Nero Plays A Veena Called Saraswati

Barely 40 kilometres from where a Haryana school principal was shot dead by a student on the weekend before this Rep­ublic Day, hundreds of spirited people gathered on a mission at two villages sitting cheek by jowl along the northern Indian plains. A chunk of them are sadhus and their followers바카라�and remotest in their minds is a murder that had happened in the nearest town only the other day. In fact, the entire belt has of late been reporting gruesome crimes besides the January 20 instance at an educational institution, named after a 19th-century monk-philosopher who held his guru in high esteem. Swami Vivekananda School in Yamunanagar had on that wintry Saturday seen an enraged class-12 boy spraying bullets at the headmistress in her room.

The saffron-clad men and their hordes of disciples had converged at Mugalwali and its twin Adi Badri as part of the state government바카라�s multi-crore mission to revive an ancient mythical river that has always generated ripples of reverence among Hindus. The Saraswati Heritage Project did also bring into the crowd a handful of historians and some mechanised earth-diggers. It was on January 18 that Haryana chief minister M.L. Kha­ttar launched a five-day Interna­tional Saraswati Mahotsav by performing a yagna, along with Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari. Since then, hunt has intensified to retri­eve the Rigvedic Saraswati that is believed to have dried up some 4,000 years ago.

Not all are amused with the Bharatiya Janata Party regi­me바카라�s focal engagement. Especially, the Opposition Congress. 바카라�Wish the government had shown so much enthusiasm in hunting down criminals and making the women of Haryana feel safe,바카라� says party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was CM for two consecutive terms before Khattar took charge on October 26, 2014. With 10 rape cases reported from different parts of the state in as many days바카라�incl­uding three of brutal gang-rape and murder바카라�questions are being raised over Khattar바카라�s ability to control the law and order situation in general and the crimes against women in particular.

The disturbing visuals of little schoolchildren crouching and sobbing inside their bus when vandals hurled stones at it after burning down another public transport vehicle were probably the tipping point. The perpetrators, alleged to be members of the Karni Sena, were protesting the release of Padmaavat. That act by the fringe Hindu­tva group in the name of a controversial movie outraged even certain right-wing political comme­ntators. Someone like Kanchan Gupta felt the need for the prime minister to act.

The foggy month was to end with another image that disgusted many. In Panchkula of Haryana바카라�s capital Chan­digarh, occ­upying a proud place on the dais during district-­level Republic Day celebrations was a former top cop who the Supreme Court had convicted in a molestation case. S.P.S. Rathore, earlier director general of police, was found guilty of molesting tennis pla­yer Ruchika Girhotra, driving the 14-year-old to suicide. Ruchi­ka바카라�s fri­end Aradhana Gupta reportedly found his presence at the official function a disgrace. 바카라�He must have been an invitee. It바카라�s so shameless on the part of the local administration,바카라� she is reported to have said. 바카라�By endorsing such criminals, the administration is giving direct encouragement to such crimes.바카라�

So, is the administration not just unable to firmly act against miscreants but is even somehow being complicit with them? Retired IPS officer Prakash Singh believes the crux of the problem is lack of political will to enforce law and order. The former Uttar Pradesh DGP, who headed a probe into 바카라�the role of officers of civil administration and police during the Jat reservation agitation바카라� in February 2016, finds the Haryana admi­nistration taking a strange viewpoint. 바카라�During any law and order situation, it tends to look at the cost equation in terms of the vote bank, political colour of the villains, their caste, community and religion,바카라� he adds.

Prejudices towards communities refl­ect in all investigations, including those of rape and murders. Breaking down his analysis, Singh, 82, says, in case of the Jat agitation, for example, caste bias prevented the government from taking timely action. 바카라�The state administration is dominated by Jats. They comprise more than 40 per cent of the police constabulary,바카라� he says. Singh바카라�s report had indicted 90 civil and police officials, including IAS and IPS officers, for failing to act during the Jat agitation that killed 31 people. There are also reports of nine women being gang-raped during the agitation period in Murthal.

The Haryana police, Singh tells Outlook, has tremendous potential. 바카라�If properly trained, it can even take on the Taliban. It has the best human element, but no leadership바카라�neither from the IPS officers nor the politicians,바카라� he rues. 바카라�It바카라�s an army of lions led by sheep. That is why Haryana has been tripping up badly for past three years.바카라�

As for the situation leading up to Gurmeet Ram Rahim바카라�s arr­est in ­August last year, Singh says it바카라�s clear that no action was taken since the powerful guru-actor had supported the BJP in the polls. About the Karni Sena바카라�s anti-­Padmaavat stir, he believes that the ruling party is going soft on the Rajputs owing to elections in Rajasthan where they are a dominant community. 바카라�No preventive action was taken. It does not reflect well on the government,바카라� adds Singh.

