Maxwell Pereira - Indo Asian News Service
May 10th, 2009 - 12:55 am EST By Sindh Today
http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/94953.htm
Both retired from the elite Indian Police Service (IPS) - one on superannuation and the other prematurely on own volition. One to settle down in Gujarat and the other in Orissa - states that saw large-scale communal violence this decade. One is now engaged in crusading for human rights to bring justice to victims of carnage; the other allegedly spewing venom and hatred to arouse communal sentiment for political gain and more.
R.B. Sreekumar was additional director general in the Gujarat police heading state intelligence during the 2002 riots. He raised his voice against unconstitutional directives by politicians and seniors asking the police to turn a blind eye at frenzied zealots wreaking revenge on Muslims for the Godhra train killings.
In the aftermath, he gave statements to the National Human Rights Commission, the Election Commission of India and the Nanavati Commission indicting the state government for its role in the riots.
He accused Chief Minister Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of hatching the anti-minority carnage, and the state government of violating basic police regulations by allowing bodies of people killed in the Godhra fire incident of Feb 27, 2002, to be paraded through Ahmedabad - to instigate crowds and provoke them to violence. He was privy to the then police chief’s anguish over instructions to “…give a free play to the Hindu ire for next three days”.
Sreekumar also accused his colleague, the then police commissioner P.C. Pande, of colluding with the Modi government to delay imposition of curfew - to facilitate the parading of the bodies - and of taking no action to prevent communal riots from erupting, which resulted in nearly 2,000 people being killed.
For his stoic and courageous stand defying the official government line, Sreekumar suffered - he was transferred to positions with no responsibility; and denied due promotion to the rank of full director general of police (DGP).
This did not deter him from fighting to protect law and human rights. He fought his victimisation, and won the legal battle to secure his full rank as DGP after retirement. Settled in Gandhinagar, he strives to work for justice to the victims of the Gujarat genocide. Happy over the judiciary’s commitment to ensuring justice, in the recent Supreme Court directive to the Special Investigation Team to inquire into the alleged role of Modi in the post-Godhra carnage - he finds vindication of his own stand, and the country’s secular fabric protected.
Ashok Sahu is the other officer - originally of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre of the IPS - who resigned from service to settle down and join the BJP in his native state. Currently reputed to be Hindutva’s poster boy in Orissa, he is also president of the Hindu Jagaran Samukhya, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh.
Local cadres are apparently awed by Sahu’s claims of having “terrorised ULFA” (the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assom) during his Assam tenure; he is now accused of having found other targets to terrorise in his native Orissa.
The work of Christian missionaries and the impoverished tribal Christians have become his arena to denounce consistently, cultivating for himself the image of a crusader for Hindus. In the August 2008 killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, Sahu and his colleagues in the Sangh Parivar found an opportunity to target further the Christians in Kandhamal by blaming them for the killings.
There followed then the worst ever carnage on Christians in India - of pogrom proportions like those in Gujarat of 2002. Fanatical mobs ran amok attacking and killing Christians, raping nuns, looting and burning churches, hospitals, orphanages and other institutions run by Christians on the allegation that they were behind Laxmanananda’s murder.
With the announcement of elections this year, Sahu became the BJP candidate for the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat - in a gamble that piggybacking on the emotive issue of Saraswati’s killing he would surely win - to become the face of hardline Hindutva in Orissa. Laxmanananda’s murder was a handy election issue.
So, despite the arrest of CPI-Maoist leader P. Rama Rao alias Uday and his confession to the killing of Laxmanananda, Sahu continued with his campaign to blame and accuse Christians for it.
Apparently Sahu’s popular façade of being above the law by not caring or fearing the law which he had once sworn to protect, couldn’t last forever. His hate campaign was eventually taken adverse note of by the election authorities and local administration.
Just before the campaign period was to end Sahu was arrested by the Orissa police for his hate speech made at a rally in Raikia. Sahu was released on bail within three days. Most poll observers believe it was part of Sahu’s larger scheme to get arrested and gain electorally as a martyr for the Hindu cause.
Sreekumar and Sahu have their admirers and detractors - both are considered dedicated crusaders committed to their individual cause. Who deserves support - the one with courage and integrity to fight for justice, or the one accused of perpetrating hate and violence in the name of nationalism for political gain? Only time will tell how true or pseudo we people are, and who ultimately wins in this our so-called moralistic, tolerant and constitutionally declared democratic and secular polity.
