Enough is Enough

The rage of Mumbai’s citizens at the government’s callousness and criminal negligence was well expressed in the anguished messages on placards at the Gateway of India that read “Enough is Enough” and “When will WE get Z security”. But will these remain only expressions of anger once the dust settles?

Our cynical political leaders certainly expect so. Indeed, if the experience of past years is anything to go by, much as citizens want to move this time from talk to action, will they? More specifically, can they?
In my view, the reform required to deliver better security is deep and complex. Mere protests, not even the exemplary PIL just filed by professionals and the business community, can deliver the systemic change required.

The terrorists of 26/11 provoked two different qualities of response because in one fell swoop they drove bullets into the upper and lower classes; into Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Jains and Christians; into the “Marathi manoos” as well as Mumbaikars who come from elsewhere; and they violated the banquet halls of the rich and the railway platforms of the poor. Suddenly, even the affluent classes, for whom bomb blasts on suburban trains or outbreaks of violence against a minority community were to be tolerated as part of the “organised chaos” of living in Mumbai have lost their immunity.

For big business this is a wake-up call. Having woken up, will they now jump out of bed to set about a new agenda for reform? Or will they hesitate long enough for the moment to pass, abdicate their responsibility to influence change, and then hope their sleep won’t be disturbed again?

In fact, Mumbai was unprepared for the assault as a direct result of political interference in the day-to-day operations of the city’s police force. Why should a policeman on the beat arrest criminals when they will be released without charge? The policeman’s key function, of getting information on local goings-on in his mohalla, is withering away and, with it, the basic raw material of intelligence gathering.

This disease has spread further infection in the system. It’s an open secret that the highest levels and the second highest in state government require daily cash collections from police stations. (The current average for Mumbai is alleged to be around Rs 50,000 per station per day.) This has the inevitable consequence of criminals cutting deals with the police. As our police force is so woefully paid, and their welfare so poorly administered (nearly 4,000 constables are forced to live in slums), the extra income is irresistible. In this free-for-all, the modernisation of the police force in terms of equipment, training and mobility has been cynically ignored.

Police reforms are long overdue. The Centre is sitting on eight police reform commission reports; and three more for good measure, including a model police bill drafted by Soli Sorabjee to replace the current 1861 Police Act, and another by Julio Ribeiro. Ten years pass and a retired top cop from the Central services files a petition in the Supreme Court to direct the states to implement these reforms (of which some relate to reducing political interference by the state). The court’s stunning 2006 judgment against the states has been, with the exception of a few small states, ignored with contempt by most, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka, all of which recent witnessed recent terrorist attacks.
But the police force, which still includes a majority who want to carry out their duties diligently and with dignity, have also been let own by a judicial system afflicted by prolonged delays and antiquated judicial procedures. Here, too, the Centre is sitting on many recommendations for reforms.

This begs the question of why far-reaching administrative reforms have not been implemented?  At the heart of this widespread systemic rot lies the deepest rot of all, our dysfunctional political process where politicians are not accountable to their voters and where the need for large amounts of unaccounted money to contest an electoral seat have made the collection of black money the main currency of political activity. This is the primary cause and source of all-pervasive corruption that debilitates the key institutions of the state.

Where do we as members of civil society begin this complicated journey towards institutional reform? One organisation, Loksatta, has spent years developing a well-thought-out, non-partisan agenda for reform and has put on the Web a slew of recommendations that comprise a coherent programme for across-the-board reform.

Let us be under no illusion that Mumbai will be more secure if after the next elections we have substituted the incumbent coalition with members from the Opposition. Mr Barack Obama could only emerge in the US because the starting point for leadership of their political parties is their “primary” elections. When did we last see democracy at work in any one of our major political formations?

So, for this wake-up call to be the beginning of a lasting process to improve the governance of our city, and no less our nation, there is no quick-fix. Of course, we must deploy immediately those few effective instruments available to citizens. First the Right to Information Act. Let’s ask how many policemen are deployed in non-policing activities, protecting politicians, filmstars, businessmen, even criminals, and for how long?

Next the courts. But any PIL now needs to be forward looking and its “prayers” should pressure the state to commit itself to measures that are specific, measurable, time-bound and budgeted for. And, yes, there is the ballot box: The majority of our present netas deserve to be resoundingly ejected at the next elections. But the process only starts here.

Ahead is a more arduous journey to influence change in all our institutions of governance. This will involve research, investigative journalism, updating legislation, using public demonstrations to unseat unscrupulous leaders, getting business involved in public-private partnerships to upgrade police stations, municipal schools and management training. Above all, we need to see good, clean persons, such as those we saw at the Gateway, offering themselves for elections, unaffiliated to any current political party.