Monday 8 September 2014

The Ups & Downs of Indo-Pak Dialogue : Need to Tune into Kashmir’s Changing Political Reality

G Parthasarthy has a point when he writes that “a diplomatic engagement with a neighbor having territorial ambitions has to be carefully calibrated and executed” given past history, it is imperative that dialogue with Pakistan better not be a knee jerk reaction.  It must precede proper home work and coordination between various branches of the government so that they don’t work at cross purposes.

However abrupt cancellation of the dialogue after having started it in haste using Pak Ambassador’s ritually meetings with Kashmiri separatists is in bad form and communicates a very negative image of India.

While there is no doubt that the Pak Ambassador’s invitation to Kashmiri separatists in the midst of fragile secretary level talks amounted to deliberate and avoidable provocation to sensibilities within India.  But it is well known that this act of cocking a snook at India is a product of the diseased in internal politics of Pakistan.  The anti-India lobbies within Pak are already out with their knives and guns aimed at Nawaz Sharif alleging that he is being “soft” towards India on the one hand and ready to betray the interests of Kashmiri separatists who have always counted on Pakistan to fight their battle.  That is why the annual ritual of “consulting” pro-Pak Kashmiri leaders had to be undertaken to reduce the pressure building us at home.

It is an open secret that in comparison to India that elected government in Pakistan is a light weight in comparison to the clout of Pakistani army, the Pak intelligence agencies a whole range of terrorist outfits propped and supported by them.  But the liberal opinion within Pakistan is in favour of peace with India simply because they realize that Pakistan is sinking under the dead weight of its corrosive hostility to India.  This hatred has been the founding principle of Pakistan from the time of Jinnah himself.  Though even the most liberal intelligentsia daren’t question Jinnah’s wisdom openly, but there is a growing realization among this section that if Pakistan cannot be at peace with India, it cannot be at peace with itself either.

In such a situation, the knee jerk fashion in which the dialogue has been unilaterally called off by the BJP government has given a big boost to the anti-India terrorist organizations within Pakistan on the one hand and brought the otherwise marginalized Kashmiri separatists centre stage.

Letting one’s enemies dictate one’s political agenda amounts to strengthening them beyond their actual worth.  It has sent a very negative message to the international community that whereas Pakistan is responsive to the “aspirations” of Kashmiri Muslims, India keeps them at bay because it is afraid of them.

Instead of taking such deep offence at these rituals meeting of Hurriyat factions with the Pak Ambassador, India could well have laughed it off saying: “The Separatists have to keep knocking at the doors of their mai-baap in Pakistani simply because the people of Kashmir don’t pay heed to them; any more.

It is well known that secessionist forces gain strength in Kashmir only when the Central Government allows electoral rigging and helps install a corrupt and tyrannical state government.  Omar Abdullah’s government has inflicted innumerable wounds on Kashmiri people ever since it came to power in 2008.  That is the only reason, a section of Kashmiri youth are using the Hurriyat platform to vent their frustration, without really being enamored of Hurriyat’s own ideology and politics.  During PDP regime, the same people left the Hurriyat in a larch and put Separatist urges behind them simply because Mufti Mohammad Syeed provided and relatively clean and more accountable development oriented government.

In private even Separatist leaders admit the solution of the Kashmir problem can only come through the BJP government.  Narendra Modi as the icon of development oriented politics has ignited even higher hopes that Atal Bihar Vajpayi once ignited among Kashmiri Muslims.  One sign of this is that for the first time in Kashmir’s history that well known public figures like Sajjad Lone have openly made common cause with the BJP and many young people, even in places like Pulwama, which has been a secessionist stronghold, are openly joining the BJP.

During his election campaign itself Narendra Modi had applied balm on Kashmiri hurt by promising them that the Valley too would witness unprecedented economic upsurge and job creation under BJP regime.  This had created a palpable sense of optimism among the Kashmiri youth.  Since the last 30 years Kashmiris have witnessed from very close the internecine warfare among various secessionist groups and factions.  Their rivalries and mutual hatred is also not a secret any more.  Kashmiris have now come to see that the secessionist sentiment is kept alive only through the power of the guns wielded by pro-Pak groups.  They have seen the lavish lifestyles of secessionist leaders who are believed to be getting hefty pay off from Pakistan on the one hand and keeping swords hanging over their heads on the other.

