Book Review [147] : Before And After

'Before And After' is an autobiography of Shri B N Lahiri (Indian/Imperial Police Officer) who was one of the first IP Officers selected through competitive exam held for the first time in India in Dec 1921. Indians were debarred from direct recruitment to IP until 1921. Shri B N Lahiri started his IP training in 1922 when he joined 11 other IP Trainee officers at PTC Moradabad. He felt lot of subtle discrimination at the hand of his fellow probationers as he was the only Indian in 12 men strong batch. IP was heavily dominated by Britishers unlike ICS. In ICS about 50% officers were Indians by 1946 this percentage was just 25% in case of IP. B N Lahiri later became the first Indian IGP of UP Police and lived a long life after retirement. 

He writes that Police Officers should focus on discipline, control, leadership and frequent checks and inspection of their men and material. He should be always on move, meeting people and his men. He should be perceived as person with courage and strong morals. He should be able to defend his men at all cost if they have done no wrong and should punish heavily if they are found doing wrong. Discipline is the bedrock of any Uniform service and Police is no exception. The mediocrity and inefficiency creep in when senior police officers start bending themselves before politicians and others for sake of favors and start influencing bonafide decisions of their subordinates for the benefit of their 'benefactors'. 

He also talks about degrading morals and character of Indians in general. The lack of morals and punctuality is gradually sapping the foundation of our cultural ethos. We lack faith and courage in our own convictions and this further creates doubts in our people. The problems of Police can only be fixed by the firm and strong initiatives of its leaders otherwise it can only become worse.

He also mentions that in British period the IP officers were prohibited from mingling with subordinate officers (i.e. DySP etc) on equal footing and the presence of Subordinate officers were banned in IP Officers Mess. He also talks about the poor imitation of IP ceremonial dinner during British period. In the parade we have simply replaced King Emperor with Indian President, everything else remains same. Unlike only 3 Ceremonial Dinners in entire IPS training these days, in his days there were 5 dinner parades every week. He also mentions the institution of bearers that still plays a key role in training of IPS Officers.

This book also includes anecdotes involving various cases he was involved in as well as those involving Pundit Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Govind Vallabh Pant. B N Lahiri was the IGP of UP Police when UP Police and PAC were granted colors by Pundit Nehru in magnificent parade held at Lucknow led by Ghamandi Singh (IPS) and Avtar Narayan Kaul (then UP PPS) in 1952. 

This book was suggested by Librarian of Dr. B R Ambedkar Police Academy, Moradabad (formely PTC Moradabad), the same center where this legendary officer B N Lahiri underwent his training in 1922 and i reluctantly accepted his advice. It was a very good advice. I am really feeling very good to share the same PTC premises as shared by legendary officers of his level.

Highly Recommended (8/10)

Book Review [146] : Jharokhe Se

'झरोखे से ' श्री अवतार नारायण कौल द्वारा लिखी गयी पुलिस विभाग पर एक प्रासंगिक पुस्तक है।   श्री अवतार नारायण कौल ने उत्तर प्रदेश पुलिस सर्विस सन १९५२ में ज्वाइन की तथा सन १९८६ में  पुलिस महानिरिक्षक के पद से सेवा निर्वित हुए। यह पुस्तक महोदय के संस्मरण के रूप में है।  उन्होंने काफी पुलिस केस हल किये तथा कई कानून व्यवस्था  की समस्यायों का निवारण किया। यह पुस्तक पुलिस अधिकारियों समेत सभी रैंक्स के लिए बेहद उपयोगी साबित हो सकती है बशर्ते किताब में उल्लेखित बिन्दुओं पर गंभीरता से विचार किया जाये।  

He appeared in Civil Services Examination in 1951 but was not given good marks on account of his giving preference to IPS over IAS (as he claims), so he joined UP PPS as DySP in 1952 and completed his training at PTC Moradabad. He later became IPS (after promotion) and retired as IG in 1986. 

Shri Avtar Narayan Kaul had solved main important cases including the gory Kheria murder case of 1957 in which a house servant raped and killed the wife of Squadron leader Kamath posted in Agra. He also killed their daughter and looted properties worth lakhs. He showed astute leadership and fine investigating skills to crack this case that had made entire Indian Military nervous. The leadership he showed when he was posted as SP of Mathura after the brutal murder of previous SP of Mathura by an angry Constable in his office in 1963 was simply exemplary. 

He spent major part of his career in western UP and defused many incidents of communal frenzy. The cutting of telephone wires to allow the passage of Tazia procession in Muradabad in 1968 was his brain child. This defused the volatile situation created by lakhs of Muslims who did not want to bend their Tazias below those wires and had gathered at that place blocking everything. Police Officers need to show such ingenuity more often.

He writes that good relation between SP and DM is an absolute must for proper maintenance of law and order in district. They should give their ego a good toss and work for the district instead of inflating their false egos.

Highly Recommended (8/10)

Book Review [126] : The British, the Bandits and the Bordermen

I was not into the biographies of Police Officers and then i found this gem. 'The British, the Bandits and the Bordermen' is a biography of one of the finest police officer produced by this country - Khusro Faramurz Rustamji. He remains till date the only Indian Police Officer to have received the Padma Vibhushan - the second highest civilian award conferred by Indian government. 

Rustamji was born in a well to do Parsee family in 1916. He joined Indian Police at the young age of 23 and by 26 he became the Superintendent of Police. He played a key role in crushing the 1942 Quit India movement in central Provinces though with a moderate use of force. After Independence he played his part in Operation Polo of 1948. He enjoyed great proximity of Nehru when he was his Chief Security Officer (1952-1958). He was appointed the Inspector General of Police of Madhya Pradesh in 1958 when he was just 42 years old. 

When i was a kid i heard lot of legends (most of the times good) of dacoits of Chambal region. People used to and still remember the adventures of dacoits like Man Singh, Lakhan, Roopa etc. Under the leadership of Rustamji almost all the dacoits of Madhya Pradesh were flushed. Rupa was killed in 1959, Lakhan Singh in 1960 and Gabbar Singh in 1959.

He was asked to raise Border Security Force and was appointed its first Director General in 1965. It played a stellar role in Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. For this he was awarded Padma Bhushan. After his retirement he took the case of under trials of Bihar and this led to the famous judicial overreach in the form of Public Interest Litigation (in 1979). The then CJI P. N. Bhagwati ordered the release of about 40,000 under-trials all over India. He was also the member of National Police Commission set up in 1978 though its recommendations are still in cold storage.

He was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 1991. The great soul departed in 2003. 

India is blessed with so many great communities and Parsees are second to none in the process of nation building. 

Highly Recommended (10/10)