUR MAINSTREAM MEDIA UNDERSTAND THE D OF DIPLOMACY OR S OF STRATEGY

The charade of Indian MSM discussing the India-Pakistan engagement in a typically shrill and surcharged manner is nothing new, but the discourse plummeted to such abysmal depths of naïvétè and stupidity that one really wondered whether whether IQ of our premier journalists has just evaporated or is driven so much by personal agendas that all sense of perspective has been lost.

Contrast this with reporting in the Pakistan media. They seem to have got a far better measure of Indian diplomacy than the Indians. All their major newspapers highlighted the success of India's diplomacy after the PM Modi visited UAE and brought off a diplomatic coup with remarkable dexterity. A Pakistani news service carried the headline "Modi steps into the wedge between Pakistan and UAE". All the Pak newspapers carried balanced account of PM Modi's new diplomacy of connecting India from Far East to UAE and even Iran and Israel. They highlighted his statement made with steely flourish that India would move on with, without or despite those who don't care to join in. Nobody could miss the reference. Pakistan media got that and so did Pakistan establishment.

Given this background, I find it extremely naïve on part of our big names of journalism to entirely miss the point that talks between India and Pakistan would actually have been a big reward to Pakistan and India loses nothing if the talks are called off. US, Afghanistan, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Central Asia are all tilting against Pakistan and therefore, India has no reason to reward Pakistan with talks at this point. Ufa was a brilliant gambit by the PM. It could be turned into a success only by someone who had an accurate understanding of how things would pan out after the Ufa declaration. It happened exactly as scripted. Credit for this would go to Jaishankar, not Doval. It's a brilliant and emphatic diplomatic victory. Jaishankar understood exactly what the reaction would be from the Pak Army. He understood that Pak Army has all the levers but their understanding of diplomacy is of the sledgehammer variety, not the silken variety. So what would the Pak Army do - exactly what it did. It was such a no-brainer that when we see our experts and journalists shouting themselves hoarse and lamenting the collapse of talks, they fail to realise that India has pushed Pakistan into exactly the place it wanted to. Ask Christine Fair who has been saying right since the day Ufa declaration was made that talks reward Pakistan and enable them to perpetuate the cycle of terror-talk-terror. No clearer articulation of India's position has been made in decades the way it was done by the EAM Swaraj today, who brought home the distinction between talks and dialogue. 

So to summarise. India's push with UAE, USA's refusal to certify Pakistan's sincerity in disrupting terror networks in Afghanistan, Afghanistan Vice President's threat to attack militant shelters across the Durand Line are all part of a pattern. Expect Pakistan to come unstuck very soon. Of course, there will be the usual Pakistan response on the LOC and through activation of their good terrorist networks. Nothing new there.

Get a life, Indian MSM. Rejoice at a great victory of Indian diplomacy

Farm Distress and How It Can Be Tackled

THE FARM DISTRESS - IS ANYONE INTERESTED IN A SOLUTION?

The death of a quasi-farmer in a rally - ostensibly to challenge the Land Acquisition Bill, has brought to the fore the issue of farm distress in a rather ironical manner. The party holding the rally has little to do with farmers, being an urban party rooted in Delhi where every farmer doubles up as a land dealer and doesn't have even a nodding acquaintance with poverty. The man who died was just a quasi-farmer in the sense that he derived his main income from peddling saffas, (see Jaipurisaffe.com) and rendering a service in tying them on festive and celebratory occasions. Not just that, there was no imminent threat of any land acquisition in Baswa Tehsil of Dausa district where the only land that may be required in the next 20 years could be for doubling of the Delhi-Jaipur railway line, or the Alwar-Sikandara Highway which joins the main Agra--Jaipur Highway. Both these possibilities are far removed from the village of Nangal-Jhamarwada to which the deceased Gajendra Singh Kalyanvat belonged.