Some of the leading lights among secessionists live under the security cover clearly show they don’t fear the Indian government.  If there is anyone any fear, it is the terrorist outfits propped up by Pakistan.  Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq went so far as to openly declare Syed Ali Shah Geelani as the man who got Mirwaiz’s father murdered.  He also publicly alleged that even his life was in danger from the pro-Pak militants connected to Geelani Sahib.  One hears knowledgeable Kashmiris say it openly that even if by some mishap Kashmir got azadi, Hurriyat factions would do to each other what Hamas and AlQaida are doing to their co-religionists.    

Most important of all, Kashmiri Separatists have themselves voted with their feet and pockets in favour of India.  They may get hefty pay offs from Pakistan.  But where do they invest this money?  Not in Peshawar, Lahore or Karachi but in buying properties in Jammu, Delhi, Pune, Mumbai etc.  They may send the sons of poor Kashmiri families across the border to get arms training from Pak.  But their own children come to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune to study and look for jobs or business opportunities.  Many of their children practice law in Indian courts.  You won’t find them inclined to do business in Karachi or even Lahore.

The moderates among Hurriyat are today clearly inclined towards the BJP.  Most of hardliner Geelani Saheb’s colleagues are also tired of acting as the puppets of Islamabad because they see no future for their children in that game.  Geelani Sahib’s and Yasin Malik’s election boycott strategy will work only as long as the outrageously corrupt and insensitive regime of Omar Abdullah is in place.  But NC is likely to be wiped out and replaced by the far more democratic PDP in the coming election.  BJP too is set to make big inroads in the hitherto unexplored Laddakh region in addition to its political base in Jammu region.  A caring democratic regime in Jammu will mean the likes of Yasin Malik will see their space shrink to nothingness as happened after the 2002 election.

Kashmir is also yearning for Modi’s mool mantra  -- Sushasan (good governance) and Vikas (development – just as the rest of India has put their faith in this promise.  Pro-Pak leaders like Yasin Malik are able to flex their muscles only when there is malgovernance in Kashmir.  The answer to the Yasin Maliks hobnobbing with Pak, is not to boycott dialogue with Pakistan.  The appropriate remedy is honest and fair elections, good governance and speedy economic growth with speedier job creation.


In short, the appropriate answer to Pakistan’s disruptive politics in Kashmir is to ensure that the ordinary Kashmiri trust and is happy with the governance model – both in Delhi and Srinagar.  Thus the solution to the Kashmir problem does not really lie in the hands of Pakistan; it lies within India’s power and control.




Monday 1 September 2014

फैशनेबल दिखने की दीवानगी

फैशन नामक शब्द से मुझे जितनी चिढ़ है शायद ही किसी और शब्द से हो। यह एक ऐसी बीमारी है जो अच्छे भले इन्सान को जोकर या नकलची बन्दर बनाने की ताकत रखता है। लोग अपने घर की दीवारों का रंग चुनने से लेकर क्‍या खायें, क्‍या पहनें कौन सी पुस्‍तक पढ़ें -- बड़े छोटे बहुत से ऊल जलूल फैसले फैशनेबल दिखने की होड में कर लेते है।

पश्चिमी देश इस बात पर बहुत फ़ख्र करते हैं कि उनके समाज में व्यक्तिवाद की बहुत अहमियत है यानि हर व्यक्ति को अपनी मन मरज़ी का जीवन जीने की स्वतन्त्रता है, और हर पहलू में freedom of Choice (चुनने की स्‍वतंत्रता) को सर्वोच्च स्थान दिया जाता है। हिन्दुस्तान में भी जो तबके पश्चिमी सभ्यता से अधिक चकाचौध है, वह भी मानने लगे हैं कि उन्होंने भी अपने जीवन में चुनने की स्वतन्त्रता को अहम्  जगह देकर खुद को एक विशिष्‍ट प्रजाति में बदल दिया है।

