I-Day Special Feature: ‘As a police officer, I would be a misfit in today’s India’

It should be of concern to all Indians when Julio Ribeiro, one of India’s most decorated police officers credited with defeating militancy in Punjab in the 1980s, says it would be impossible for him to work in the police force in the present circumstances.The circumstance he is referring to is, of course, the deep politicisation of the force where all that an officer needs to do to grow professionally is say ‘yes’ to his political masters. They need not be a good investigator or law and order manager. Just a good sense of which way the political wind is blowing is good enough.“Nowadays you will find that officers don't take interest in investigations. Because they know it doesn't matter. If a person belongs to this party, then he will be let off; and if he's from that party, he will be put behind bars,” says Ribeiro in this edition of TOI+ I-Day Features.Apart from the decline of Indian Police Service (IPS) and how, back in the day, it was possible for officers like him stand up to pressure from ministers, Ribeiro, 94, who retired as the advisor to the government of Punjab and has also served as the Mumbai Police commissioner opened up about a whole lot of things, including his hopes and misgivings about India’s future. medium102654607August 15, 1947 was a festivalI was 18 at that time. I was in the final year of my BCom [bachelor's in commerce] course at Sydenham College at Churchgate [Mumbai]. My brother, two years younger, was studying at JJ School of Arts. I remember that the two of us went around south Mumbai in a bus to take in the atmosphere. There were people everywhere waving flags. There was a big crowd around the Victoria Terminus [now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus or CSMT]. It was like a festival.My mother, my sister and a younger brother were all at home, waving flags from our apartment’s balcony. I heard Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s “freedom at midnight” speech multiple times.Independence means we are responsible for what we becomeIndependence meant our country was now on its own – that we were masters of our own destiny and that we now had the responsibility of managing our own affairs as best as we could. The British, especially the then UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill, thought we would fail. But we did not and set an example in 'unity in diversity' for the rest of the world.When I met Mohammed Ali JinnahWhile I was in college, I once met Mohammad Ali Jinnah [who served as independent Pakistan’s first governor-general]. I was the secretary of the college union and we wanted him to deliver a lecture. One of my Muslim friends and I visited his Malabar Hill mansion to invite him. He met us briefly but declined the invitation.I met Gandhiji and Panditji during the course of my duties. I remember meeting Panditji with my wife and daughter in Nanded, where I was posted as superintendent of police. There was a massive crowd to welcome Panditji and people just ran behind his open jeep. We were worried, but in those days VIP security used to be much more relaxed. medium102654479Politicians have a vested interest in keeping India illiterateThe one thing that I'm very worried about, and which no government has paid any attention to, is illiteracy. I always have a feeling that all these political parties – from the Congress in the time of Panditji to Modi's BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] – are not interested in eradicating illiteracy. Because if they remove illiteracy, people will start thinking and raising questions. They will then be less likely to vote only based on some rousing speeches and would want to hold politicians accountable.Some states have 100% literacy. For example, Kerala. Some of India’s poorest communities belong to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and Muslims. And one of the most neglected groups in India is our women. Women, if they are educated, can transform an entire community. medium102654516Technology is fine, but what about declining valuesThe use of technology in policing has been a very important tool and can be used to serve society better. But no amount of technology can help if our values diminish. A lot of people now want to do well in life by not working hard, but by becoming friendly with politicians. And that is causing a lot of problems.This did not happen in our time. I worked under many police commissioners and chief ministers like Yashvantrao Chavan, Morarji Desai and Vasantdada Patil. But I worked in an environment where it was possible for a police officer to say ‘no’ to a politician, even a chief minister.I remember one incident. Vasantdada Patil's son had gone to meet the BEST general manager, an IAS officer. Dada's son had met with an accident and was using crutches. He used the crutches to smash the BEST GM’s desk which had a glass top.The officer called me. I asked him not to worry and promised that the CM’s son will be prosecuted. My fellow officers were not so sure. I asked them to relax and let me handle the issue. I phoned Vasantdada and told him that I was going to prosecute his son. I narrated the whole incident to him. He did not come in my way.Can you imagine a police officer calling a CM today and informing him that he was going to book his son? These days only those in the opposition get prosecuted. This is dangerous for police officers. They will forget how to investigate a case.I remember when I was posted in Punjab, a Union minister had called late in the night, asking me to lock up some people so that they would not be able to vote in that SGPC [Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee] election. I said I will not do any such thing. I told him I was posted in Punjab to fight militancy, and 'not to help you in your politics'.In those days, you could stand up to a politician. But now who can talk like that to the prime minister or home minister. I would not be able to work in such an environment.Watch: Ribeiro on the politicisation of the police force medium nocaption102571853Only a section of Indians can take their freedom for grantedThey [a section of people] know that if they are with the government, their freedoms are protected. It's a sad situation. It bothers me immensely that the law now only applies to the critics of the government.Look at the way AAP [Aam Aadmi Party] is being dealt with. They [BJP] can't beat the AAP in elections, so they bring an ordinance to take away the government’s powers. I've never seen this happen before.After I returned from a diplomatic assignment in Romania, I got involved in a programme to build communal harmony through ‘mohalla committees’. We achieved a lot. But now the same workers tell me there is so much fear that all the work they had done has gone to waste. I tell them to not give up. They must start all over again. They can’t give up because it's not fair to the people.Watch I-Day special: They saw India in 1947, they're seeing India in 2023 medium nocaption102682779This government has done a lot of good workI would say that the present government has done a lot of good work. Let us not diminish their work. For example, the direct benefit transfer – the money goes straight to a beneficiary’s account, bypassing the intermediaries. That's a great achievement. This government has provided food security to those below the poverty line. The PM housing scheme is a good initiative too.But the kind of prejudice that is being spread against a community is not going to help this country. It might get them votes, but the downside is that it will divide people which will be bad for us in the long run.We have a very dangerous neighbour on our east. The one on the west can be managed, but the one on the east is much stronger than us militarily and economically. Politicians must keep in mind the future of this country. If you just go around wanting to win elections, it will cause a lot of problems for us in the future. Photos and videos: Raju Shinde