The issue is that of farm distress. Land was always a national resource, and rightly so. Even today, most states call the farmers' land a tenancy. This tenancy has become a holy cow over the years for two reasons- one, the proliferation of a rent-seeking middleman class in areas where a land market exists, or an acquisition is afoot; and second because it suits the local politician to appropriate both goodwill and the land in the name of saving the farmer. Except Gujarat and to some extent, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Maharashtra, little thought has gone into making the land remunerative. We know now that the population solely dependent on agriculture is down to 22%, and contribution of Agriculture to GDP is down to 13%, yet the figure of 60% poor farmers is bandied about like an incantation. After the 1950s land reforms and 1960s Green Revolution, nothing has happened to remove the asymmetry between agriculture and national economy. Sharad Pawar had the right ideas in agriculture sector but was not able to deliver for reasons that can only be speculated. He did bring about great changes in Western Maharashtra and parts of Marathwada by encouraging diversification into horticulture based on micro-irrigation, and was instrumental in initiating the National Horticulture Mission, but the software part required to make it a  national movement remained absent. 

It is widely recognised that 3 kind of agricultural reforms are absolutely vital to make agriculture a viable option for a majority of people engaged in agriculture:

1. Integrated Farming: Crop Husbandry by itself is not a viable option in rainfed areas. It has to be supplemented by horticulture and animal husbandry and augmented by micro-irrigation. Even in irrigated areas, rise in income depends upon these innovations. The Gujarat Green Revolution Corporation is an example of how micro irrigation can spread in a State in an exponential manner.I was heading Horticulture in Rajasthan for 30 months. The protective cultivation module developed by us to supplement the crop husbandry in Bassi area of Dausa district is bringing an additional annual income of 20-30 lakhs to farmers on land which used to yield barely 25-30000. Introduction of tissue-cultured date palm in the desert areas is bringing significant additional incomes. If anyone wants to see a model of integrated farming in the world, he needs to go only as far as Kutch where progressive farmers are earning as much as 40-50 lakhs per hectare annually. I tried to adapt that module in Western Rajasthan. Why can;t more states take that route
2. Modern Seeds, credit and insurance reform: Populism has thwarted any movement on these aspects. After the success of BT cotton, India should have imparted momentum to modern seed industry, but the entire scientific discussion got hijacked by environmental fundamentalists. Credit institutions have been killed by frequent loan waivers, so farmer has to depend on usurious loans. Regressive ideas have prevented a full roll-out of crop insurance policies. All these aspects have to be tackled. With PM Modi at the helm and path-breaking work by him in Gujarat, I have hopes but have doubts if the more regressive elements would allow him to tackle this headlong. Allowing BT Brinjal trials is a welcome move.
3. Market reform in produce and land: With all their pro-farmer pretensions, how the parties can oppose FDI in retail boggles the mind completely. All progressive farmer organisations support it. Sharad Joshi of Shetakari Sanghatana was its foremost proponent. The argument about small businesses getting ruined is a completely disingenuous one. When the same amount of production brings 40% extra produce from the farm to the fork, everyone wins. "It's the middleman, stupid", seems to be the only explanation. Coming to land, 60 years of antiquated policies have distorted the land market completely. Those who want to cultivate don't have land. Those who have land mostly seek rent by becoming absentee land-lords and big entities have no hope of getting into farming business at all. The Gujarat land policy is a universally admired one. What is preventing the present govt. from extending it pan-India is not known. The amended Land Acquisition Bill is a step in the right direction notwithstanding all the noise, but stops short of actively encouraging land pooling and consolidation for infrastructure projects. This has been the norm in Gujarat. Are you aware that the 3rd Ahmedabad Ring Road has been built without acquiring a single acre of land and purely through land pooling and consolidation. That methodology may require a separate blog. Long term leasing is not permitted when the ground reality is that 70% land is being tilled by share-croppers or contractors. Licensing is not even contemplated. Antediluvian Land Revenue and Tenancy Acts dot the landscape. Selling of agriculture land faces severe restrictions, producing absurd asymmetries. Land conversion is a huge scandal across the country. Once again I have to advert to Gujarat, where these issues were successfully addressed. Unless we modernise our agriculture market and land policies, farm distress will occur and recur with nauseating regularity.