परन्तु इस बात का बहुत कम लोगो को अहसास है कि फैशन नामक इन्डस्ट्री जो पश्चिमी सभ्यता का अहम् हिस्सा बन चुकी है, हर क्षेत्र में चुनने की स्‍वतंत्रता, विचारों की स्‍वतंत्रता और अभिव्‍यक्ति की स्‍वतंत्रता की जड़े काटने का काम बहुत व्यवस्थित ढंग से करती है।

कपड़ों को ही लीजिये अमरीका में यूरोप में और अब तो एशिया के देशों में भी कौन क्या कपड़े पहनता है इसमें निजी च्वाइस या पसन्द का बहुत कम महत्व है और फैशन इन्डस्ट्री का ज्‍यादा। यह फ़ैशन इन्‍डस्‍ट्री का ही कमाल है कि औरत, मर्द, बूढे, जवान, बच्चे अमीर और गरीब सभी डैनिम की फटी घिसी को पहनकर खुद को अफलातून महसूस करते हैं। किसी ज़माने में यह अमरीका के गरीब डॉक लेबररर्ज़ की यूनीफॉर्म हुआ करती थी। परन्तु फै़शन इन्डस्ट्री ने इसे रईसो का फैशन बना दिया। अब तो यह हाल है कि फटी, उधड़ी पैबन्दो वाली जीसं अच्छे खासे नये पैन्टसूट से महंगी बिकती है। मेरी अनफैशनेबल निगाह में इससे भद्दी कोई डैªस हो ही नहीं सकती। इसे दिनो दिन धोया नहीं जाता। वो ही पसीने से सनी बदबूदार गन्दी जीन्स लोग धडल्ले से पहनते रहते है। क्योकि जितनी पुरानी, मैली कुचैली होती है जीन्स, उतना ही उसकी फ़ैशन वैल्यू बढ़ती है। 

चीथड़े सी दिखती बनियान नुमा टॉप्‍स, फटी पुरानी पैबन्द लगी जीन्स अगर गरीब बदहाल लोग पहने तो समझ आता है। परन्तु फैशनेबल स्टोर में जाकर जब अच्छे खासे अमीर घरो के लड़के लड़कियां और रईस फिल्‍मस्‍टार भी मह्रंगे दामो पर ऐसे कपडे खरीद कर लाते है जो 20 साल पहले आप सड़क के भिखारी को भी देने में शर्म महसूस करें तो इसे फैशन इन्डस्ट्री की जादूगरी ही कही जा सकती है।

यूरोप या अमेरीका के किसी भी छोटे बडे शहर में जाइये, आप देखेगे कि हर साल लंदन, पैरिस में बैठे  फैशन मुगल तय करते हैं कि इस सीजन कौन से रंग के व किस डिजाइन के कपड़े फैशनेबल माने जायेगे। यदि इस साल गुलाबी रंग को फैशनेबल करार किया गया तो लगभग सभी शो विन्डो में गुलाबी ड्रैस सजी दिखेंगी। अगले सीज़न गुलाबी रंग ‘‘आऊट ऑफ फैशन’’ करार दिया जाना नीहित है अन्‍य कोई और रंग का शो विन्डोज में हावी होना भी नीहित है।

औरतो के कपड़े कितने टाईट फिटिंग हो या झबले यह औरत खुद अपनी मरजी या सुविधा या पसन्द अनुसार नहीं तय करती। यह फैसला ऐसे फैशन डिज़ाइनर तय करते है जिनकी उसने शक्ल तक नहीं देखी, जिनका उसने नाम तक नहीं सुना। स्कर्ट या कुर्ता कितना लम्बा या छोटा होगा - कितना मिनी या मैक्सी होगा, खुद को आधुनिक मानने वाली कोई विरली ही औरत होगी जो अपने मन और दिमाग से सूझ बूझ कर तय करती है। यह फैसला फैशन के ठेकेदार ही करते है।

किसी जमाने में औरत के लिये शर्मनाक माना जाता था कि उसके अर्न्‍तवस्‍त्र बाहर दिखे या ब्रा का स्टेªप ब्लाउज मे से बाहर झांकता दिखे। परन्तु अब तो अपनी ब्रा की नुमाइश करना फैशन बन गया है।

