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“Arrey, Madamji, who gives their own land to build a mandir, masjid or gurdwara? Of course, they are built on government land which is grabbed for this purpose…” laughed a criminal lawyer in the Noida District Court when quizzed about the alleged action – of razing a wall purportedly belonging to a Masjid built on land belonging to government - that got Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Durga Shakti Nagpal suspended and put in the doghouse.
At 28, the 2009 batch IAS officer who was 20th on the IAS merit list and got her cadre changed from Punjab to UP to be closer to her husband Akhilesh, also an IAS officer, might have been naiive enough to believe that she was sincerely upholding the law.
But her seniors in the district said that she may have contributed to creating a law and order problem when she ordered the demolition of a structure coming up illegally on public land.
They probably knew that if they did not comply with the verbal orders emanating from the Chief Minister’s secretariat, the same fate that has befallen Nagpal may have been reserved for them.
The way the state government works is as follows: if there is misconduct on the part of a junior officer, the senior officer’s report is sought. Then action is taken. It would be interesting to know what the Gautambudhnagar District Magistrate (DM) Ravi Kumar Singh wrote in his report about Nagpal’s action. Locals say it is not clear whether he tried to defend her.
This much is certain: that ever since builders descended on Noida and Greater Noida, sand mining along the Yamuna has become big business. The government gives out contracts for sand mining, but enormous amount of illegal mining goes on alongside.
Hundreds of dumpers transport sand from the Yamuna river bed every day and money to the tune of lakhs of rupees changes hands. Locals say regardless of the nature or colour of the government, miners who have the protection of the local representatives, carry on their trade briskly: governments come and go but the ‘rate’ doesn’t change.
Locals also say an illegal wall on government land was built in a village near Dankaur in Greater Noida. Some say the wall even had a plaque saying Narendra Singh Bhati, the local MLA and minister in the UP government had laid the foundation stone of the Masjid. Others say nobody even knew it was a masjid, it was just a wall.
At any rate, Nagpal told residents that it was illegal to build a structure on government land: and it was demolished by residents voluntarily.
But her intervention in preventing the sand mafia from its trade had unintended consequences, for it brought into spotlight, the activities of people who are politically powerful. What is more, the political subtext and rivalries came spilling out.
While Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s paternal uncle Shivpal said the officer needed to be suspended for fomenting religious tension, his other uncle, RamGopal suggested an enquiry should be started and the officer reinstated.
Another ‘uncle’ Azam Khan – a close associate of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav – commented: ‘Ram Raj mein loot machi hai, loot sake to loot (there is mayhem in paradise, make the most of it if you can). It is the world’s worse kept secret that Azam Khan was extremely critical of Akhilesh Yadav being made Chief Minister of UP and virtually revolted at the time.
All this usually happens when there is a combined deficit of political authority and administrative competence. Surrounded by family, Akhilesh Yadav is as hamstrung was Arjun was when he saw all his brothers and uncles standing across him in Kurukshetra.
An enquiry is going on against the contractors Akhilesh’s uncle Shivpal apppointed for road building in Etawah and Mainpuri. His half brother Prateek wants to join politics and contest the Lok Sabha seat of Azamgarh: but another Yadav, Balram Singh already represents the seat.
Akhilesh is caught in the vortext of all these cross currents. It can’t help that frequently father and son appear not to be on the same page.
The UP IAS Association, an extremely powerful body, has taken on the Chief Minister and has petitioned the government of India against the suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court is hearing a petition on her suspension tomorrow. UP is under the scanner again.