Perils of Executive Decision Making

EXECUTIVE DECISION MAKING

DIAGNOSIS

1.    The Civil Services' Structural Framework

The Indian Civil Services have come down as one of the major wholesome contribution to India and its administration. The ICS of the British times morphed into IAS and IP into IPS. Art. 312 of Constitution of India (henceforth, the Constitution) made a provision for All-India Services common to the States and the Union, and various Central Services were carved out by way of Acts of Parliament, or under Art. 309 of the Constitution. One of the greatest acts of political and administrative maturity was Sardar Patel's decision to retain the Services bequeathed to us vide S. 240 of the Govt. of India Act, 1935. I need not labour on the warp and weft of the Services as all of us are aware of it, but the initiation of empanelment system has greatly diminished the integrating features of the steel framework of the country. Added to that is the gradual change into development orientation of an independent country from the regulatory orientation of the Services in the colonial era.

2.    The Public Expectations

After India gained independence and the embers of the fires lit by mindless violence and bloodshed died down, a new era of expectations began. The cycle of expectations from public is endless. However, from all the available evidence, the transformation of the Civil Services into a true public service role has been far more difficult than envisaged at the dawn of freedom. The political leadership chose a mixed economy model with the Public Sector commanding the heights of economy. The role of public servants in this scenario was crucial. As it transpired, the senior Civil Services officers of the ICS were not schooled in the new syllabi. They took much greater time to adapt than the public would like. Initial years after independence were therefore spent by the Civil Services negotiating these crossroads. After the sixties and the debacle in India's China war , the years of doubt began, which went on till after the Emergency. After the country had regained a bit of confidence in the wake of the vivisection of Pakistan with a resounding victory,  the JP movement and the ensuing incarceration of democratic institutions left a trail of doubts among the youth and the lay public which are yet to be erased. In today's situation, with most of the institutions becoming assertive and seeking to control (as opposed to regulate) the Executive through various straight and not-so-straight methods and stratagems. One also saw during this period of coalition politics a certain loss of confidence in the Executive leading to a proliferation of institutions for quasi-judicial and quasi-executive work. Most of these institutions would go on to attempt a course in which they could make their presence felt and what better than doing turf-building with the obkective of having the Executive dance to their tune. The plethora of regulatory institutions and Commissions are symptom of this disease where Executive fights shy of taking responsibility.

3.    The Political Executive's Expectations

When the first elected governments took office in 1937, the steel frame was completely protected - by the Governor in Provinces and by the Governor General in the Federation. Federation never had its elections due to the outbreak of the 2nd World War, but the Ministers were working directly under the Governor who had untrammeled power to refer any of the Ministerial decision to the Viceroy. The clamour for Dominion status was sought to be silenced by this half baked measure. The two and a half years of native ministries in the 11 provinces of British India saw the ICS officers working at cross purposes with the Ministers and the experience of the Political Executive was not very happy. The ICS and IP had their loyalty to the British Crown through the Secretary of State and not to the Provincial Government. This experience of the public servants was at the back of their mind when the matter was debated in the Constituent Assembly. The proposal for constituting All India Services was first put forward by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru led Committee on Advising Constitutional Principles to the Constituent Assembly[1]. In spite of many misgivings, it was Sardar Patel who defended the impeccable credentials of the Civil Services in this Committee and that's how we have the present IAS to which we proudly belong.

The intermingling between the Political Executive and the Civil Services was very rule driven in the beginning as would be expected at the dawn of a new era with idealistic politicians and a Civil Services schooled in the tough school of Rule of Law. There was not much of Media to contend with. The higher Courts were busy interpreting the Constitution, and the CAG viewed his role as principally as an accountant. In an environment of shared poverty, the opportunities for personal aggrandisement were too far and few between.

Over the years, the probity environment has deteriorated. The quality of Political Executive had been on a terminal path of decline until arrested by 2014 mandate. Political Executive became more and more powerful and arbitrary vis-à-vis the Civil Services and this necessarily had an impact on the probity and fearless giving of advice by the bureaucrat over the years.