हिन्दुस्तान में जहां एक ओर लंदन, न्यूयार्क, पैरिस के फैशन मठाधीश तय करते हैं कि औरत अपने अन्दरूनी अंगों की कितनी नुमाइश करे, दूसरी ओर आम दर्जी भी बॉलीवुड फि़ल्मो व टीवी सीरियल़्ज़ के कपड़ो के अनुसार सलवार का घेरा, कमीज की लम्बाई व ऊचाई या ब्लाऊज़ के कट की नकल करने की होड़ में कम तेज नहीं। पर फिल्मी या टीवी हीरो हीरोइनों की नकल करने की होड़ में मदमस्त लोग यह नहीं सोचते कि जो लंहगा या शरारा ऐश्वर्या राय या करीना कपूर पर सुन्दर लगता है ज़रूरी नही कि मधु किश्वर पर भी सजे। फ़ैशन के दीवानें कम से कम अपने शरीर के डील डौल को देखकर कपड़े चुने और शीशे में भली भांति खुद को उन कपड़ो में देखकर यदि तय करे कि फ़ला़ डिजाइन मुझ पर जचेंगा भी कि नहीं - तो कहा जा सकता है कि‍ कपडों के चुनाव में फंला व्यक्ति ने सोच समझ कर कपड़ो का चुनाव किया है। परन्तु ऐसा करने की क्षमता फैशन का गुलाम समाज खोता जा रहा है। 

बात कपड़ो तक सीमित रहे तो झेला जा सकता है। हजारों लाखो रूपया खर्च कर के अपने बालों व शरीर के अंगो तक का हुलिया फैशन अनुसार बदलनें की चाह में ना जाने कितने लोग अपने ही शरीर पर कितने जुल्म ढा रहे है। क्‍यूं कि फैशन के मठाघीशों ने साईज़ ज़ीरो को फैशनेबल करार दिया तो करोड़ो औरते क्रैश डाइटिंग करके खुद की सेहत तबाह कर रही है या लिपोसक्शन जैसे खतरनाक ऑप्रेशन कराने को मजबूर है। 

पर इस सब से ज्यादा घातक वो लोग है जो Intellectual fashions (बौद्धिक फैशनों) की लक्ष्मण रेखा के बाहर कदम भर रखने की जुर्रत नही रखते। हर सामाजिक मुद्दे पर उनके पास रटे रटाये जवाब ही नहीं परन्तु उनके साथ फिट बैठने वाले चेहरे के भाव व आक्रमक शब्द भी है। क्यंwकि यह बौद्धिक फैशन अमेरीका या यूरोप के विश्वविद्यालय या फंडिंग एजेन्सियां तय करती है इसलिये यह दिमागी कीड़े इन सरपरस्तों की मनमरजी अनुसार ही बदले जा सकते है। वो सब एनजीओ व शैक्षणिक जो पश्चिमी देशों की फंडिंग एजेन्सी के अनुदान के बलबूते अफलातून बने फिरते है, अपने विचारों अपने शोध कार्यक्रमों व शब्दावली तक को फन्डिग एजेन्सियों की मन मरजी अनुसार ढ़ालने में माहिरता को बड़ी उपलब्धि मानते हैं।

इसी वजह से भारत में बहुत से एनजीओ बिल्कुल export quality activism करते हैं। हमारे अधिकतर जाने माने समाजशास्त्री अपनी पुस्तकें मेरठ, मैसूर या रायपुर स्थित कॉलिजों या विश्वविद्यालय के छात्रों के लिये नहीं लिखते। वे इसी में शान समझते हैं कि हारवर्ड व ऑक्सफोर्ड इत्यादि में उनकी पुस्तकें पढ़ी जा रही है।

