Photo Courtesy: Economic Times BY RAVI M. KHANNA
Pragmatic
politicians in a democracy would always want to reach out and touch
people as and when they get a chance because the real interaction with
the people, the real connect with the people, mostly happens during
election campaigns only. Because once they are elected, public access
to their corridors of power is immediately restricted by officials who
surround the leaders. So the political wisdom says that they should
seize upon any chance they get to interact with huge crowds in order to
reach out and touch them before their next election.
But top political leaders in India, unfortunately, missed that chance, or may be deliberately avoided the chance.
They
missed the opportunity when after a brutal gang rape of a 23-old
trainee physiotherapist, concerned Indians poured on to the streets of
New Delhi and several other major cities to express their outrage over
the rape, the police indifference towards security of women and the
slowness of the justice system of the country. This was a genuine and
spontaneous outcry. They were looking for some kind of assurance from the top leaders of the government that the culprits will not be spared.
But
instead of assurances what they got was a senseless effort by the
police to disperse the peaceful crowds, using archaic canes and water
cannons and blocking roads and closing metro stations around India
Gate, the venue of their protest rallies. Instead of government leaders
talking to them and assuring them about bringing the culprits to
justice, it was police beating up innocent young girls and boys holding
a peaceful rally with batons and water cannons.
When the
demonstrations continued every day and the scene got real ugly on the
seventh day after the rape, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came on TV to
tell the crowds to stay calm and that the government plans to look into
the issue of women's safety by appointing a committee -- a well known
tactic of buying time to deal with the issue. Sometimes it seems the
slow reflexes in India in dealing with the issues stem from the old age
of its leaders. Most of them are above 70 years in age.
Whatever
the reason may be, because of the episode it became very clear that the
Congress party leaders have no desire of any direct interaction with
the people, except during the election campaigns. No one can say if it
is indifference or a political miscalculation or just a wrong advice by
some novice advisers. When the prime minister used TV to make a
statement, it was the eighth day and thousands of young people (future
voters) had been pouring on to the streets for seven days with the hope
of some kind of an assurance.
There were several accounts of the
meaningless police action to disperse the peaceful demonstrations. It
was meaningless because India is a democracy, is not under any state of
emergency, and every Indian has a right to peaceful demonstration. Here
is an account of a concerned citizen who went to the India Gate rally
just to support the demonstrators and the rape victim. This is what he
(Sanjeev Sood) wrote on Facebook:
"......................................WE
WERE SIMPLY TALKING. I had just finished my packet of biscuits when the
police, hundreds of them from DELHI POLICE and RAF (Rapid Action
Force), charged at us from behind, WITHOUT ANY WARNING.
"They
first attacked the men from behind. I stood up to see what the
commotion was about, and immediately fell as most girls didn't get
enough time to stand up. I hugged Smitaji as we fell on each other and
there was a stampede over us. Some of the men from the circle ran for
their lives, but most of them ran towards us and hugged us and fell on
us and took the initial blows of the LATHI CHARGE.
"I couldn't
see anything. I just heard the two cracks of a SPLIT BAMBOO STICK on my
back, butt and thighs. Then I heard the police screaming, HARAMZADIYO,
RANDIYO, and then I saw a boot kicking my knees and shin. They hit
Smitaji on her lower-back and spine. The boys of ASMITA, and some more
men pulled us all up and all of them formed protection girdles around
the girls to push us out of the range of the water cannons and charging
men in KHAKI AND BLUE.
"Agreed that in such gatherings, some
nasty elements do infiltrate and create a raucous, but the police
didn't seem to have the basic sensibility to differentiate between
hooligans and some young girls, children, and elderly people. If Delhi
Police and RAF lack the basic cognizance to recognize the good from
bad, what protection can we expect from them? Instead I thank the
men of Delhi, the boys of Delhi, who helped all the girls to escape
from the wrath of THE POLICE....................."
But the
senseless actions by police did not end there. They alleged that one of
their colleagues died because of the injuries he suffered while
"managing" the crowds. The word should have been "manhandling". But
eyewitnesses said the policeman just fell down while chasing the crowds
and apparently had a heart attack. The post mortem report confirmed the
heart attack but also said he had some broken ribs and abrasions on his
chest, which some doctors said could have happened when the untrained
laymen were trying to revive him by pumping his chest etc. The report
also said he was hurt by a blunt force, which could be, repeat, could
be the impact of his fall on the asphalt.
But the whole thing could have been dealt with some political practicality. The
prime minister should have come on television within one or two days
after the episode, (if not within hours like US President Barack Obama
did after the Connecticut school shooting) to promise a full and rapid
investigation and full punishment under the law. But if that did not
pacify the people, another leader could have come on TV to make a
soothing statement.
One just wonders why Congress party chief
Sonia Gandhi didn't send Rahul Gandhi, who is being groomed to be the
country's prime minister and who can easily attract the youth vote, to
address the young crowds on the second or the third day after the
episode and let him try to reach out to them, especially in view of the
fact that his main agenda in the Congress is to get India's youth to
enter politics. He could have addressed them at a rally, or on TV,
assuring them that he will use all his influence in the party and the
government to get the stiffest punishment possible under the law for
the alleged rapists. There was no risk because a stiff punishment had
become a surety already. This could have been a much better training
for Rahul, as compared to the election campaign speeches he made in
Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
(Ravi M. Khanna is a longtime
observer of the South Asia scene and has covered the region for Voice
of America as the New Delhi Bureau Chief and also as the South Asia
Desk Editor in Washington from 1980 to 2011. He can be reached at
ravimohankhanna@gmail.com)
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