After the opening up of economy, we had the phenomenon of crony capitalism sneaking through the front door and the back door, and this is what has led to the windfall numbers we have begun to hear today. Coupled to the turf building exercise of the proliferating institutions, old and new, and negligent Government towards the impact the few bad eggs were having on the overall environment of probity and concomitant deleterious effect on the honest officers, we have also had a new era of Judicial activism. This activism has altered certain fundamental principles of culpability and liability. We have had a creeping invasion of concepts of 'presumptive liability' and engrafting 'vicarious liability' into criminal law where it doesn't belong by law as enunciated under Art. 141 of the Constitution any number of times by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India itself.[2]

So the interplay between the Political Executive and Civil Services has definitely deteriorated in respect of the latter. In the States, it is particularly bad and skewed against the upright officers. Even in the Union,

Things have deteriorated sharply, what with the unwillingness of the governments to remove the anomalies in the law under which even honest officers are getting victimized by overzealous agencies.

So the entire question has to be framed in this context. There seems to be a better appreciation of the role of civil servants since the new government has taken charge, but the anomalies in rules and laws used to flog sincere officers still remain on the statute book.

4.    The Accountabilty Paradigm

a.  Vigilance

     The Chief Vigilance Officers are there at the Union and in most States. While their existence is unquestionable, their understanding of what constitutes misconduct is very very questionable. While the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India lays down that negligence simpliciter  and Error of Judgment  are not misconduct[3]. Day in and day out I get cases with casually framed charge-sheets indicting people for technical violations without a shred of mala fide, and at times not even that. Unfortunately, our Law of Torts is so lax and procedurally so complex that a man cannot claim damages from the government which puts him through so much harassment for no fault of his.

b. Audit

The CAG ceased to be merely the auditor of govt. accounts as ordained by the Constitution, when the UOI Law Deptt. and  Parliament negligently allowed a set of Rules framed by CAG himself giving sanctity to Performance Audit. We fully well know that the officers of CAG have no experience in conducting performance audit and the same accountant who audit our accounts are now conducting performance without either having the knowledge or the experience for it. This is giving rise to piquant situations, and with the increasing tendency of the Media to highlight CAG's report as evidence of crimes even before they are put up before PAC, is complicating the situation. Even though it is a manifest contempt of the legislature, the noise gets the better of light.

c.  Judiciary

Judicial overreach is a fact of life and we need a separate session for it. The difficulty arises when the Courts themselves violate the principle of Stare Decisis every other day, and hand out increasingly arbitrary decisions, life really becomes difficult for the officers. I have often wondered in the past 5 years whether it is really worth taking the pains to reach out and help out. In the cynical times that we live in, the slightest technical slip could land an officer into trouble with no reference to his intention for doing the good Samaritan act. For bringing a technology not available in India, I had to face overzealous and sadist police officers. I got through with my knowledge of law and the precautions I had accordingly taken, but I am absolutely sure someone else in my shoes would have landed in a soup.

d. Lok Ayukt/ Lok Pal

This is one more level of accountability one has to put up with. By the way, I once got a notice from Lok Ayukt because as President of Rajasthna Cricket Association, I refused to give complimentary passes to his staff, though he had been given his quota. Such are the caprices of authority in India. Sadly, officers have no recourse to justice in such cases.

e.  Legislature (Questions/Committees/Motions)

This is our Constitutional scheme, but when the level of legislators declines, some of these can be used to harass an officer who doesn't give in to extra curricular requests. Then there is the ever present threat of breach of Privileges. One lady police officer was sentenced to a months' imprisonment without following the natural justice doctrine for the supreme offence of not being courteous to the Chairman of a Assembly Committees.

f.   Media

I would like to see an officer who can handle obstreperous media without giving offence. In Rajasthan, we have some media moghuls who openly demand favours, and run scrolls if you don't oblige. Nobody in the govt. helps them. In fact, my crusade to reduce the Court Fee on libel/defamation suits by not treating them as property suits has been going on for more than 15 years, but to no avail. Even a suggestion to charge the Court Fee post-decree has fallen on deaf ears.

