This refers to your editorial ‘And the solutions?’, December 6, and the adjoining article ‘Stop, take a deep breath’ by Latha Jishnu. While ministers are accountable, civil services shoulder responsibility. What are we going to do about the inadequacies noticed by the civil services, police, intelligence units and the navy?
The bitter anger of not only the people of Mumbai but also of the entire country will soon be forgotten, as were the earlier terrorist attacks and the more devastating Bhopal gas tragedy — a massive corporate crime that took toll of thousands of citizens in Bhopal 24 years back, whose anniversary fell on December 2 with none to even remember that great corporate crime, except an edit page article referred to above.
The article rightly points out that the 24-year-long fight of Indians against the Bhopal tragedy had been thwarted “at every stage by their own government”, which has done little “to bring the US multinational to book”. The arrest warrant against the CEO of Union Carbide remains unexecuted because of US pressure. Not only this, Dow Chemicals which used a commercial subterfuge tailored obviously by a US investment banker to buy Union Carbide has taken both the Indian government and the people for a ride by openly claiming that it did not inherit the liabilities!
On the top of its failure to pursue the company adjudged guilty, the government ministers were lured by Dow Chemicals with their offer of foreign aid for development. Large chunk of agricultural land has been acquired for Dow by the Maharashtra government amid opposition from the local people. These protests were ignored by the government until it was forced to temporarily stop the work at Chakan. The public anger continues to simmer meanwhile.
Should we have to reward Dow, which has stepped into the shoes of a company adjudged guilty with a project to deal in poisonous and hazardous gases?
Therefore, until and unless we emphasise civil service responsibility alongside ministerial accountability, we shall continue to face similar situations. We have to put the government on its toes permanently. Sacking a few ministers and transferring a few deficient civil servants is not an end in itself. The malaise runs deeper. Only a few weeks back, TV channels showed clippings of the brutal lynching of a dalit law student by students of powerful castes with the Tamil Nadu police watching like passive spectators. This galling incident witnessed only motions of token administrative actions and no attempt whatsoever to restore the power, authority, efficiency, effectiveness, independence and fairness of the police force. The situation is much the same elsewhere in the country.
The salutary concept of civil supremacy over police and armed forces does not end up in lording over the former’s postings and promotions and sitting on judgement over the latter’s pay-scales and perks but in giving them the wherewithal to fight and, more importantly, being alert to notice and remedy the weak spots in their functions well in time.
S Subramanyan, Mumbai