Julio Riberio column: Ganesh Chaturthi and the problem with VIP privileges

For three consecutive years 1982, 1983 and 1984, I paid my respects to the Lalbaugcha Raja ganpati without having to stand in a queue. I happened to be the Commissioner of Police of the city in those years. Anyone with a little clout or influence gets preferential treatment in our country, and it is accepted as a fact of existence in our land. But incidents like the assault by some policewomen on a young woman who had come for darshan should force us to rethink the arrangement.
 
I once saw P Chidambaram, who was then the Union Home Minister (or was it Finance Minister) standing in line to be frisked at the Delhi airport. I waited for him to finish and then asked him whether he was not exempted from this security exercise. He told me that the common man would appreciate a gesture by the privileged if they went through rigours like those they have to face when they travel.
 
On a visit to Epsom for the annual derby race, the car driven by my friend was asked to get to the side of the road to allow for a VIP convoy. We merely slowed down for two minutes or three but did not stop. We were curious to know who the potentate was. It was the Queen. Her car was piloted by a policeman on a motorcycle and escorted by a car with four very alert security men. There were no jams and no holding up of traffic, unlike in our country, where everybody on the road is made to halt till the privileged pass by! Often it takes at least 15 minutes for this, by which time people’s patience on a busy city is greatly taxed.
 
The young girl who wanted darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja was dressed rather informally for the occasion. I hope I am not accused of making a sexist comment, it is not! I feel that when we visit a place of devotion we must not be so informal. We have condemned the policewomen, but nobody commented on the unruly behaviour of the girl who went berserk for a few moments, repeatedly kicking the barricades put up by the police. I can understand her rage since she had been standing in the queue for three hours, but policewomen on duty were bound to take notice and react. 
 
The whole problem arises because of our VIP culture. Reportedly, Amit Shah was to visit the pandal and since he is the second-most important man in the country today, no policeman would dare to keep him waiting. The CM and other ministers also visited. Can we really do away with this VIP culture? Can it be modified to permit only a few favoured dignitaries? Who should those be and who should decide this? These are very difficult questions to answer. Recently, Robert Vadra's name in a ‘No Frisking’ list did cause eyebrows to rise, until it was withdrawn. 
 
The policemen and women on duty are told that only VIPs with passes should be permitted in the special queue. Policemen and women carry out orders given to them by their superiors. Their superiors follow traditions. That tradition involves acceptance of the VIP culture which has been sanctioned from times immemorial by successive governments and institutions, including the committee that controls the pandal. You can hardly blame the policewomen for doing their duty, though you can question the way in which they went about it.
 
The girl was in a very bad temper and was, in fact, violent. The policewomen used counter force. How much force should be used to tame violent people is something that has to be taught to police personnel at the time of their training and in their in-service courses. Six women throwing punches at the girl was certainly overdone. Holding her down would have sufficed. But you have to consider the fact that the police are overworked for more than 12 hours at a time on such occasions. Food and rest are scarce and so are toilet facilities. Their life is hard and it is bound to have an effect on their nerves. When a furious young woman starts challenging them and throwing tantrums by repeatedly kicking the barricades, those nerves do give way.
 
Much has been said about the failure of the police leadership to sensitise their rank and file about behaviour with women, with the aged, with the young and with the weaker sections of society. Actually, a lot of work has been done in those areas by the department over a period of time. My own NGO, the Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT), had signed an MoU with the Training Directorate of the State police to sensitise the constabulary and junior officials. We did it over a period of three years with some results, but the programme was discontinued by the police.
 
To avoid ugly incidents like the one that occurred at Lalbaug, police departmental superiors, in consultation with the government, should define the parameters of VIP privileges. Another suggestion which I have personally tried out during my tenure as Police Commissioner was to replace the frontline police personnel on such occasions by volunteers from city colleges. When these young boys and girls, who are temporarily provided with a badge of identification, ask other citizens to maintain order, there is acceptance, whereas if the same authority is exercised by policemen in uniform, it is greatly resented!