How disgusting and disgraceful it was for us to watch on our ‘idiot box’ screens on Monday 21 March, the scenes of someone accused of murder and notoriously known to be a criminal involved in many more heinous crimes, take oath in the nation’s Parliament as an honourable Member! Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav – a person who wielded influence and flaunted muscle power from within the jail where he was incarcerated, by holding durbars and violating every rule and regulation in the jail manual. This had warranted the Supreme Court of India to transfer him to Delhi’s Tihar jail, so that distance and better supervision here could control and negate his propensity to rig the impending poll, even from within Patna’s Beur jail.
It is the very same Apex Court that finds its hands tied then, to permit this individual his right to go to Parliament and take oath as a Member, five months after being eligible to do so, because he has been duly elected by the voters of Madhepura – his constituency in Bihar. To represent them and be part of the august body that guides and determines the destinies of the people, and makes laws for us all to respect and obey.
Duly elected! ….yes, the very same argument that we have presented to the United States to justify our protest at their ‘insulting’ us by denying Narendar Modi a visa to visit their country. The man denounced by our own National Human Rights Commission, and scores of others, as responsible for the failure of State agencies functioning under him in that not-to-be-remembered hoary-past-of-Godhra-related-history of 2002-Gujarat, to protect the fundamental rights of sections of its people!
What is it that makes us people of India, ‘duly’ elect ‘such’ people to represent us! Are we Indians as a whole a criminal minded people, devoid of scruples with no actual sense for the right from the wrong? Or do we cherish a ‘warped’ sense of what is ‘right’ which makes no sense to the majority of humankind! How and why is it that we make heroes of our criminals and law-breakers?
Never in the history of 58 years of our Independence have I known such unprecedented expressed desire of a people for President’s Rule – as was witnessed recently, when Central rule was imposed on Bihar consequent to the imbroglio and electoral stalemate that followed the state assembly elections.
Then it took President’s rule, for the frustrated Patna High Court to reveal to all that 20,000 people with non-bailable warrants of arrest against them are roaming about without fear of the law. Even in the run up to these elections, the state was plagued with kidnappings the likes of Kishlay Kaushal which in effect merely highlighted to all what we already knew – the actual deplorable state of affairs there.
Why is it that Bihar police could not arrest these so called ‘absonders’ and come down heavily on all those kidnappers and extortionists whose free run had forced the Bihar Chapter of the Indian Medical Association to petition the court for protection to its members targeted by these criminals? Is it because many of these culprits belonged to the party that ruled the state brazenly and even managed ministerial berths to some in the state and at the centre?
When a former police chief in this state fell out with his chief minister not too long ago, he spared nothing to expose the politico-criminals and declare that criminal content among politicians had led to a criminal-police nexus operating hand in glove. That all kidnappings and most murders are committed under full protection of the police and assurance that no action will follow. Reports indicate, around 80,000 people were killed and another 40,000 subjected to kidnapping and extortion in the past decade and a half – all linked to less than a dozen persons running gangs 15 to 200 in strength, who kidnap, murder and organize lootings.
It is this pervading sense of insecurity consequent to the unabated spiralling crime over the years, which has resulted in the people welcoming the President’s rule. Battling crime on priority, is what the people expect, and are clamouring for. Not mere lip service from politicians both in the State and the Centre who did nothing about it all these years.
Yesterday, I had a visitor from Bihar – Dubey my old trusted retainer, who had cooked for the family and been the major-domo around the house for long. Like lakhs of Biharis, he too had come to Delhi to seek his fortune, raised a family and married off his children, all through honest earnings through an autorickshaw for which we had stood guarantee. He returned to his village in Arrah, when elders left behind departed to the nether world. Relief writ large on his face, he told me there is now a silver lining on the horizon. God appears to be smiling on Bihar finally to remove people’s woes, he said. President’s rule has brought hope to his eyes.
It is distressing at the same time, to also read reports on the cynicism that is expressed in certain quarters: That President’s rule is not forever. The crime syndicates and their politician-police patrons have only to bide their time and lie low for a while. So the challenge before the Bihar Governor is not only to stop crime, but to wipe out criminals so that they never return. This, only by arresting all those 20,000 roaming around with non-bailable warrants of arrest against them, and a firm resolve to investigate and prosecute each and every case pending against them, to break once and for all the unholy nexus that did not let the hands of law reach them.
950 words
22.03.2005: Copyright © Maxwell Pereira: 60 Ashoka Road, New Delhi-110001.
The author is available at http://www. maxwellpereira.com; mfjpkamath@gmail.com
published in the Delhi Mid-Day on Wednesday, 23 Mar 2005
Comments
22 March 2005: Arati Walia
What a sad situation! Incredible criminal turbulence in Bihar allowed to prosper indefinitely under an illiterate Chief Minister and her goon-ish husband, now a Union Minister for the Railways whose only claim to fame has been the `kulhar's for tea' !!
And Gujarat and Modi... and Hindutva and the RSS and LK Advani. And our sqeaky clean PM has to defend the right of Modi to go to the US. You are right ! What is our collective consciousness ? A bit criminal, a bit self centered.
22 March 2005: Arati & Vijay Kaul
Good reading..Agree with your views.
22 March 2005: Bert Naik
Thank you for a great article.
I appreciate your courage in writing such articles.
25 March 2005: Hero Vaz
Good one. The seamy side of politics and of governments - central and state - has reached its nadir. You should write one on what changes are required in Election Law to make Parliament a clean institution that the people can respect.
26 March 2005: ARUN BHAGAT
Good article. Keep it up.
28 March 2005: assumpta D'souza
Those elements, part of our Parliment, like life: I do fear,being so brash & dare-devilish. They imagine they can get away with literally anything.
1 April 2005: admiral johnny johnson
Enjoyed reading your article. Would be indeed very happy to continue receving your views which I find frank, precise and thought provoking.
We have been very servile in accepting what our "netas" chose to dish out. I am sure people like you have the capability to usher in a change for the better.
2 May 2005: Ashwani Kumar Aggarwal
Read your article with interest. I could not write earlier due to some unavoidable reasons,we all are responsible and party for this, the makers of law and ruling the country are criminals and illiterate MP's many of them who don't even know the abc of law.
It's difficult to survive for an honest law abiding citizen.
Can I forward your article to my friends - some of them are High Court Judge?
