Kejriwal, police must call truce for people’s sake
Instead of having a calming effect, the meeting between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Commissioner of Police BS Bassi has worsened the stand-off between the Government and Delhi Police. It is futile to appropriate blame on the one or the other; both sides have their versions which seek to project them in a better light.
The most unfortunate fallout is on the citizens of Delhi, who are getting rather fed up of the almost daily confrontation between the Kejriwal Government and various arms of the Union Government. Mr Kejriwal wants Delhi Police to report to the city-State Government, and he insists that Mr Bassi give him all the information on the police's functioning. But this is simply not possible under the present scheme of things; Delhi is not a full-fledged State, and thus, issues of law and order and land are within the Union Government's jurisdiction.
Mr Kejriwal knows this well enough, and so he would employ his time more fruitfully if he works to build a political consensus on granting Delhi full statehood. To do that, he will have to coordinate not just with various political leaders, including those from parties that he holds in utter contempt, but also the Union Government, whom he has been blaming for all the ills that he thinks Delhi is plagued with. In other words, the Chief Minister has to discard the confrontationist posture and work alongside others in a manner which does credit to an elected Chief Minister.
Had there been more understanding and less distrust between Delhi Police and the State Government, the meeting between Mr Kejriwal and Mr Bassi could have paved the way for a better working of the police. It became clear from the Aam Aadmi Party's sharp and acerbic response after the two ended their meeting, that Mr Kejriwal was deeply upset by the Police Commissioner's responses. While Mr Bassi remained diplomatic in his comments, he did not say anything to suggest that he had enjoyed the meeting or was looking forward to another one.
The AAP Government has the right to direct the police chief to brief it on the law and order situation in Delhi, and the police chief has the right to deny information or refuse to follow directions that he believes should, if at all, be coming from the Centre and not from an authority he doesn’t report to. For instance, Mr Bassi refused to provide details of postings of various police officers, that the Chief Minister demanded. He later said that the police was accountable to a “system” and not an “individual”.
The drama has been going on for far too long to even sound amusing anymore. Mr Kejriwal has to decide whether he sincerely believes that his 24-hour combative behaviour is more important than the nitty-gritty of good governance for which he and his party received an overwhelming, historic mandate. As for Delhi Police, it needs to pull up its socks; it doesn't exactly enjoy a sparkling image.