हमारे internationally networked social activists (अन्‍तरराष्‍ट्रीय नेटवर्को से जुड़े कार्यकर्ता) को इस बात की कतई परवाह नहीं कि उनकी बात उनके अपने पड़ोसी या रिश्तेदार ना सुनते है ना मानते है। वे इसी से खुश है कि न्यूयार्क, लंदन या मेलबर्न में प्रायोजित हुई कॉन्‍फ्रैन्‍सों में उन्हे वाहवाही मिल जाती है। जिस दिन इस देश का बुद्धिजीवी वर्ग यह मानसिक गुलामी छोड़कर इस देश की संस्कृति, मान्यताओं व इस देश के आम बाशिन्दों की आकाक्षांओ से जुड़कर फैसले लेने की क्षमता बना पायेगा, उस दिन हम अपने समाज की हर छोटी बड़ी समस्या का हल ढंढने में सक्षम हो जायेगे।  

सर्वप्रथम दैनिक भास्‍कर में जुलाई 14, 2012 को प्रकाशित  

  

Monday 25 August 2014

How Surat became a Safe City : Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthaana’s High-Tech & Responsive Policing in Surat Deserves Replication

There is widespread consensus in India that the police  in India have emerged as one of the biggest threats to people’s safety and a major stumbling block in establishing the rule of law.  It is assumed that the problem lies in the antiquated Police Act enshrined by our colonial masters way back in 1861 which was meant as an instrument of tyranny over the local populace because if provides untrammeled power to the cops without much accountability to citizens.
Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthaana
While it is essential to replace the antiquated Indian Police Act of 1861 vintage, it  must be replaced by  legislation more suited for a free India of the 21st Century. 

All those interested in seeing police become an efficient instrument of law and order don’t need to wait haplessly till that happens. IPS officer Rakesh Asthaana, the current Commissioner of Police in Surat, has shown how major transformations can be brought about fairly swiftly in approach and functioning of the police within the present system as well.

Before being posted as Police Commissioner of Surat, the most important commercial hub in Gujarat, and premier centre of diamond trade in India, Asthaana earned recognition by his meticulous investigation of the Godhra train massacre of February 27, 2002 and before that the Fodder Scam in Bihar. It is widely believed in Gujarat that swift and honest investigation into the train massacre played a significant role in helping a communally charged and intensely divided town like Godhra to come back to peaceful co-existence between Hindus and Muslims. 

This was accompanied by swift trials which led to salutary quick punishment for the guilty.  Because the investigation was thorough most of those arrested as accused got sentenced.n Asthaana says: “If you put fear in the mind of criminal elements of a community which rarely exceed 2 to 5 percent, the rest are easy to control.” This has been his motto in each of his postings.

Asthaana was posted as Police Commissioner (PC)  of Surat in 2011.  This was soon after the terrorist bomb blasts in Mumbai’s famed jewelry market – Zaveri Bazar. Like Zaveri Bazar, the old Surat City is also a major hub of diamond polishing and jewelry making with thousands of crores of products exchanging hands every day.  Most of the diamond cutting units are located in the inner city with narrow lanes.  Therefore, the city was very vulnerable to terror attacks.  It is also a major textile centre, likewise located in the heart of the old city. 

When Asthaana was posted as PC Surat, Narendra Modi told him you have to make this premier commercial centre of Gujarat a safe city.  Modi gave him two tips to define his job profile –
  1. Surat is going to be the fastest growing city in Gujarat.  Therefore, your plans to make it a safe city should be based on realistic calculations of its growth potential in decades to come.
  2. Make optimum use of technology to bring about efficient, accountable policing.
One of the hundreds of weather-proof, water-proof CCTV cameras in Surat
Asthaana says, thereafter he was left alone to do his job
So one of the first things Asthaana set out to do was to set up a Police Control Room with cutting edge technology to monitor 24x7 a whole string of CCTV cameras installed in key locations of the city. In many parts of India, including the capital city, CCTV cameras have been installed but serve little purpose because they are not backed up by the required monitoring systems.  So no one even notices when they break down or fall into disuse out of sheer neglect. Often the local hoodlums or the police themselves damage them to render them dysfunctional.