g.  RTI

This is NGO's gift to governance. Try negotiating in the middle of the street with a hundred people watching. With all the Information Commissioners appointed who need to demonstrate their relevance, governance has come to a halt. People are mortified at expressing positive opinions on note-sheets

h. Human Rights Commission

While protecting human rights, it thinks nothing of violating their own mandate. Problem of overreach and turf building

i.    Women's Commission

j.    SC/ST Commission

k. Informal Pressure Groups

l.    Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988

The misuse of PC Act is the single biggest threat to functioning of officers, particularly positive-minded officers. As per the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, the oft-misused Section 13(1)(d), unless wrongful gain is proved, an error of judgment in determining public interest in discharging one's duty cannot be termed as criminal misconduct[4]. Yet, Siddharth Behuria is facing a prosecution for implementing a Cabinet decision, and PC Parekh is being indicted by a Court in spite of prosecution letting him off, for alleged arbitrary decisions. There is no case that he made any wrongful gains for himself. The sheer wording of S. 13(1)(d)(ii) of the PC Act, 1988 lends itself to so much arbitrariness that no one wants to do anything positive for the fear of being hauled for the nebulous crime of abusing his position to obtain pecuniary benefit for others.

PRESCRIPTIONS

1.    Training of Watch Dogs

The accountability enforcing institutions are usually totally oblivious of administrative functioning. I know a few judicial officers who do not know the role of notings in reaching a decision. For them, overruling a negative noting is usually a presumption of favouring someone. The Anti-Corruption police establishments are similar. Coupled with our draconian bail regime, they simply create a terror psychosis among others, which may be good for their ego, but is disastrous in government functioning. Politicians do little to change the law to afford protection to genuine work, and governance suffers. Proper training could go a long way in addressing mistakes of oversight

2.    Training of Civil Servants

Every Civil Servant needs to train himself to make sure that all his actions are in consonance with requirement of the accountability regime he has to deal with. There will be difficulty, but the officers have to continuously train themselves to deal with it. An elementary knowledge of law is always helpful. I, along with my lawyer wife, am working on a compendium of essential case-law which every civil servant ought to know. One does not have to become a legal expert but one must know what can land you in unnecessary trouble and also how to continue doing positive work without falling foul of some overzealous auditor or judicial officer. Just have to work a little harder.

3.    Training of Political Executive

This may the most difficult prescription. But there is silver lining. With the spate of graft cases against senior political leaders, there may be a window of opportunity to train the political bosses.

4.    Training of Media

This may be the easiest of all. Large number of reporters are just greenhorns and have no idea of government functioning. A lot of reporting is misinformed reporting. Helping to train media personnel in the functioning of govt. and governance methodology may eliminate a lot of vexatious reporting.

5.    Exposure of Judicial Officers in Civil Services

This ought ot be on the same line as the IAS officers' training module. Every officer of the Subordinate Judiciary ought to work as an SDO for a period of one year to be able to fully appreciate the functioning of administration. Judges of the Higher Courts also need to be exposed to practical working of administration. This will eliminate a lot of Judgments which get passed due to inadequate appreciation of the nature of executive functioning.

6.    Accountability of Watch-Dogs - Strengthening of Torts Law (Defamation/Libel/Malicious Prosecution)

India must be the only country in the G-20 which does not possess a functioning framework of Torts. Ubi jus ibi remedium (Where there is a right, there is a remedy) is the Latin maxim on which the entire foundation of English Common Law, which in turn forms the basis of Indian Civil Law, rests. Law of Torts, or the law of damages is the essential ingredient of this philosophy. Every civilized and advanced country has a robust law of damages for wrongs committed. However, till date not one State, nor the Union, has activated the Entry 8 of Concurrent List, viz. 'Actionable Wrongs'. Arbitrariness of Police and Judicial officers goes unrequited in this system. If a person was detained in custody in an advanced country and later found innocent, he would get millions of dollars in damages and the persons responsible for this outgo would likely face serious music, and part of their salaries would go towards this pay-out. The Police and Judiciary in India are terribly casual and remiss due to absence of such a provision. The prosecutors who routinely ask for custody for flimsy reasons would think ten times before asking for frivolous custody.      

