Julio Ribeiro, Former DGP,Punjab
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There was a time, not very long ago — one year short of 30, to be
precise — when only a Christian was chosen to go to Punjab to fight what
then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi termed “the nation’s battle” against
separatists. I had accepted a “demotion” from secretary in the Union
home ministry to DGP of the state of Punjab at the personal request of
the prime minister.
Then home secretary, Ram Pradhan, and my dear
friend, B.G. Deshmukh, then chief secretary to the government of
Maharashtra, were flabbergasted. “Why did you accept this assignment?”
they asked. The same question was put to me over the phone by then
President Zail Singh. But Arjun Singh, the cabinet minister who
personally escorted me by special aircraft from Delhi to Chandigarh,
remarked that when my appointment was announced the next morning, the
Hindus of Punjab would breathe more freely and rejoice. I presume Hindus
would include RSS cadres who had been pinned into a corner by the
separatists.
When 25 RSS men on parade were shot dead in cold blood
one morning, then Punjab Governor S.S. Ray and I rushed to the spot to
console the stricken families. The governor visited 12 homes, I visited
the rest. The governor’s experience was different from mine. He was
heckled and abused. I was welcomed.
Today, in my 86th year, I feel
threatened, not wanted, reduced to a stranger in my own country. The
same category of citizens who had put their trust in me to rescue them
from a force they could not comprehend have now come out of the woodwork
to condemn me for practising a religion that is different from theirs. I
am not an Indian anymore, at least in the eyes of the proponents of the
Hindu Rashtra.
Is it coincidence or a well-thought-out plan that
the systematic targeting of a small and peaceful community should begin
only after the BJP government of Narendra Modi came to power last May?
“Ghar wapsi”, the declaration of Christmas as “Good Governance Day”, the
attack on Christian churches and schools in Delhi, all added to a sense
of siege that now afflicts these peaceful people.
Christians have
consistently punched above their weight — not as much as the tiny Parsi
community, but just as noticeably. Education, in particular, has been
their forte. Many schools, colleges, related establishments that teach
skills for jobs have been set up and run by Christians. They are much in
demand. Even diehard Hindus have sought admission in such centres of
learning and benefited from the commitment and sincerity of Christian
teachers. Incidentally, no one seems to have been converted to
Christianity, though many, many have imbibed Christian values and turned
“pseudo-secularist”.
Hospitals, nursing homes, hospices for dying
cancer patients needing palliative care — many of these are run by
Christian religious orders or Christian laymen devoted to the service of
humanity. Should they desist from doing such humanitarian work for fear
of being so admired and loved that a stray beneficiary converts of his
or her own accord? Should only Hindus be permitted to do work that could
sway the sentiments of stricken people in need of human love and care?
The Indian army was headed by a Christian general, the navy more than
once, and same with the air force. The country’s defence forces have
countless men and women in uniform who are Christians. How can they be
declared non-Indians by Parivar hotheads out to create a pure Hindu
Rashtra?
It is tragic that these extremists have been emboldened
beyond permissible limits by an atmosphere of hate and distrust. The
Christian population, a mere 2 per cent of the total populace, has been
subjected to a series of well-directed body blows. If these extremists
later turn their attention to Muslims, which seems to be their goal,
they will invite consequences that this writer dreads to imagine.
I
was somewhat relieved when our prime minister finally spoke up at a
Christian function in Delhi a few days ago. But the outburst of Mohan
Bhagwat against Mother Teresa, an acknowledged saint — acknowledged by
all communities and peoples — has put me back on the hit list. Even more
so because BJP leaders, even ministers like Meenakshi Lekhi, chose to
justify their chief’s remarks.
What should I do? What can I do to
restore my confidence? I was born in this country. So were my ancestors,
some 5,000 or more years ago. If my DNA is tested, it will not differ
markedly from Bhagwat’s. It will certainly be the same as the country’s
defence minister’s as our ancestors arrived in Goa with the sage
Parshuram at the same time. Perhaps we share a common ancestor somewhere
down the line. It is an accident of history that my forefathers
converted and his did not. I do not and never shall know the
circumstances that made it so.
What does reassure me
in these twilight years, though, is that there are those of the
predominant Hindu faith who still remember my small contribution to the
welfare of the country of our birth. During a recent trip to
Rajgurunagar in the Khed taluka of Pune district to visit schools that
my NGO, The Bombay Mothers and Children Welfare Society, had adopted, I
stopped at Lonavla for idli and tea. A group of middle-aged
Maharashtrians sitting on the next table recognised me and stopped to
greet and talk. A Brahmin couple returning from Kuwait (as I later
learnt) also came up to inquire if I was who I was and then took a
photograph with me.
It warmed the cockles of my heart that ordinary
Hindus, not known to me, still thought well of me and would like to be
friends 25 years after my retirement, when I could not directly serve
them. It makes me hope that ordinary Hindu men and women will not be
swayed by an ideology that seeks to spread distrust and hate with
consequences that must be avoided at all cost.
(The writer,a retired
IPS officer,was Mumbai police commissioner,DGP Gujarat and DGP
Punjab,and is a former Indian ambassador to Romania)
express@expressindia.com
- See more at:
http://indianexpress.com/…/colu…/i-feel-i-am-on-a-hit-list/…)
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