But Surat’s high resolution CCTV cameras are supported by state of the art round the clock monitoring mechanisms.  This system is believed to be even better than that of New York.  They work not only for monitoring traffic and issuing electronic challans to those who violate traffic laws but also for catching both small and big criminals.  They are also effective in monitoring police response to various incidents.  For example, I saw examples of how in cases of hit and run accidents, the Control Room immediately flashed the number of the car that had hit a motorcyclist from behind to all the traffic policemen on duty.  Therefore, within minutes the car was waylaid by the police.  But the cameras also showed how the policemen near the site responded to the accident. Since these cameras can zoom to the minutest details, they also help the police catch pick-pockets, purse snatchers or those who steal vehicles or valuables kept in vehicles.  They have also helped solve several murder cases. 

The images caught at up to 1 km distance are very sharp and clear.  They can catch the minutest activities on the road, be it a woman counting money on the roadside or a thief stealing a laptop from the backseat of a car at a red light signal. Likewise, in case of road accident victims, the Control Room can ensure that quick medical help in the form of an ambulance reaches the spot swiftly.  
The 280 sq ft video wall in the diamond city has been installed at the Command & Control Room of Surat Police Headquarters
But most important of all the Control Room can monitor real time whether or not the cops on duty acted with alacrity to an emergency situation or they just stood and watched.  This brings a high level of accountability of those policemen on the ground.

The system is now gearing up to introduce face detection so that once the face is fed into the data system, no matter where the criminal shows up in the city, the monitoring system will issue a warning signal.

There is no denying that this system has the potential of misuse if the monitoring exercise is extended to surveillance of political opponents, instead of criminals. It also raises serious privacy issues. But the scores of people I talked to in Surat did not complain because the sense of security on account of better policing without any evidence of intrusive snooping on citizens’ lives thus far made them unconcerned about the possibility of abuse in future. It is noteworthy that under Narendra Modi, the level of confidence in Government was relatively much higher in Gujarat than in most other states of India. In fact, the standard response I got with regard to privacy concerns was: “This system monitors you only as long as you are in public spaces.  How can anyone look for privacy in public spaces? The police are not setting up cameras in our homes or even our private commercial establishments. The cameras are only meant to catch images on roads and in public utilities like railway stations, bus terminals etc.” However, citizens need to remain vigilant about the potential of misuse with this technology which has for the moment proved a major boon in diverse areas.  

For instance, this system is also capable of working well during natural calamities such as earthquake or floods – providing detailed inputs to the authorities as to the extent of damage and where exactly what kind of help is needed.  Likewise, in case of terror attacks, it can  help identify the likely culprits in real time because the monitoring is minute to minute 24x7.
Commond and Control Centre, Surat City Police
The first phase, which started in 2011, involved installation of 104 CCTV cameras backed by a Control Room which has been crafted to allow scope for future expansion.  Asthaana took only 90 days to operationalize it. It cost no more than Rs 10.51 crores. All this technology was purchased through a transparent World Bank approved tender process.  Today 650 cameras are already in place and the future plan involves covering every nook and corner of the city with 5000 cameras, including the outlying coastal areas. This means at the press of a button, the Control Room can watch any untoward incident as it is unfolding – thus making it easy for the police to respond to emergencies with speed. Even if all the cameras are not being monitored simultaneously, the moment an incident happens, in case the Control Room has not caught it instantly, the local beat constable or even local citizens know the Control Number and can inform about the happening through a call. In that case, the Control room at once focuses on the footage captured by cameras on that location—be it a fire, accident, theft, murder or doings of a riotous mob.

The system allows the footage of 5000 cameras to be stored for a full one month—all of it accessible at the press of a button. The cameras allow for close up shots as well as zooming in at the exact location to get minute details of the spot. That is why police response to calamities as well as mishaps, accidents can be swift and well informed.

Asthaana explained how merely having CCTV cameras doesn’t work unless the Control Room is so designed that it can remain operational during emergencies.  For example, the Taj Hotel in Mumbai which was the site of a gruesome terror attack in 2009, had enough CCTV cameras.  But since the Control Room was inside the hotel, the footage captured in CCTV cameras could not be accessed by the police to figure out the movement of terrorists.  But the Surat Control Room can gather all the live footage from all over the City in real time.  In key public places like the railway station, they have organized 3D coverage.