CONCLUSION

Thus the challenges in executive decision making are many, but they are neither insurmountable, nor do they give any cause for us to become negative. We also need to sort out the habitually negative officers in the Civil Services and weed them out ruthlessly. They have had it all too easy doing fault-finding. These are the people who bring infamy and opprobrium on the Civil Services. They are, however, often the darlings of media, judiciary and even the auditors. This fundamental dichotomy lies at the heart of the crisis in Executive Decision Making. Let us address it with guts and gusto.

---

[1] Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol 4, 21st July 1947

[2] (2013) 8 SCC 71

[3] (2007) 4 SCC 566

[4] (2009) 8 SCC 617

I was in Delhi on 31st October, 1984

The Civil Services exams. were beginning on 1st November, 1984. I was taking the exam, in spite of already having a fairly lucrative career as a Marine Engineer. I had taken a Barsati on rent in Tagore Garden, a quintessential middle class locality in Western Delhi. a largely Punjabi locality, it had been my abode for the previous 2 months, from where I used to commute to my coaching institute. My landlord, Mr. Kukreja, was a Punjabi Hindu, and one could quite clearly see that the locality had a sizeable sprinkling of Sikh families.
John Prasad Menezes, a Christian from Mangalore had become a friend in the institute and we used to prepare together for our common subject, History. He was there the previous day and we had done our final polishing through the day and he left in the evening, and we had decided that we would keep the next day free so that we could be in a relaxed frame of mind on the day of exam.
On 31st, I did my brushing up for the two compulsory language papers which did not really bother me as I was quite good in both English and Hindi, and so around 2 pm, I decided to indulge in one of my luxury outings, i.e. go to the nearby restaurant and have a dosa. As India was playing Pakistan in a one-dayer, it was also an opportunity to catch up on the score as I had kept my transistor off for several days in order not to lose focus.
As I ensconced myself in the run down restaurant and ordered a masala dosa, I saw a few people huddled around a transistor listening very intently. I asked one of them, "Bhai sahib, kya score hua?"
His reply was somewhat baffling. He said, "Abhi hospital le ke gaye hain."
I was somewhat confused. I persisted, "Vengsarkar to abhi hai na". "Nahin abhi khabar nahin aayee hai. Hospital mein hi hai" was the response. I was getting more confused than ever. "Injured ho gaya kya", I asked.
The man understood now that I did not know. He asked me, "Pata nahin kya? Indira ji ko goli maar dii hai". It took me precisely 10 seconds to finish the dosa and to get glued to the transistor. In a little while, it was announced by AIR that Indira Gandhi was no more. I do not remember whether it was announced or now, but it was known that it was an act by the two Sikh body guards to avenge the Operation Blue Star.
There was grief all around. She was not at the height of her popularity at that point. In fact, it was largely expected that Congress would fall short of majority in the next elections. But nobody had bargained for what had just happened.
I went back to my dwelling. I dusted up my transistor and put it on. Luckily the battery was holding. I could sense that there might be trouble if reactions took place but I was not quite sure what to do. AS yet, there was no word about the exams. the one-dayer had been called off even though India had a rare chance to defeat a strong Pakistani team. The tour had also been called off. I had the choice to go to my cousin sister's house in Krishnanagar in Trans-Yamuna area, but it would be very difficult to travel to the UPSC from there as there was no word about the exam.
By evening, it was announced that the Civil Service exam. was being postponed indefinitely. I hought of leaving for Krishnanagar as the shops had been shut and I had not stocked up my provisions. I used to depend mostly on bread and butter and powdered milk. I had one loaf of bread and enough butter, but nothing else. The neighbourhood restaurant had shut down for the day and I was in a quandary. The bus services had also shut down and I had to stay put. I went to bed early as had become my habit after carefully eating the minimum out of my limited rations.
I think it must have been around 2 in the night when Mr. Kukreja came up to my 3rd floor Barsati and woke me up and asked me to come down and attend an emergency mohalla meeting. I was not clear, but he told me that all male members of every family were required to attend the meeting. As he had three daughters and his wife in the family, he thought of asking me to accompany him as a family member. I felt honoured, and a little relieved too as I could see this development as an insurance against my meagre and fast dwindling rations.
I quickly changed and went down. The meeting was close to our place. It was a huge gathering of nearly 200 persons. There were around a dozen Sikhs in a highly agitated state. They were carrying all kind of arms, from kripans to swords to guns and I was truly flabbergasted to see about a dozen men carrying arms sufficient for a full platoon of Army. At first look, it appeared as if there was some kind of altercation on. However, things cleared up after a while.
News had come in from various places that an anti-Sikh pogrom was on in various parts of Delhi and some relatives of our Sikh neighbour had already been killed. Name of a political party was being freely taken and our Sikh neighbours were saying that a mob was coming from outside and they would face that mob outside rather than be waylaid at home in darkness.
The argument was on a different point. The Hindus were telling their Sikh friends not to risk themselves in the open. It was a hearty sight to see a hundred young Hindu men volunteer to do night guard duty to ensure that no outsider was allowed into the locality, and another rotation was planned for the day. I did guard duty that night. The Sikhs were placed at the centre of the Mohalla, where they would be safest. The camaraderie was elevating, to say the least.
We did this duty for 2 nights. Army patrols came o the 3rd night, on 2nd November. The killings had stopped by 2nd. The funeral was on the 3rd. I survived this period by borrowing some food from my landlord as bread, butter and milk were not available.
On the 3rd, I was told that a few buses were plying for those who wanted to go to India Gandhi's funeral. I took my landlord;s permission and hopped on to a bus which took me to the Central Secretariat. After that, I walked 12 kms. to my sister's house. On the way, I could see the fires still burning, a testimony to the destruction which had taken place.
I have just placed the facts as I remember them nearly 30 years after the event. Can we deduct the truth out of this?

