NEW DELHI, Reuters: A controversy over a veteran politicians pun-totting raid on New Delhi telephone exchange raged for a fourth day as news Papers questioned his sanity and criticized India’s communication system.

The pro-government Hindustan Times said that the deplorable state of India’s phone system had been highlighted by Parkash (Chand Sethi visit to the Capitals main exchange on Friday to demand that a long distance call must be put through.

Let not in the midst of Sethis acts of indiscretion a crucial point be missed. The level of inefficiency, called simple insolence in the telephone exchanges in India would drive anyone mad, it said.

The newspaper said it was not condoning the acts of the former Interior Minister, who in the last weeks was reported to have embarrassed Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at a garden party and abused a Nepalese boxing team.

But why on earth we should need a Sethi to get the telephone exchanges to behave in India as they do elsewhere in the civilized world, it said.

The tribune in Chandigarh said “The anti-hero image he (Sethi) consciously created for himself for Political effect has petered out into an apparent state of paranoia.

Operators went on strike and the army was ordered to stand by to take over the switchboards after Sethi invaded the Kidwai Bhavan Exchange early on Friday morning.

Operator, Kira Fatima, who had taken Sethis call from his home just before mid-night for a telephone number in Bombay, said she tried three times before ringing Sethi.

She accused Sethi using obscene: language and saying women like her could be bought for fifty cents.

Sethi, carrying a pistol, and three bodyguards later stormed into the off-limits exchange demanding that the call must be connected and wanting evidence of previous efforts.

Sethi challenges the operator’s story and stood by his criticism of inefficiency in a telephone system where there is only a one-in-four chance of getting a right number.

We have got the worlds lousiest telephones. You should have seen the place that night Fat, lazy ladies, every single one of them, he said.

He added that he was armed. Because of  threats to his life over his role as Interior Minister when troops stormed the Sikhs holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, in 1984.

Article extracted from this publication >> August 29, 1986