India some time ago set up a committee of senior government officers headed by the then home secretary N.N. Vohra to point out the ills afflicting the home department. The committee’s report was placed on the table of the Indian Parliament last week. The committee has revealed the nexus among criminal gangs, police, bureaucracy and politicians in different parts ‘of the country, This Mafia was virtually running a parallel government in the ‘country pushing the state apparatus to irrelevance, The committee points out that in the states like Bihar, F Jaryana and U.P., the Mafia gangs enjoy the patronage of local level politicians, government functionaries and police, Some politicians have become leaders of these gangs or armed sense and over the years had got themselves elected to local bodies, state assemblies and Parliament, Consequently such elements have acquired political clout seriously jeopardizing the smooth functioning of the administration, and the safety of life and property of the common man. The committee has suggested the setting up of a nodal agency to collect intelligence regarding the crime syndicates so that stringent action will be taken against them. The committee has tried to assess how the crime mafias have developed into a powerful political force in India. But it has not evaluated how the gangs have emerged nor has it suggested any effective solution, to eliminate the menace. In particular, the committee has not understood nor could it convincingly show why at this particular phase of India’s history, the mafias have come to the fore. In our opinion, the Indian state itself has become a criminal outfit thanks to the manner in which it handled political problems in states like Punjab, Kashmir, Assam and Andhra. Beginning with Punjab, the Indian state installed carefully selected persons with a history of active crime behind them in important seats of power in politics, police and the administration. For instance, first Darbara Singh was made chief minister. At one time, he was accused of causing the assassination of Partap Singh Kairon, former chief minister of Punjab. Then Beant Singh filled this post. He, too, has a history of murder behind him. K.P.S, Gill was made director-general of police. He had been facing several cases of murder while he was police chief in the eastern states of India. S.S. Ray as a leading advocate had at one time defended Gill in the courts, No wonder, Rajiv Gandhi selected Ray to head the Punjab administration. The latter, in turn, chose K.P.S. Gill to become the Punjab police chief, Under a carefully drafted policy, the police was filled with known, veteran criminals to handle the Sikh problem. Crime, murder and sex because the standard weapon in India’s fight against the Sikhs. Numerous political persons, administrators and police officers were allowed to keep armed ‘private persons as gunmen for protection. But, in practice, these ‘VIPs themselves became mafia heads. They were allowed to indulge in smuggling, illicit distillation, land grabs, satta and prostitution. The only condition imposed on them was that they should refrain from giving any quarter to the supporters of Khalistan.

The ailment spread to Haryana, Delhi and other states soon. Today, the Punjab experiment is being tried in Kashmir also.

‘The committee cannot be expected to keep in mind the above mentioned course of the growth of the crime politics police tie-up because such an analysis will hurt the top elections of India’s body politic, nay the entire system, Until the mafias in Punjab, Kashmir, ‘Assam and Andhra Pradesh, sponsored, armed and nurtured by Indian government, are broken and smashed, there can be no breakthrough in solving the problem. No amount of nodal agencies will help. It has to be kept in mind that the criminal mafias in India have grown phenomenally in the past decade. That has also been the period when India organized specially trained commandos led by such as Gill and Beant Singh to pick up, torture, main and kill Sikhs.

The policy had to leave some repercussions somewhere.

Article extracted from this publication >>  August 11, 1995