Were women ever safe in India?

It was 1978. I was a young 18 year old cadet in the Marine Engineering College, Calcutta. I was coming home on leave. Father was posted in Lakhimpur, 135 kms. from Lucknow, and I had boarded a second class unreserved compartment of the evening local Express.
It was a metre gauge train (still is). I was sitting in a section with two wooden benches facing each other (as it used to be then and still is in most general compartments). I was sitting on the aisle side. There was a young girl in her early twenties, looking to be from South India, occupying the window side on that bench. There were two young men, around thirty, occupying the middle section, sitting facing each other.
Train had moved out of Lucknow Junction, the then metre gauge station from which North Eastern Railway used to operate (now it is the broad gauge section of NER). It did not have a stop at Aishbagh. It halted briefly at Lucknow City and then moved on and moved out of Lucknow city. Some time after Bakshi ka Talab, I noticed that the person sitting on my side inching closer to the girl, who
shifted ever closer to the window, looking uncomfortable.
Within a few minutes, this man was pressing himself against the girl. The girl tried to admonish him - yeh kya kar rahe hain aap?
The man roared out a raucous burst of laughter and both of them passed many lewd remarks (best left unmentioned). In a matter of seconds, they had started groping her, and the and the man sitting in front even took out a fifty rupee note (quite a sum in 1978) and offered it to her.
I was aghast. The men were tall and strong. The girl had started shouting for help. I was quite frail and no match for their physical prowess. I still gathered some courage and said - Yeh sab kya ho raha hai?
The guy in front, who was busy trying to fondle her face even as the guy closer to her was trying to violate her in various places, turned at me quite menacingly and left me in no doubt as to what my fate would be. In a nonce, he had left me in no doubt that he would have no compunction in doing a gay act on me, besides establishing all possible relations with my mother and sister.
It was quite clear to me that if they went on in the same manner, the girl would probably be stripped in no time. The stark fact which stared me in the face was that why nobody else in the compartment was responding to the loud shrieks of the girl. The next stop was Sidhauli, at least another 45 minutes away, and if it went on for some more time, the worst could happen.
I got up and went to the next section where there were at least five persons sitting. I requested them for help - to no avail.
Next section, I was greatly comforted to find two armed policemen sitting. I told them what was happening and asked them to intervene. What I got was the most profound shock of my young life. They said - bhaiya ham duty pe nahin hain.
I was completely befuddled, highly agitated and nervous. I just did not know what to do next. In my heightened anxiety, I just rushed back to my seat. What I saw completely appalled me.  One guy had almost forced himself onto the girl, and was molesting her at will. The girl had turned mute with fear. Then something of a   brainwave struck me.
I shouted at the top of my voice again - but in English this time. The effect was dramatic. The guy let go and turned at me - yeh m.c. angrez kahan se aa gaya. Kaun he be too. Teri ..... lagti hai kya. The other guy suggested that I was also quite cute looking and could be a fair game. But I had got my cue.
