The writer is a journalist in Delhi whose work has appeared in The Christian Science Monitor and The New York Times. He tweets @DilliDurAst
But Neha Yadav would be grateful to the AAP, even as she lies in Safdarjung Hospital with 45 per cent burns. Her six-year-old son wakes up remembering the horror of seeing his mother being set on fire by her in-laws. The burns on her neck, chest and waist are so severe that she may not survive. Even after 11 years of marriage, she was being harassed for dowry; the real reason being that they wanted her to leave the house and divorce the husband so he could marry someone else. The local police knew about this case because neighbours had told them of the continuing torture and harassment of Neha Yadav. And yet, when Neha Yadav was set ablaze, the police was so lax that it let the in-laws flee (for, some allege, a bribe).
This is nothing extraordinary for policing by South Asian standards, except that in another place, the protesting neighbours and Neha Yadav’s parents could have gone to the local legislator and the chief minister, or just the local representative of the ruling party and put pressure on the police. Except that in Delhi, the ruling party does not control the police. The Delhi chief minister (CM) is India’s only CM who does not control the police. The Delhi police reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Since Delhi is the capital and Delhi police has to guard the embassies and ensure Barack Obama’s security when he comes, Neha Yadav must suffer police apathy. That is the argument the Congress party’s pathetic Sushilkumar Shinde has made.
India’s feminist movement has a long history of struggle against bride burning, but that didn’t help Neha Yadav. I don’t see any of Delhi’s feisty feminists protest or express outrage for Neha Yadav, let alone the insensitive TRP-hungry media. That’s because they have all decided that the AAP is evil, and the evil party intervened in the Neha Yadav case and made sure the police was forced to find the absconding in-laws.
Another intervention the AAP government made in Khirki village was to ask the police to nab African migrants indulging in trading drugs and prostitution. Laws against narcotics and trafficking of women do not require a warrant, yet it has been falsely said that the AAP was asking the Delhi police to conduct raids without warrants. But the AAP’s law minister did say racist things against Africans, and this is indeed a case of the AAP pandering to local racist sentiment against Africans, and it does show dangers of ‘giving power to the people’. It is great pressure from the media and activists that is making the AAP rethink the dangers of eulogising ‘the people’ as though the people can’t be wrong.
But even so, does the AAP not deserve credit for thinking about Neha Yadav, and for generally showing up Delhi police’s apathy to citizens, and making the point that the police force of a city of 16 million people should be answerable to its citizens and not to the central government? Ah, no. That would be giving the AAP too much credit.
The pro-establishment media and intellectuals are too uncomfortable with the AAP changing the old order. The old elite are unhappy their powers are going away. Obviously, the home ministry does not want to lose control of the Delhi police. Who wants to give up any powers? So let us find a stick or two to beat the AAP with, until we discredit it enough that nobody wants the home ministry to let the Delhi police be accountable to Delhi’s residents.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (14)
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AAP has revolutionised the entire political system in India, where the elected peoples' representatives think and behave themselves as the MASTER of the common people. The entire polity has become so deeply rooted in corruption that it is time AAM AADMI come forward and take part in the decision making processes. They think without LAL BATTIs, they have no respect. All the parties must learn from AAP how to govern the country, not the people like slaves.
well, the khirki incident is an eyeopener for many things. firstly, police system in Delhi as well as India , was exposed totally. its beyond doubt that police system is totally de-funct in this country but still promoting drug trafficking and sex rackets is something which should be non- tolerant for one and all. secondly, it also exposed the media to a greater extent. different channels cooked different stories. its strange. Also, the country and its people clearly are convinced now that AAP with its forerunner Mr. Kejriwal , is the best option for the country. Also, we should make a note that now the time has come to elect the candidates with healthy backgrounds, good literate attitudes, even if for HM or for that matter any other higher democratic chair.
The police administration in India is corrupt and arrogant. If the intellectuals or for that matter any body who is really sincere and honest must admit that the police is subjected to dereliction of duties due to nexus between police and corrupt politicians. The police does not act unless he gets money or unless the pressure either of media or of politicians or of NGOS is exerted.This is the ground reality.The police turns blind eye against heinous crimes and the suffering people feel helpless. The main issue is the accountability of police and punishment for erring police officers. For preventing the crimes, the police administration must be made accountable. At present, the police is responsible for investigations only that too if it has been brought to the notice of police and there is no guarantee that whether the investigations will be credible or manipulated.If the police administration will do the patrolling sincerely and honestly and start booking the real culprits irrespective of their power and positions,most of the crimes will vanish.There are hundreds of incidences in India similar to the incidences quoted. We must be concerned about how such incidences will be prevented.The prevention is always better than cure.
