On the one hand, we see the persecution of honest bureaucrats such as Durga Shakti Nagpal, and on the other, we have pliant babus flourish because they are ever willing to bow before politicians
Democracy is doomed when public servants become the private servants of the elected representatives and behave like robots that follow instructions loyally without applying their brains. If it were not so, the top bureaucrats of the Uttar Pradesh Government could at least have advised the competent authority, the Chief Minister, that the instructions to suspend IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal were flawed and against all the norms of governance. They just meekly carried out the orders and have further lowered the image of the bureaucracy.
What else could one expect from a party whose leader, while addressing a public gathering, claimed to have got the Sub-Divisional Magistrate suspended in just 41 minutes. While the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary meekly followed instructions from the political boss, the District Magistrate remained true to the facts of the case and courageously reported total absence of any possibility of communal disturbance or any excess committed by the courageous SDM.
This was a rare occasion when everyone else in the Government, in the process of defending the regime, was in fact exposing the hollowness of this unprecedented show of political immaturity and lack of understanding of the basics of democracy. The Chief Minister had earlier enlightened the people that it was a regular administrative action.
There are umpteen instances of young officers being harassed by their political bosses who often measure their own influence and stature by the number of officers they can trouble and get transferred. The shocking treatment meted out to this young lady officer of the Indian Administrative Service may appear a rare instance to many, but such a situation was anticipated by the luminaries who toiled hard to give India a Constitution that assured dignity and basic human rights to one and all.
They all were adherents to Gandhiji’s mantra that whatever you do in life, first think of the last man in the line and scrutinise how it would help him. They had resolved to dedicate themselves to the service of the country and its people.
Several apprehensions were agitating the minds of most of them: Once the fruits of power are tasted by the generations ahead, it may become difficult for them to sustain the spirit of dedication and devotion to the nation and to prepare a leadership that would strive to ameliorate the lot of the weak, downtrodden, deprived, and hence, the deficient.
Seconding a resolution to this effect, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan gave words to these concerns when he warned, “When power outstrips ability, we fall on evil days.” What a prophetic statement, which has proved its strength in far greater measure in the second decade of the 21st century.
One remembers the emphasis in most of the Government documents, schemes and initiatives on women’s empowerment. In education, it is invariably emphasised that an educated girl-child is a great national asset. When girls like Durga Shakti Nagpal crack the competition because of their talent, dexterity and determination, and succeed in the most sought-after civil services examination, it is an occasion to rejoice for the entire nation.
leaving aside a certain self-centered identified class of politicians and bureaucrats without spine, the entire nation is upset and angry. It is a rare occasion and it shall have far reaching implications for the emerging political scenario.
There is a silver lining in all this. India is being awakened by these politicians, and they are contributing to the cause unknowingly. When they refuse to accept directions from the Supreme Court to give autonomy to the Central Bureau of Investigation, people see their motives. Why should the financial sources of the political parties not come under the ambit of the RTIIJ Why are they fearfulIJ
Why does not even a single party offer to accept the verdict of the Central Information Commission and declare that it believes in total transparency and shall respond to queries under the RTIIJ
That requires courage of the level Ms Nagpal has shown in spite of stiff resistance from unscrupulous elements. People like Suresh Kalmadi appear to be above every rule book and every ethical norm. The saga of decline continues to extend without any ripples anywhere.
Noted jurist Fali Nariman, in the preface to his book, The State of The Nation, has quoted a conversation between a French Ambassador to Great Britain — himself a historian — and the US Ambassador, a poet and litterateur.
It was after the American Civil War was over. The French envoy asked, “How long will this republic of yours lastIJ” American Ambassador James lowell gave a restrained yet prophetic answer: “Excellency, as long as leaders live up to and cherish the ideas of its founding fathers.”