Act against delinquent babus

Jat stir: Top cops fled the scene and looked other way

Shocking and disturbing, are two key findings of the probe panel report on Haryana’s Jat quota stir recently, worse than the actual mayhem, looting, arson and chaos. Whereby, over 90 top civil and police officials were found guilty of negligence and dereliction of duty during the agitation.

The list contains names of many senior officers of the rank of Director General of Police (DGP), Inspector General of Police (IGPs) and Deputy Commissioners (DCs) who not only fled the scenes but also out of fear, deployed policemen to guard their own homes thereby allowing the arsonists to have a free hand.

Consequently, there was a total breakdown of the law and order machinery at least for a week resulting in huge loss of life and property, both private and public. To recollect, this is perhaps the first such agitation in Haryana’s 50 years history where political leadership, civil and police administration totally crumbled and abjectly surrendered before a small, but violent, gang of arsonists.

Moreover, had it been a different administration, like on earlier occasions, the agitation would not have taken such an ugly turn and been crushed in the bud. Notably, the Prakash Singh Committee, constituted to probe the various acts of omission and commission by the police and civil administration during the February agitation, has recommended stern action against 90 officials, including the then DGP and IGP Rohtak, for their mala fide and deliberate negligence.

More scandalous, was the fact that police officers of the rank of DGP and IGP, who are mandated to lead, direct and motivate their police force under adverse circumstances, chose to remain indoors for fear of attack or other malicious reasons. Ditto the case with four Deputy Commissioners and two Superintendents of Police held guilty of inaction and lack of proper administrative command.

Raising a moot point: Why did officials, cutting across ranks and files, resort to deliberate negligence on such large scale?
True, there might be some fearing factor among a group of officials, but overall it seems to be a part of a well-hatched conspiracy for political considerations. The arrest of a former Chief Minister’s close aide whose telephonic audio on instigating the agitators went viral, clearly points to a political angle in this sordid story. Likewise, the Jat community flourishes in police and civil administration, which leads one to surmise of them having a soft corner for their community protestors.

Indeed, whatever might be the reasons behind the babus’ inertia and letting loose an atmosphere of chaos, one thing is clear: The whole scenario put forward a very weak, miserable, indecisive and inefficient political leadership in the State once known for the hard-hitting approach of able administrators like Bansi Lal to tackle such situations in the past.

Interestingly, the probe panel has not recommended any quantum of punitive action against the delinquent officials, leaving it to the discretion of the State Government. Asserted Prakash Singh after submitting his report, “It is the government’s prerogative whether or not to initiate action on findings of the report, but I feel that a right message will not go if they are not taken to task.”

Remember, agitations for reservation quotas are not new in this country. Take the recent ones of Gujjars’ in Rajasthan, Pattidars’ in Gujarat and Kapus’ of Andhra Pradesh. All these agitations were well-participated, united and violent in nature. But nowhere, was there total collapse of law and order machinery for days altogether.

Undeniably, enforcement of the rule of law is the prime duty of State agencies, and if its officials run away from doing their lawful duty in saving people from such onslaughts, what is the use of choosing a government?

By Vinod Sharma