(10.05.2009 - The author is a former joint commissioner of Delhi Police. He can be reached at mfjpkamathatgmail.com)
Comments:
Swati Parashar swati.orf@gmail.com : 2009/5/10 : London/UK
How unfortunate! and we thought in the All India Services one is taught that everyone is euqal in our country and that we are a truly secular democracy.....Its shameful, when people support communalism of such proportions as what happened in gujarat or orissa....I went to an Irish catholic school and being a Hindu was never a contradiction with my adopted christian ethos.....
what our country lacks is a genuine public discourse on secularism.....whats ironical in ur story is that both officers are Hindus? or so I assume? one decided to retain humanity and the other blinded by his communal vision. I also lament the lack of justice in our country when it comes to communal riots/crimes of all sorts......No justice..:(
Anil Chowdhry anil.chowdhry@gmail.com : 2009/5/10 : Delhi
Attaboy Maxie!
Pranita Das pranitadas2002@yahoo.com : 2009/5/10 : ??
its easy to analyse from a distance
Can the persons born and brought up in high-rise flats in metros ever understand the ground realities in traditional Indian remote pockets like Kandhamal. These persons who only get to see framed sky from their window can never assess the vastness of issues in any Indian village.
For whom grass may be reminding of lawns can never think of why frictions occur in lush green forests. The irony is that with a preconceived mindset usually the journos and desktop social activists from metros rush to remote areas of the country when any mishap occurs like the communal tension in Kandhamal.
Within a few hours they become wise 'seers' of the situation and never forget to bloat up any situation to make themselves sound like reporting from war torn areas in their Piece to Camera (PTC) to increase the TRP of their channels and their clout with their bosses. We the people close to ground feel what they report is nothing but coloured presentations of their pre-conceived ideas. We await for the day when we will have sons of the soil reporting the truth for us.
Proximity has no meaning in reporting for prime time media. Reporters and human right activists air dashing from thousand kilometers understand the incidents of Kandhamal better than the lowly 'moffussil' reporters near the spot.
Without knowing Oriya Naveen understands dreams of Oriyas better than they themselves. So, it is quite understandable that the people who do not know language and culture of Orissa would understand and report Kandhamal in better way. May be the same thing happened in Gujarat. So, the common mass had no link with the thinking of social activists and upmarket reportage. It is for sure even the 'capital'-ist reporters of Orissa have little or no knowledge of Kandhamal except for 'bioscope' provided by NGO and missionary heads who are also not from Orissa.
The irony is that after retirement the bureaucrats and police officials start realising many things which they never could understand while they were enjoying power.......Pranita Das
Veena Ginobili veena_820@yahoo.com : 2009/5/10 : ??
I just read the article in Manorama English edition about the 2 IPS officers titled "A study in contrast: Tale of two IPS officers". Thank you for this article.
I was reminded of this quote when I read your article: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".
I thank you for your courage. Regards, Veena
Surender Bhutani suren84in@yahoo.com : 2009/5/10 : Warsaw
Suernder Bhutani in Warsaw
Timely comments by you are worth admiring.
Keep it up Max.
best regards, Surender
Joseph Vas josephvas7@gmail.com : 2009/5/10 : ??
IPS training is unique in our country
Thank you for posting the tale of two IPS officials Mr. Sreekumar and Mr. Sahu.
One upholding the human rights and the other stampting them and hurting the feelings of people to ride high on the wave of hatred.
One suffering all promotion for the sake of justice and truth.
Other piggybacking on the hate campaign to contest election.
Then ours is a country where we have various types of people.
Religion is deeply ingrained in our blood. whatever religion we may follow it gives us some sort of sensitive feeling to fight for it's cause - whether it may be right or wrong.
There have been so many fights in the history of our country which have caused so many deaths and hatred.
We have even lost one of our great leader the founder of our freedom Mahatma Gandhi. We have not learned the lesson of tolerance and respect for each other.
Let us hope it is not too late when our people become fragmented by hate.
I am praying and wishing that we become sensitive to each other respecting each other for the faith one holds and believes...... Fr. Juze Vaz svd
S BHARGAVAN sbharg@gmail.com : 2009/5/10 ??
