Mission Gujarat

It is easy to see why K.P.S. Gill has been sent to Gujarat. He has notched up a formidable reputation as the police chief who stamped out mi...

It is easy to see why K.P.S. Gill has been sent to Gujarat. He has notched up a formidable reputation as the police chief who stamped out militancy in Punjab. Mired in the continuing violence in Gujarat, and painfully aware of the brickbats coming its way from home and abroad, especially abroad, the Centre has evidently retrieved the Supercop, retired for many years, to put his aura to its own use. The Vajpayee government hopes Gill8217;s appointment as security adviser to the Gujarat chief minister will send out the right signals. It hopes to hold up the appointment as proof of its seriousness about its obligation to address the constitutional crisis in the state 8212; an obligation it conspicuously acknowledged only recently by supporting the Opposition-sponsored censure motion in the Rajya Sabha. Yes, it is easy to see what takes Gill to Gujarat. But the question is: what, really, can he do there?

To begin with, there is the question of position and powers, the terms and conditions under which Gill will be required to operate. What is the precise job definition of a security adviser to the chief minister? How binding is his advice? By all accounts, it will be as binding as the chief minister says it is. Gill8217;s efficacy, then, will depend entirely on Narendra Modi8217;s willingness to cooperate. The supercop can offer advice that Modi may or may not follow. This is as it should be, constitutionally speaking. But, in the context of Gujarat, it invites some awkward questions. Ever since the violence began in that state, the media and other independent agencies have accumulated enough evidence to prove the Modi administration8217;s inaction, even connivance, in the targeting of the minority community in the state. There is more than enough reason to believe that over the last two months and more, police officers in worrying numbers have either supported the rampaging mobs or watched them in silence. As this paper has reported, many of the officers who did do their job have been summarily transferred. How effective can Gill8217;s mission be in these circumstances? And how realistic the expectation that he repeat in Gujarat what he did in Punjab? Those who have settled down to watch Gill perform would do well to remember that in Punjab he was assisted by a force that followed the leader and a state apparatus that was largely supportive of his exertions.

There can be no progress and no healing in Gujarat until and unless there is some move towards enforcing accountability. All those in government who watched the state burn and stoked the fires, must pay. There must be quick action to control the continuing violence and preventive measures must be taken to ensure that it doesn8217;t spread. The state must reach out to all the victims of the violence, and restore the confidence that has been lost. There have been no signs so far that the Modi government is willing to address itself to this job. Parachuting a security adviser into Gandhinagar will solve nothing. The time for tiptoeing around the problem is long past. Gujarat8217;s continuing crisis calls for some hard measures from the Centre.