You Are Not my Father, Mr Commissioner

The needle finally moved in my head last night.

Appalled, disgusted and scared as I was with the gruesome bestiality and impunity with which the young physiotherapist was violated in Delhi last week, mentally I seemed to have rationalized or “intellectualized” my anger. So I said things like “What do we expect in a society that kills its girls before they are born, that beats and abuses women inside homes, that believes that the girl child is a burden – the society has to change and women have to respected and valued, before such incidents will come to an end. Why blame only the police.”

Last night, my thinking evolved. A leading television channel had provided a forum for the Delhi Police Commissioner to engage with young women from across the city. Hearing the top cop speak made me realize that this is not the Police Commissioner under whose watch this city is going to be safer for me, my mother or my daughter.

The Police Commissioner was fairly circumspect as he spoke. Several times he mentioned that he was afraid he might be misunderstood. This in itself is deeply symptomatic – a person who is clear in his mind of his position, is usually able to communicate that position well. And since the St. Stephens graduate is not particularly challenged when it comes to the use of language, it was really the position itself that he seemed to be coming from, which was unacceptable.

The Vision is not Clear

A leader needs to have clarity of vision - a clear sight of where we want to be, and what is the road to getting there. That the Police Commissioner falls short was demonstrated by an exchange that went somewhat like this. 

“It would have been the easiest thing for me to tell you that you should go out in the city wherever you want, whenever you want, and you will be safe, but I will not say that,” said the commissioner. “But that’s exactly what we all want to hear from you today, Sir,” interjected a young woman. The Commissioner went on to explain, “With freedom comes responsibility. You have to be responsible about your own security as well. It is not just women who are unsafe --- even men’s pockets get picked. So I would advise everyone to be cautious.” I am paraphrasing from memory, but this was the gist of it.

Two points I want to highlight from this exchange. The first – the Commissioner accepted in as many words – asserted even – that it was not his position that women should go out anytime, anywhere and they will be safe.

And second – I want to explore a little bit the implications of this good advice. Coming from a Police Commissioner, this is too general, too nebulous and too abstract. Tell us sir – is it safe for us to be out from eight am in the morning to six pm in the evening? Could you mark out the areas, stretches, roads, on a map of Delhi, where you can assure us that we will be safe during this time? Help us understand – how late is too late. How far from home is too far. Tell us specifically.

I don’t say this sarcastically at all.  I say it seriously. As a Police Commissioner, you first need to accept, and proclaim loudly, that it is your job to make public spaces in Delhi safe for an eighteen year old girl walking alone at 3 am. And then, you must tell us what your plan is to make that a reality 3 years from now, or 5 years from now, or ten years from now. You must tell us what milestones you will achieve in the next one month, next one year, next three years, towards the realization of your vision. We understand it will not happen all in one day. So in the meanwhile, please put out clear advisories for women - don’t venture in the following areas, following stretches, during this particular stretch of time. Commit to us that all other areas will be safe. We want to see the safe zone expanding swiftly over time. Today, only the VIPs seem to be living in that safe zone. What is your plan to make that circle of safety progressively wider?

Zero Tolerance

Building a culture of safety necessitates the understanding that you have to attack the base of a well-defined pyramid. At the base of that pyramid are petty crimes – a lewd comment here, a whistle there. At the next level are more intrusive violations – groping, chain snatching, stalking. Violent assault is at the top of the pyramid. It has to be very clearly understood that unless you build a culture where even petty crimes are recognized as unacceptable and swiftly punished, we cannot hope to eliminate the violent crimes that sit at the top of this pyramid. The Police Commissioner needs to put fear in the heart of every lout walking the streets of this city. Rapists are few, but rascals who think a woman waiting at a bus stop is public property are plenty. They must be made to desist from casting even a lustful glance at her. They need to be afraid of you, and of your police force.  Bhay bin hoy na preet, said Tulsidas. Show these goons your might, Sir.

The Police Can’t be Everywhere

One statement that the Commissioner made last night on that TV discussion is stuck in my head. The Police can’t be everywhere. I would have agreed if the Commissioner had said this to mean, the police can’t be in your bedrooms or inside playschools or inside a doctor’s consultation chamber – all of which are places where we know women or little girls are not necessarily safe. But he said this in the context of public transport. He said this in the context of public spaces. He said this in the context of our city roads. And I want to ask him directly – why not?

In India we spend billions of dollars buying fighter planes and submarines and fancy weapons to protect ourselves against the enemy. Can’t we spend more money then, putting ten, twenty, fifty times more policemen on the streets of Delhi, where Mother India is being violated with impunity every day? What stops us from having a police man in every single bus that is out on Delhi roads? On every bus stop? What stops us from having much more visible policing? By wringing your hands and saying helplessly, ‘The police can’t be everywhere,’ you are abdicating your responsibility, Sir. The police must be everywhere.

If your vision is clear, you will be able to co-opt the citizens you claim to protect, into that vision. Do you have an idea of what it would take, to make Delhi safe for a young girl walking home at 3 am? Do you have a plan? Tell us. Use the media, the civil groups and online social networks to build support for your plan, to mobilize resources from the government. Co-opt NGOs, civil society groups, students, professionals, volunteers. Work on gender-sensitizing your force, surely. But gender-sensitize yourself, too. You are not my father. You are a professional policeman. I don’t need advice from you, good or otherwise. From you, I need specific advisories. I need a specific plan, to make Delhi safe for women.

I am afraid, last night when I heard the Commissioner on that TV discussion, he seemed to have neither the vision, nor the plan.