In the first phase itself, the incidents of crime came down by 27%.  Since then as the system keeps expanding, there has been progressive decline of crime incidents. The system acts as a major deterrent because miscreants know the likelihood of being caught is much higher than under routine Indian style policing.  In 2013 itself 44 serious cases of crime in addition to many smaller ones were detected and solved through this system.  For instance, on 26/12/13 a murder was committed at 4.03 am in the Athwa police station area.  The killers left the body in a khandhar (dilapidated, abandoned building). The CCTV cameras outside that khandhar caught 3 young men moving suspiciously around 4 am. Those video images helped the police zero in on the murderers very swiftly.

The plan is to equip each road of Surat with 3 CCTV cameras, each with a catchment area of one km radius.  There would be two cameras for 2 lane movement roads and a third camera that observes the entire road.  Multiple cameras are being installed for micro analysis of lane movement, such as catching the details on the vehicle’s number plate.

All these cameras are water-proof and weather-proof.  Even though the technology has been purchased from Israel through an open tender system, the servicing is under the charge of a local Surat based company.  Local servicing has made the system much more cost efficient. 

The local police was trained into the use of this technology by the Computer Engineering Department of South Gujarat University free of charge.  The head of this department is also a member of the Technical Committee set up by the Police Commissioner.  Asthaana has also involved a large spectrum of citizens, including businessmen as stake holders in this entire system.  It is this active citizen participation and partnership which has made the system a success. 

The success is not just about crime figures falling but in greater confidence of citizens in their city police. You don’t find many grumbling and disgruntled citizens in Surat. They take pride in their police and the general administration of their city.  One clear evidence: it is common to see young unescorted women moving around the city late at night, right into the early hours of the morning, especially on weekends.
It is equally common to see families with little children enjoying roadside picnics well past midnight in sundry parts of the city.  During the Navratri festival young girls go around laden with expensive jewelry without any fear of being robbed or abducted.  There is a palpable sense of confidence among citizens in the law and order situation and the ability of the police to keep criminals at bay.

A lot of course depends on the kind of leadership Asthaana has provided to those under him.  He is available to citizens round the clock.  His personal mobile number is well known to people in the city and Asthaana invariably picks up the phone himself.  Most of the time, you don’t have to go through a whole hierarchy of secretaries to speak to him.  He is also respected for his integrity and probity and comes down heavily on those found indulging in malpractices or running extortion rackets.

But none of the above would work beyond a point it Asthaana did not get solid political backing from his chief minister.  Asthaana was in field duty jobs for eleven long years while Narendra Modi was CM. He says, Modi ensured for the police freedom from political interference first and foremost by his own conduct.  "In the 11 years that I worked under Mr Modi as CM, first as in-charge of investigation into Godhra train massacre, then as Police Commissioner, Baroda and finally as Police Commissioner Surat, the CM never called me even once to influence my decisions.  In fact, I got full backing even when I had to take tough action against miscreants within the BJP."

For instance in 2008 when Asthaana was Police Commissioner of Baroda, he had the challenge of ensuring peacefully Ganpati Visarjan in a city where every such religious festival led to communal clashes. As part of tightening security arrangements he took into preventive custody some influential persons as well.  This included some BJP workers who were involved in provocative incidents.  This inevitably produced a strong political reaction because as members of the ruling party, the BJP workers did not expect to be hauled up thus.  So Asthaana phoned the Home Secretary and reported the matter to him and explained why that action was felt necessary. Asthaana says within five minutes he got a call back from the CM’s office saying, “go ahead and be as tough as necessary”.  That strengthened the morale of the police in dealing firmly with miscreants.  Consequently, that was the end of mischief mongering on Ganpati Visarjan and other such important festivals – which all passed incident free.  Likewise, during the course of Anna Hazare inspired agitation, on one occasion, the police had to resort to lathi-charge.  The news of this upset Modi but when Asthaana explained and described the ground situation which led to police action, Modi backed his decision.   

Now that Narendra Modi as the Prime-Minister has issued numerous public statements that safety of citizens, especially of women, will be his prime concern, one hopes along with necessary changes in the Police Act, Modi government will extend the tried and tested Surat method of policing all over the country and handpick the best cops to run the system in high crime prone cities and towns of India.

Madhu Kishwar

Madhu Kishwar
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