Raising voice against injustice

AT 93-plus, one should not think of recognition. The Nani Palkhivala Foundation, chaired by Yezdi Malegam, thinks otherwise. The trustees met in October and decided to award the annual prize to me! The reason was that I had generated ‘public awareness on issues through my public speeches and writings when civil rights are threatened’.

If people don’t speak up, India would not be a land populated by what the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen called ‘argumentative Indians’, but by zombies.

I am sure that my column in The Tribune has swung the pendulum towards me! I have not been speaking too frequently to public gatherings on television or otherwise. Actually, I did not write with ‘civil liberties’ in mind. I wrote when I felt aggrieved, and my friends were aggrieved. Citizens who value justice need to speak up. And I always thought that that was what I was doing through the written word.

Two hundred retired civil servants who have served the country honestly have banded together in the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG). I joined the group from its inception. Since the group’s purpose of existence and mine coincided, I endorse many letters of protest against unconstitutional decisions made by the government.

The BJP is in power at the Centre and many state capitals. If some other party had been ensconced in Raisina Hill or in the mantralayas in the states, our attitude and approach would have been the same. Someone has to speak truth to power. The CCG has taken upon itself to do so. In my award acceptance speech last week, I mentioned the part played by the CCG at this stage of my life. I also mentioned that unlike Harsh Mander, I do not possess the courage to step on to the street in person, but limit my activism to raising my voice against injustice.

Harsh is also a member of the CCG . He had joined the IAS and was allotted the Madhya Pradesh cadre. In 2002, following the communal conflagration in Gujarat and the government’s unacceptable response, Harsh resigned from the IAS and, in time, formed the Aman Biradari Trust to allay the sufferings of widows and others who had lost their principal bread-winners in the riots, or in the lynchings perpetrated by gau rakshaks, mostly in BJP-ruled states.

When the Palkhivala Trust asked me in whose name the cash prize that went with the award was to be issued, I said I wanted it to go to the Aman Biradari Trust. Much hate and divisiveness are spreading in our society. Aman Biradari and Harsh Mander are what we need.

From my friends in the CCG based in Delhi, I learnt that Harsh was being summoned quite frequently by one of the government’s investigation agencies! I presume that the agency must be investigating the trust’s finances. I do not know exactly what the agency is inquiring into, but I do know that Harsh would never divert any money received by him for his personal use.

When Kiran Bedi won the Magsaysay Award, she was given a cheque for a substantial amount which she put in a trust. Since she had designated me as one of the trustees of her trust, a TV channel reporter suddenly turned up one evening at my door to enquire about how the money was accounted for! Since I had not been called for any meeting of the trustees, I knew nothing about the affairs of the trust, and I said so. Nobody asked me about the trust after that.

In Kiran’s matter, I remember telling the reporter that though I did not know anything about her manner of conducting the business of her trust, I was sure of one thing — she would not divert any trust fund for her own use. My opinion about the personal integrity of Harsh is the same. He is an activist whose activism will not amuse those in power. Kiran joined the BJP, and till recently, was the Lt Governor of Puducherry.

We require citizens who are curious about the doings of those who govern us. It is our responsibility to ensure that powers devolved to them by the laws are not misused for personal or party benefit. If they are convinced of misuse and have facts to prove their conviction, it is incumbent on them to speak out. The danger of an ugly riposte from those who wield power and authority is real, but silence is far worse. Silence at such times would lead to great injustice to many more than one can imagine. India would not be a land populated by what Nobel laureate Amartya Sen called ‘argumentative Indians’, but by zombies.

Nani Palkhivala was my teacher at Government Law College when I was a student there from 1948 to 1950. Even after I joined the Indian Police Service in 1953, I kept my friendship with him. My wife and I were constant guests at dinner at his home even after I retired.

In 1983-84, when I was the Police Commissioner of Mumbai, I got a notice from the High Court regarding a ‘contempt of court’ charge by a lawyer who had quoted excerpts from a talk I had delivered either to a Rotary or Lions club. I rushed in my uniform to Nani’s office at Bombay House. He just picked up his black gown, which was readily available, and asked me to accompany him. We walked to the court across the road. The entire community of black-coated lawyers tumbled out from various courtrooms in amazement. Nani entered a courtroom where two honourable judges were sitting on a Division Bench. He mentioned to the Bench the notice the Police Commissioner of Bombay had received. The judges took just two or three minutes to dispose of the matter! In my uniform, I walked back with Nani across the Flora Fountain to his office at Tata Sons, where he was a director.