Durga Shakthi Nagpal: A Fiery Spirit at the Mercy of Foolish Democracy

Durga Shakthi Nagpal: A Fiery Spirit at the Mercy of Foolish Democracy

                   The young lady Officer Ms.Durga Shakthi might have sung this Bengali song “Hao Dharmete Dheer, Hao Karomete Bir ... Hao Unnato Shir…..Naahi Bhay…. When she passed out of the Academy a few months ago after undergoing the rigorous a year and few months training in India’s LBS National Academy of Administration. The English version of the song as it appears in the official website of the Academy, reads as:

“Be firm in your faith, be courageous in action, Keep your head erect—fear not; Forget all your differences, let all march onwards,    God is with us—victory is assured; Many languages, many creeds, many costumes,   Let there be unity in this diversity, Watching the rise of the great Indian Nation, The world will be filled with wonder   The world will be filled with wonder”

            The young girl, would not have known that the song is a mere cliché of post-colonial mindset until she could find her own service colleagues maintaining distance with her, after the son of Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has reaffirmed his act of suspending the her. The whole universe knows that the act is irrational, outrageous and done with the mind of a "thug", in the guide of a democratic function.

            It is not known if Ms.Durga is being negotiated a “Kerala State Karunakaran’s type of suspension”, where the suspension is later rewarded with plum posting just to satisfy the media and the power hungry political mafia- In any case, the slap of the suspension order is indeed a slap on the steel framework of India- the ethical premise upon which the Indian Bureaucracy has been built upon.

           This is not the first time Civil Servants are targeted by mafias and goons. A many go unreported. Also mafias and goons need not always from politics, they are everywhere even inside bureaucracy albeit a sizable few are mentally retarded and the madness perpetuates problems as dangerous as from the goons. The present assertion that the demolition of the mosque wall by Durga , as the Chief Minister of UP says is based on Intelligence reports, that the District Magistrate have refuted and sent a report dismissing the claim! Who is an accountable institution? The District Magistrate or Intelligence Agency? What locus-standus the intelligence report has when the District Magistrate has sent his report black and white? Shamelessly, her own colleagues, fellow service colleagues, the white collar criminals have fallen in line with the fraud and suspended her.

Now a series of questions arise: In what way Durga Shakthi’s suspension gains importance to be discussed in public space why the suspension not only needs to be revoked, the culprits behind it whoever they may be must be brought to Justice? Why a stray incident in Noida in UP needs to be discussed all over India?

One reasonable answer could be that, this is not like the candle light fantasy of Anna Hazare’s Tamasha. The Ram Leela maidan was staging a comical drama where Anna Hazare was a meeting point of ‘beetlemania’ and ‘megalomania’. It was a mega film shoot with flood lights!

But this attack on Durga Shakthi  is real! The guiding principle of ethics in governance displayed by a young bureaucrat who represents the arm of the Government is reduced to dust. She now stands victimized! in the mental stage of mafias, the officer is made to stand mutilated of her limbs! It is not merely Durga Shakthi who stands mutilated but the consciousness of the middle and  upper middle class! 

The foundations of ethical seriousness and reliability on the State has been slayed. God Bless UP Chief secretary Javed Usmani, who will soon process the Note in a file recommending charge sheeting the young officer. If this ever happens, that would mark the collapse of the dictum "Satyameva Jayate" in Indian State's Symbol. 

The speed and sensitivity the Indian State showed on the Naxal abducted Vineel Krishna and Alex Paul Menon, should apply in this case too. Earlier the two IAS Officers were abducted by anti-state forces, and this is even more dangerous! The naxals just challenge the Indian State with a countering ideology! Durga Shakthi is abducted by even deadlier forces of destruction of the "very Idea" of Government of India! But in Durga Shakthi episode, it is Goonda Raj that gets political legitimacy a destruction of the liberal democracy itself. As seen by all, the executive arm of the government gets eclipsed by goons in the guise of Intelligence report. If this happens to Durga, anyone can be taken to task based on intelligence report! The Chief Secretary who defends this atrocious and outrageous act may also would become victim of this goonda raj, and the Chief Secretary may be declared a terrorist on the basis of "Intelligence Report". If this is not nipped off in the bud, the entire question of Constitutional Democracy gets hijacked by goons. 

This is not the problem of One Durga Shakthi , but all honest souls in the Politico-Administrative system of India - the Judges, the honest politicians, students, Academicians and all clean hands are under threat! 

Ms.Durga Shakthi must know by now that the 'media howling' merits no legitimacy because the media barons are merely merchants of sensations -merciless merchants of sensations and mercenaries of creating public opinion of promoting goons. They will soon turn their attention if something more lucrative would happen.

          Of all, what surprises me is the mobilization among the dormant bureaucracy who is individually challenging and defiant but collectively just like a ‘docile hippopotamus’ (as the IAS Officer Association of UP Cadre). Hats off to the All India IAS Officer’s Association and the office bearers for their bold maneuverings with the concerned Central Minister Mr. V.Narayanasamy. It is high time that the concerned District Magistrate and the SDM be called on some exigencies on Central Deputation. Mr.V. Narayanasamy should know that defending Durga Shaakthi  is more important than defending the cause of Koodankulam Nuclear Plant.

( The author is a former Professor in Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie and would like to dedicate this to Mr. Yatendra Kumar, a serving IAS Officer in Manipur Tripura Cadre who suffered similar injuries all through his life. I  feel proud working with him for few months)