The attitude of Haryana government, according to him, has been 바카라�chhedoge toh badhega (if you try to control the situation, it will aggravate).바카라� This finds some resonance with BJP general secretary Anil Jain, in charge of the party바카라�s Haryana affairs. Considering the history of Hary­ana, 바카라�one can바카라�t be careful enough바카라�, he says, giving the exa­mple of another 바카라�godman바카라� Baba Rampal, who was apprehen­ded in 2014 from his Barwala ashram amid heavy security. That arrest had followed a fortnight바카라�s standoff between his followers and the police, injuring over 200 people. 바카라�The government couldn바카라�t implement the court바카라�s order for nearly two weeks, because it would have led to deaths,바카라� Jain says. 바카라�That바카라�s why we were being careful in the Ram Rahim case.바카라�

Hooda counters the 바카라�being careful바카라� theory. According to him, the government is direction-less and ineffectual in handling law and order. He says the administration does not act timely and then calls in the army. 바카라�Army cannot be used for routine law and order situations. Will it call in the army to control crimes against women too,바카라� he questions.

Hooda says the number of rapes and other crimes against women has gone up in the past three years. According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Haryana repo­rted 1,189 cases of rape in 2016. These include 518 cases of sexual violence against minor girls. Jain counters it, saying sexual violence exi­sted when the Congress was in power too. 바카라�Society actually has a vital role to play (in reforming),바카라� he says.

According to Jain, rapes by persons known to the victim don바카라�t reflect a law-and-order breakdown. 바카라�Ones, like the Gurgaon rape (where on January 21 night a woman was dragged out of the car and raped in front of her husband and bro­ther-in-law), involve dabangayi (brute bullying). Such cases have come down. The government is alert and quick to take action,바카라� he insists. About the school bus attack, Jain insists it was accidental stoning. 바카라�The target was the state transport bus,바카라� he says, adding the police have nabbed 15 persons, who 바카라�prima facie do not belong to the Karni Sena바카라�.

BJP바카라�s Haryana spokesperson Raman Malik talks about an improved sex ratio in the state under Khattar administration. 바카라�Our schemes like 바카라�Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao바카라� have been hugely successful and the 2017 sex ratio of 914 women to 1000 men is the best-ever,바카라� he says. Each district will have a women바카라�s police station and more women officers are being inducted. 바카라�As many as 850 women have been inducted; another 1000 will be added by next year,바카라� he says, blaming the 바카라�brown sahibs바카라� or the bureaucracy for a slowdown in the process.

Also, the Haryana government is implementing a new 바카라�Shakti Pari바카라� (Power Angels) scheme in some villages. Under this, five girls from each village will be identified and trained so as to keep vigil on miscreants. 바카라�They will identify the trouble-­makers and report to the sarpanch. The local police constable will also be a part of the exercise. The miscreants will be counselled, their parents informed and, if need be, arrested,바카라� Malik explains. 바카라�This scheme effectively combines community participation, pol­icing and social rebuilding.바카라� Further, for improved social fabric, schools have begun moral science lectures, as has the teaching of the Bhagwad Gita, which 바카라�is the GPS to life and life situations바카라�.

Hooda snubs all of it, calling the Khattar government a mere event management company. 바카라�It has spent crores of rupees organising the International Gita Mahotsava in Kurukshetra city (November-December, 2017). It is spe­nding big in the name of Saraswati and cow protection,바카라� notes the septuagenarian ex-CM, who has been demanding dismissal of Khattar government (for which he met state governor Kaptan Singh Solanki rec­ently). 바카라�The CM is the head but no minister listens to him. That is why there is no coordination and cohesive action,바카라� Hooda says. The BJP seems to be standing firmly behind the CM. 바카라�Khattarji will remain the CM,바카라� reiterates Jain. 바카라�No change in that.바카라�

***

The Khattar Government Report Card
Law and order has never been good. Of late, it has clearly worsened. Here바카라�s how:

November 2014

Violence and pitched battles between security forces and supporters of 바카라�godman바카라� Baba Rampal in the run-up to his arrest in Barwala, Hisar. Some 200 people, including policemen, were injured.

February 2016

Violence during the Jat agitation over demand for reservations. Reported gang rape of nine women in Murthal during the agitation. The protests caused a loss of Rs 34,000 crore in north India and death of 30 people.

August 2017

Court termed the situation 바카라�war-like바카라� following the arrest and conviction of 바카라�godman바카라� Gurmeet Ram Rahim. The ensuing violence claimed 36 lives, injured scores.

January 2018

10 rapes reported in as many days from across Haryana including gang rapes-cum-murders of Dalit and minor girls. Cases include rape and mutilation of a 15-year-old Dalit girl in Jind, abduction and gang-rape of a woman in a moving car in Faridabad and the rape of a woman in Gurgaon after she was pulled out from a car and her husband and brother-in-law held captive.

Ritu Chhabra, 47, was sitting in her office room on January 20

The principal of Swami Vivekananda Public School in Yamunanagar was shot dead by a Class XII student

School bus attacked in Gurgaon, allegedly by Karni Sena members protesting against the release of Padmaavat