"Erosion of law & order has affected society"

ASHWINI Kumar earned his master’s degree in history from Government College, Lahore. He was among the first Indians to be selected by the Imperial Police in 1942. As an officer first in the British Raj and then in Independent India, Kumar has been the highest decorated Indian Police Officer, to date.

In 1978 he retired as the Director-General of the Border Security Force, after serving for 36 years. In his distinguished career, he was awarded the President’s Medal for Gallantry twice, the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service, Police Medal for Meritorious Service and also the Padma Bhushan.

It goes to the credit of Kumar that he has cracked some of the toughest cases in police history. He is most remembered for apprehending the killers of Pratap Singh Kairon, the former Chief Minister of Punjab, after a dramatic chase into Nepal.

After retirement, Ashwini Kumar entered the sports arena as an administrator and rose to become the vice-president of the International Olympic Association apart from looking after the affairs of Indian hockey.

In this memoir, the 79-year-old Ashwini Kumar talks to Isidore Domnick Mendis of his stint as both a super cop and an able sports administrator....

‘‘Let me start with the first half of the century when India was under the British rule. There may be a lot to say against colonisation but as a policeman I can tell you when it came to maintaining law and order, the British ruled with an iron hand. If a cop did not do the duty assigned to him or was found guilty of misconduct, the punishment was swift, simple and decisive — he was dismissed from service.

Today people walk around with guns in their pockets and trigger-happy boys think nothing of shooting others in discos without fear of the law catching up. Justice during the Raj was very swift and people did not have to spend years fighting a case to get their due. Look at the pending cases in courts, the long wait to get justice. An innocent person may spend a long time in jail before his case is heard.

In the first half of this century there were hardly any pending files in courts. The procedures followed were simple and effective. Every month the superintendent of police, the District Commissioner and the Sessions Judge met on the jail premises. Prisoners were lined up and individually interrogated and justice was doled out there and then.

I joined Imperial Police (IP) in 1942 at the age of 22. The service was a precursor to the present-day IPS. Only one Indian was selected for IP in a year and all the other officers were British. The IP exam was conducted by the Feudal Public Service Commission at Metcalfe House on the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi.

Unlike these days when police officers travel in shiny cars with red lights flashing on top, the cops in those days were given old vehicles discarded by the Army. I myself used to go around town doing my job on horseback or even atop a camel. Daily I travelled to my office on a bicycle and I did so happily.

During the British days, there was a separate register on criminal tribes operating in the country. Known criminals and bad characters had to report at the police station every night, except on moonlit nights which were considered relatively safe against crime. But the Government of Independent India disbanded the law on criminal tribes saying that it was just a concoction of the British to extend their stay in India.

Maps were made in the police station of villages vulnerable to crime. It was the duty of the S.H.O. to keep a strict eye on suspected bad characters. Every month the S.P. of a district would randomly visit some villages to see if things were in place. This way the criminals and their gangs were kept on strict leash and in case of any crime, justice was meted out there and then.

Independence and after

In 1947 when the British left India it was as if a stern headmaster had retired and the schoolchildren felt they were free to do anything. Suddenly they lost their direction.

At the time of Partition the total number of Indian officers in IP was around 80. The lower ranks in the police were predominantly Muslims and in Punjab they accounted for almost 95 per cent of the force. Which is why Partition posed such a big law and order problem in Punjab as many cops abandoned their duty and left for Pakistan.

After Partition the police service began deteriorating. Today it has come to such a pass that the common man perceives the force as corrupt, cruel and callous. To a large extent the criticism is justified as you hardly have any shining officer in the force. The fault lies with the system as the training given to officers of all ranks is faulty and unprofessional.

The malaise in the system can be judged from the fact that the officers not wanted anywhere are deputed to the training wing. What kind of training can these people impart to others? The training too leaves much to be desired. In any case it has to be done in the mother tongue of the policeman which is not the case. Can you believe that I received my training from a British officer in Punjabi!

Today, it is widely rumoured that the appointment to most posts in the lower ranks are done on the basis of political connections of a candidate. Postings of senior officers are also alleged to be decided after hectic political lobbying.

Given such a scenario the situation becomes clear. When people are appointed not on the basis of merit but political affiliations, there is bound to be inefficiency and corruption.

Today a major part of the blame must be put at the door of political interference which at times exceeds all acceptable limits. A police officer might be honest, but to keep his political masters happy he has to resort to dubious ways sometimes. This is a recent phenomenon. When India gained Independence, no politician meddled with the affairs of the police. But over the years, the politician’s profile changed and since then deterioration has set in rapidly.

Political interference

Today one hears stories which were unthinkable a few decades ago. There have been instances of police officers seriously wanting to solve cases, but they are prevented from doing so by their political bosses. If the officer disobeys, he is immediately transferred. It is a well-known fact that many honest officers get transferred within months and in some cases within days of their joining duty.

No officer likes to be transferred frequently as it disrupts his family life. So most take the easy way out. The only solution to this problem is that the government must ensure a stable tenure of at least three years at a certain post for a police officer, unless of course there are serious irregularities in his discharge of duty.

Another failing of the post-Independence police force is that most of its rules are outdated. For example, the Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the various local and special laws have become archaic.

Another phenomenon which has eroded the power of the police in the last two decades is VIP security. It has seriously dipped into the total strength and has resulted in immense harassment to the common man, resulting in a bad name for the entire force.

I don’t understand why the top bosses in the police administration can’t employ modern methods for VIP security as is done in advanced countries. That will not only be more efficient but would save time and labour and spare the cops to concentrate on the deteriorating law and order situation in the country. As it is there is a serious dearth of policemen to enforce laws and the problem has increased manifold with the rising population.

Another major problem which has raised its ugly head since the last two decades is terrorism. This has drained the police force. What we need is a special force to combat terrorism. Once we employ policemen to tackle such a serious problem, other areas of law and order are bound to suffer as criminals and unlawful characters start taking advantage of the situation.

Sporting failures

If the century has been a serious erosion in our policing it has also been witness to our failing in the sports arena. Having spent years looking after the affairs of Indian sports at the highest level, I can say with candour that we have been hopelessly left behind in our quest for excellence. The fault lies in ourselves in as much that our priority for sports has been very low.

Having watched sports and sportsmen from close quarters, I feel there are three major inadequacies in our set-up — development, planning and programmes at the grassroots and also the elite level. I have written to our Prime Minister regarding this and do hope he takes the initiative in resolving this problem.

Firstly we lack scientific and medical support, qualified coaches, equipment and faciliities, competition opportunities and have a poor athletic culture. Even our national sports policy is vague, confused and lacks financial backing.

What we need today are playgrounds no matter how small in dimension in every school in our country. A vast majority of the schools don’t have them. We must also introduce sports as a subject available for study in every school and college. Every state should have an institute for physical education and sports should be made a central subject — as a state subject it has not received the attention it should have.

Besides what is urgently required is a central institute for sports research and bio-technology. We must also take the help of experienced foreign sports advisers who could lay down the essentials for a meaningful sports policy.

Only if these things are in place, can we dream of excellence in sports. Once that is achieved, with it will come pride for the country. Sadly like in our other fields, we have seen idols vanish from the sporting arena as well. Look how one Sachin Tendulkar can galvanise the entire nation? We need a hundred Tendulkars in different sports to bring back our lost national pride in the international arena’’. — NF