And that was great..we do hear a lot of examples of both kinds ..only wishing all the times that majority be of Sreekumar's type....we had enough of troubles around to make a living in these recession and should we have more unwanted things
S Bhargavan
Suman Dubey xxxx@gmail.com : 2009/5/11
…….. hope that ******* loses!
S... (identity with held on request) : 2009/5/10 : USA
Awesome....! Well done... what a crisp and clear article! Really really enjoyed it.
You words brought the anger out in me, especially when reading about the second retired officer running for a seat in the Parliament! What nerve... surely there should be a pre-requisite that anyone who's been arrested or accused of a crime cannot stand for elections?? I guess, then there'd be no one left to stand for elections ;) .......also worried over how you keep stoking these dragons... watch out for vendetta......
Francis Aranha
Nice!
Its like Marc Antony's speech..."for Brutus is an honorable man!"
ahmad anis
an eye opener for many:
I commend you from the core of my heart for bringing to the people the tale of these two officers. This should be an eye opener for many.
Both the officers took oath to protect the constitution and law of the land.
Now the question arises where lies the fault. . . . somewhere in the training? ....or the family values? ....or the upbringing or what???
India, a vast country with so many diversities religious, cultural, linguistic, climatic, regional and so on, is a beautiful Country.
I just don't understand why people like Sahu are out to spoil this wonderful fabric of our country. How long would this continue???? How Long???
Faiz ahmed Faiz the famous Urdu Poet said:
"We remain strangers even after so many meetings
Blood stains remain even after so many rains"
May Almighty Bless You!!!!! .....Anis Ahmad
Renu Kaul Verma
That is the tragedy of this country. Had the educated elite been one in fighting injustice, we would not have been ruled by the bloody goons.
F COLASO
Well said. You have very nicely and clearly expressed sentiments about these two retired senior IPS officers which I fully share and which I had wanted to express myself. I feel that in the case of Ashok Sahu the local police deliberately delayed in arresting him and assisted in his obtaining bail giving him the maximum publicity in his campaign.
In my view most of our officers who otherwise make such grandiose postings on all sorts of subjects, fight shy of discussing important subjects pertaining to the Police which are unpleasant and do not reflect well on the Service even when these subjects are of professional relevance or importance. These include the role of the Police in the Sikh riots of 1984, the Gujarat riots, the demolition of the Babri masjid, the 1992 Mumbai riots, the carnage in Kandhamal and the communal incidents in Mangalore. In all these you will agree the Police not only abdicated their responsibility in maintaining law and order but blatantly assisted one group against the other clearly demostrating their communal bias......Francis
Rohit D'souza
excellent article and very well written. I am proud of your fearlessness to stand against the lunatics of our times. The crowds can write articles over articles, the Priest and the Bishops try their best to let others know the truth, but when articles are written by fellow IPS officers, the arrow strikes deep. Your article is sure to raise eye brows - of the bureaucrats, and ruffle the feathers of the so called protectors of the law. But at the end I am sure it will bring peace in the long run – peace, when people know the truth and make the right choice.
KS DHINGRA
Thank you. I agree that it is yet another scene of the classic, eternal battle we are witnessing between the forces of Good, against forces of Evil. Unfortunately, we are noticing more and more the victory of evil in our Country and for that reason, people like you and me feel frustrated, sad and hopeless. We just wait for a miracle to transform our society and that ofcourse is a passive response. Some of us like to think that we influence society by personal example of achievement of success in life, alongside the practice of conduct in line with the tenets of ethical, virtuous and other related attributes of the Good. We hope to influence society in favour of Good. You ofcourse are fighting far more actively in your own way. God bless you and keep up the Great Spirit ! ......Kuldip
Nelson Lewis
It is quite interesting to read about two contrasting personalities in Mr. R.B. Sreekumar and Mr. Ashok Sahu.
I have read a lot about P.C. Pande, formerly Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad, and later D.G.P.Gujarat - as this man was Narendra Modi's most obedient boy, we could say that he was an incompetent police officer.
Have your read the book, "The Stalker Affair" by Mr. John Stalker, who was the Deputy Chief Constable of the Manchester Police and was suspended by his superiors as he, during the course of investigation, was about to expose many skeletons in the cupboard and the culprits who had cold-bloodedly bumped off certain innocent Irishmen?
I take this opportunity to wish you all the best.
Nelson Lewis
Limca Book of Records' Holder, 2003 & 2004
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