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Merian Abhull Yaadan ate Sunehe
The police also sew up cases at the behest of politicians against their opponents. The case of a supporter of Gian Singh Rarewala, the then Punjab Irrigation Minister, who was implicated in a fabricated criminal case at the instance of the then Chief Minister, where Gill had to brush aside the pressure and had released the innocent accused, is one out of many such instances of policemen’s wrongdoings. The judiciary passes strictures against the police’s working every now and then. However, desperately needed police reforms are put off on one or the other pretext. Several committees/commissions reports are kept on the back burner giving a deep impression that every politician wants to see the police force to serve their interests than to serve the law. Interestingly, Justice A.N. Mulla of the Allahabad High Court had once remarked in a case: "I say it with responsibility that there is not a single lawless group in the whole of the country whose record of crimes is anywhere near the record of the organised unit which is known as the Indian Police Service." Justice Mulla in the same case further observed that "it is not possible for me to reconcile to the monstrous idea that those whose primary duty is to maintain law, cannot perform unless taking illegal gratification, using third-degree methods, making false records, presenting dressed up versions and speaking truth only by mistake. If the police force must be manned by officers like Mohammad Naim, then it is better that we tear up our Constitution, forget all about democracy and rights of citizens, and change the meaning of law not only in our penal enactment but also in our dictionaries." The book contains photographs of author’s visits to foreign lands, a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, historical and other places. How he forayed in the realms of history writing appears to be a draw of luck for the author. One day, while resting in the retiring room of his court, Gill received a stranger carrying a bag of papers, who came out to be the grandson of Thakar Singh Sandhawalia, an important Sardar of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s darbar. The papers in the bag were hand-written letters of Maharaja Dalip Singh. This god-sent gift attracted him to delve deep into Sikh history and he wrote five books, the latest being Maharaja Dalip Singh Cheated Out (2007). The present book is quite engaging and gives stern message to the powers that be. Amen
In another poem Bansri (flute), the poet denotes that there is difference between Krishan’s bansri and that of Nero’s (King of Rome). The dhun of Krishan’s bansri would shepherded women and cowherd used to get into ecstasy and reach out to Krishna, whereas Nero got lost in the dhun of his bansri not aware that his Rome was burning. The book contains 80 poems that stare at the stark economic disparity and exploitation of one section by the other. Rahi feels overwhelmingly for the downtrodden and his poems depicts that he is deeply committed to his ideology. The book is a must read for all poetry lovers.
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THIS
autobiography describes those incidents which have left deep imprint on
the memory of the author Avtar Singh Gill. A retired Sessions Judge,
Gill has depicted the "real" face of the Punjab police as most
corrupt, callous, dishonest, liar, brute, caring a fig for law and much
more in the cases quoted in the book. How a conscientious judge nails
the bundle of lies and brings out the truth is another interesting and
instructive feature of these cases.
This compendium of
poems reflects realism and existentialism. In the very first poem, What
is Poetry? the poet confronts those who live a comfortable and
luxurious life. He laments that the poetry being written nowadays is
bereft of all the real-life problems—roti, kapada or makaan.
The poets are oblivious of people living on footpath in bitter cold and
burning heat and similar others in wretched conditions. Rahi derides the
poets who write poems on celebrations like on selection in the Civil
Services or on the birth of a son after four daughters. The poet laments
why these poets don’t write on Delhi riots, Gujarat mayhem, Bhagalpur
atrocities and many such other excesses. Rahi says the poetry talks of
conscience and when the conscience gets killed, the poetry also dies.