I rushed back to the two policemen and started shouting at them in English. The essence of what I said was that I  would complain against them, and have them suspended if they did not listen to me and help. They looked puzzled for a while, then they could understand just two of the thousand odd words that I spewed out - complaint and suspend. They finally shook their fat frames and got up. I commanded them to follow me. They came over to the place where all the filth was going on.
The guys shrank as soon as they saw two uniforms. The policemen commanded the two guys to leave that place and then sat there with me. The girl was saved.
I will never forget in my life the way the girl thanked me - bhaiyaa tumne mujhe bacha liya. It took a little time to sink in. Then I realised that I must get those two guys arrested. However, the train had pulled into Sidhauli station by then and the guys disappeared.
After that, the next hour was full of tales by the policemen, mostly of my being the son of SDM, Lakhimpur (which of course was far from true but I play acted as if it was). It appeared to be a most natural fact to them as anyone speaking English must be of a high pedigree. They told this to the whole compartment, putting them in awe of me. The girl, it so turned out, was a nurse. She belonged to Kerala and was on her way to join her duties in a Lakhimpur village.
It is for the first time I have penned this story - after 35 years. I was forced to do so after reading the plight of a foreign girl in a blog titled "India: A story you will never want to hear" ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1023053 After reading this, that entire scene came flooding back. It seems nothing has changed in this land. The same attitude of treating a single girl as a fair game. The same apathy from the people around you as if your modesty is your own business and others as citizens could not be bothered. The same prying questions: Why was she travelling alone? Oh, then she must have given them a reason for this assault. Oh, but nobody wants to go around court-kachehri endlessly. Why did she have to work at all? Why work at such a distant place? Why? Why? Why? A series of endless questions, all suggesting that the girl brought it upon herself.
This is my anthology of that incident. I solicit your reactions, before I put forth my diagnosis and remedy of a situation which is much more than a law and order problem.


 

Anna's contribution to the collapse of governance

Anna Hazare, the itinerant crusader against corruption has made one fundamental mistake. He has failed to define corruption. It is this borderline which the blackmailers and persons with vested interests have always used to browbeat honest officials to do their bidding.
How does the govt. system work. it follows a set of laws, rules and regulations to deliver services and regulate the system. There are ways of doiing this. You follow the rules to the letter and you are accused of red tapism. You tweak the rules to speed up work and you could end up on the wrong side of superiors. When I joined service, an irregularity was treated as a minor infraction and it could easily be regularised depending on how your bona fides were viewed. With the proliferation of vigilance agencies (to which we will add Lok Pal soon) and the probing eyes of burgeoning news channels, every minor infraction is getting translated into culpability. This is only strengthening the technically correct adherence to rules,i.e. the infamous Red Tape and making it virtually impossible for anyone to bend the rule to speed up work. With an overzealous CBI chargesheeting people at will and media breathing down their neck, we are going to introduce a great disservice to our citizen, i.e. the extinction of the public-spirited bureaucrat.