Govt & executives including police are not for govt but for people paying them for efficient intellectually honest timely service without corruption. Many people with lot of good information earned through learning process & experience being intellectually dishonest to them as well as to society at large seldom use them judiciously. All these (hardly 10-20% in our society) so called intellectuals & experts in India need altogether a different orientation of correction in time. But it is possible with the help of well organized 80 % people in India & organizing these 80% people may take some more time & it needs patience with hard work as a service to our own nation & our own people. AAP therefore, deserve credit for concern about Neha Yadav as well as Police Apathy.
Delhi is a peculiar place. By being the national capital of India, many people here are connected to people in power positions in some way. And those who are well connected that way, problems are resolved using their connections. Those who retire from power positions too settle here and use their clouts to pull on. Once their clouts fade away, they become ordinary citizens and for ordinary citizens it is naturally difficult to exist among the red beacon elites without getting hurt physically or mentally at some point of time.
Delhi police personnel are used to deal with the VIPs and their arrogance. For them, even the VIPs become ordinary beings due to their sheer numbers. In such a scenario, those who are not VIPs are going to be treated with contempt. Because, over the years they are bound to develop such a culture due to changing priorities and arrogance that they have been receiving from their ever changing bosses. If it could happen with police elsewhere, it could happen much more severely in Delhi.
The new Delhi CM and his ministers are representatives of the non VIP citizens of Delhi. They perhaps thought of getting power and controlling these arrogant force who listens only to powerful beings. No one can blame them for that thought.
But getting such controlling power over this force alone is not going to change that culture that got built up over the decades!
There is nothing so unique about the Neha Yadav case. There is a law in the country that has been enforced and action has been taken against in laws that got violent with daughter in law for dowry. In thousands of cases across the country, in laws have gone to jail for this very reason. No one has written newspaper articles on those cases and there is nothing different in this case either.
Neha deserves justice. The law is on her side, the police have made the arrests and there the matter rests. There is no point in mixing this up with breaking of law by a minister and the CM supporting the lawbreaking minister and demanding the scalp of law abiding policemen.
ETBLOGS1987
AAP got premature attention as a party that could throw up a PM in 2014 itself. Now it is prematurely being written off. Both are wrong.
The party that got 2nd highest number of seats in Delhi and whose membership does not have any lifelong politicians means well has not been in power long enough to have accomplishments but just due to the election results both national parties are on notice that ordinary people want governance and not traditional vote bank politics. These results in addition to the recent supreme court ruling whereby even a ruling in the lowest court convicting a person for a crime for more yhan 2 years will make ghe person inelegile to contest should positively impact selection of candidates. This party thus has the capacity to be a force for the good if Arvind Kejriwal tries to focus its attention on delivering governance in Delhi which has given them mandate.
If the leadership which any way does not have any governance experience tries to create national headlines and gets distracted by trying to build a national party and fight a national election in 2014 itself they will end up stretching themselves too thin and lose credibility in Delhi also. If they have national ambition, they should be laid on foundations of governance in Delhi.
Finally your attempt to establish equivalence between the Neha Yadav incident and Kirki incident is flawed. It is not as though one good thing and me bad thing balance each other. What happened in Kirki is egregious for multiple reasons:
1) the law minister did not just encourage vigilantism, he himself became a vigilante and violated the constitution.
2) instead of apologizing for the vigilantism, the CM supported it.
3) the CM went on dharma in his own state which is completely against the mandate received o govern.
4) when a party claims that they do not support VIP behavior of ministers and then try to get some police dismissed because the police failed to carry out an illegal order by the minister then their claim to not be elitist definitely suffers credibility.
I hope that despite all face saving statements, this episode serves as a lesson and Arvind reins in his ministers. The emergence of AAP is a good development and it would be a great pity if it self destructs by trying to do too much too soon.
What a completely stupid and dishonest argument. All those people, including many many who had supported AAP earlier, who are alarmed by AAP's vigilante approach to justice are not "The pro-establishment media and intellectuals too uncomfortable with the AAP changing the old order. The old elite are unhappy their powers are going away."
Let's have some basic honesty here please. Or, has AAP already turned to the worst form of politicking?
"Laws against narcotics and trafficking of women do not require a warrant"
You are wrong,In India in order to conduct a raid in a privately owned house,police must get a search warrant from the Magistrate.
Dharnas are a useful tool, especially like a country like India, which has a long, illustrious history of Satyagraha and the country which introduced the world to non-violence movement.
But, when you misuse it, use it for the suspension of 5 Policemen, not for the direct benefit of the masses, not only the individual, but the entire concept of Dharnas goes for a toss.
The change is in the air, the politicians should recognize this one-size-fits-all approach will not work. If they can't find innovative ways to solve problems, they can give the mantle to someone else.
These Brave hearts have taken a big step even neglecting the warnings raised by some People Movement groups.At this juncture AAP cannot be allowed to fail as it will make participative democracy the butt of jokes. A generation will turn more cynical than the previous.Innovation in society will be hit. Peoples movement will see death bed.
am in middle level management in a MNC, am sparsely involved with people movement.
Kafila has been running the stories related only to the Khirki incident.. can we here some alternative opinion there too?