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Criminals We used to hear the stories of Bihar or Maharashtra where a group of Shiv Sainiks enters a government office beats some government officer and blacks his face. But this kind of incident had never happened in Punjab but now it has happened. And this was waiting to happen as its preliminary signs had started to show during the Moga Municipal Council elections. A political leader and his sons, with the help of goons had pointed their gun at the reporters and had kept the District Commissioner and Police Chief at the doors of a polling booth while they themselves had casted the votes. Another Akali Dal Legislator has shoot at a BJP Legislator and has put his car on fire. A few weeks ago another Akali Dal Legislator had abused a senior BJP minister in his own home. All these incidents indicate that except Prakash Singh Badal’s clean personality, criminal elements have entered the Akali Dal under his son’s leadership. During his 60 years of political career, Badal was never blamed of ruling with the help goons. When he is now at the last state of his political career and is about to retire, the second line leadership of his party is determined to tarnish his ‘gentleman leader’s’ image.

Incident This is an unimportant incident if we consider the geographical size of India but for the public of Punjab it has become an eye opener. This happened on June 19 in the District of Ludhiana. It was a very big incident which is an indication of the failure of the Punjab administrative machinery but for Punjab Government it has no importance. Chief Minister tried to ignore the matter by saying that the guilty will not be spared. But in reality nothing has been done. The accused people are wandering free while the police are so shameless that it has not taken any action against the accused people. It is not an unimportant incident that a Tehsildar (Megistrate) was pulled from his seat, brought into the open and mercilessly beaten by some miscreants. It did not end here. All his clothes (except undergarments) put off and then again beaten. When he was lying naked on the ground and goons of a political leader were mercilessly beating him nobody came to his rescue except a Khokhewala (tea bender) while all the other government officials remained only the meek spectators of whole of the incident. When another Tehsildar informed, then Diputy Commissioner and District Superintendent of Police came to his rescue but they, too, were found begging in front of the goons to let them get through. But there was no end to the hooliganism of the goons. They did not let the wounded Tehsildar to be taken to the hospital for half an hour.

Action This incident has proved that Punjab’s Biharikaran is underway under Badal and Co. rule.  The term Biharkaran is used to express the state of law and order in the state. It must be noted that Bihar is known for poor law and order situation in the country. What had made the goons so valiant that they beat a first class Punjab officer in broad day light and in front of the public? The Answer is very simple that they have close relations with the ruling Akali-BJP alliance. Deputy Commissioner and District Police Chief knew about political links of the accused persons at the high level. For them, the class-one government officer was an unimportant person and it looked as if they were trying to prove that they are the honorable personalities. They were ‘honorable’ enough that the ‘rule of law’ found itself weak in front of them. It became evident when the main accused person was found wandering free except the arrest of two other accused persons. And this did not end here. The main accused went to the police station and ensured the proper ‘rest’ for the arrested persons. And the result was it that they were enjoying the ‘rest house’ like facilities inside the police station. In protest of this incident the Tehsildars of whole of the state have gone on an indefinite strike and have stopped working. Most of the government machinery has become non-functional but Badal government is still reluctant to take any concrete action or we can say that ruling alliance is trying to ensure the escape of some of their sympathizers.

Bihar Incident A group of corrupt leaders and bureaucrats, mafia dons and criminals have come into existences who want to remain in power at every cost. To create law and order problems has become their ancestral right and occupation. Corruption and misuse of power have touched the alarming levels. This is not the situation of any single state but whole of India is burning because of it. The news of murderous attack on the Ludhiana Tehsildar Major Gurjinder Singh Bainipal and the strike of the Tehsildars were still in circulation when another incident of Sitamarhi District of Bihar pulled the attention of the media. An executive engineer named Joginder Panday had been murdered in Sitamarhi. He was an honest officer. First the state machinery tried to ignore the matter by projecting it as a suicide case but when twenty thousands engineers of Bihar’s Public Construction Department went on an indefinite strike the government ordered the registration of an FIR terming it as a murder case.

Similarities There are many similarities between the both incidents. But one is that Bainipal and Panday were very active in their respective department to curb the corruption. Bainipal had revealed the stamp-paper scam and has also informed the District Commissioner and his senior officers. He has written many letters to the DC in which he had informed that how he is being threatened by those people who are behind the scam. But no-one paid heed to his repeated requests and they started functioning only when he was mercilessly beaten by the goons of a political leader of the ruling party. Executive engineer Joginder Panday had refused to pass the construction word of some contractors who had not used proper material for the construction of the roads. It must be learnt that those contractors have a lot of influence in the political circles. One of the contractors had constructed only half of the road and was forcing Panday to pass whole of the payment. When he refused to do so, he was beaten by the miscreants and was also warned of murder. Except government orders, the police chief took one year to provide him security. And when he was murdered none of his guards were present on duty. The governments of both of the states are trying to ensure it that law will take its own way and the guilty will not be spared. But everyone knows that the leaders are trying to save their party leaders who are behind these incidents and nothing will be done at the ground level. They will try to pull themselves out of this sticky situation by putting some one else behind the bars. But Bihar Engineers are not ready to accept the verbal assurances of the Nitish Kumar government and it is being demanded that the inquiry of Panday’s murder should be given in the hands of CBI and appropriate action should be taken against the police officer who had showed irresponsibility while providing security to Panday.

Both these incident indicate that how the rulers have failed to protect those bureaucrats who have revealed the hidden corruption inside their departments. If they fail to take any action then they will have to pay a heavy price for these failures. Their mistakes can put their political careers in danger and they should not apply lack-luster approach to handle these matters. Because their wastage of time while taking a proper decision will only jam the administration.