MODI IS A BETTER PM CANDIDATE!!!! LINK Ahmedabad : Before she voluntarily retired from the Indian Police Service (IPS) in December 2007, Kiran Bedi served in a number of tough assignments ranging from New Delhi traffic postings, to a Civilian Police Advisor in United Nations peacekeeping operations. As the first and highest-ranking female officer in the national police force, she earned a reputation for being tough yet innovative on the job. Her efforts to prevent crime, reform prisons, end drug abuse, and support women’s causes earned her a Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Bedi has been in the vanguard of a nationwide India Against Corruption (IAC) movement spearheaded by Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal. In an exclusive interview with GGN correspondent Siddharth Iyer, Bedi opens her heart on a wide range of issues. Excerpts from the interview: Q. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal recently offered you chief ministerial candidacy for Delhi, which you declined. Even Dr. Abdul Kalam had apolitical background like you, yet he successfully managed the country as the President of India. So why not you take a chance to play a role for the country in some form? A. Well, I did serve the country as part of bureaucracy and the Indian Police Service. I got it by merit and I delivered it. I was a part of policing for 35 years. And policing is government. But the question is different here. I am not Kalam and nor he is Kiran Bedi. Similarly, I am not Kejriwal and nor he can imitate me. Each one of us is a product of one’s own experiences, needs and aptitudes. So aptitude, attitude and inclination — all vary. Therefore you can’t compare apples with oranges or guavas which are all different though they are all fruits. And that is what makes a forest or a fruit basket rich. Hence, one must know oneself and I know myself. I know what I am best at. Q. Do you think lingering epidemic like corruption has a cure? Kindly elaborate. A. Corruption can be minimized though I doubt if it can be extirpated. With collective community effort it certainly can be contained. And the collective community effort has to be both — a bottom-up approach and top-down approach: The bottom-up approach begins at home through inculcating moral values, and it also begins in schools where essentials of character-building ought to be taught. Honesty has to be part of a person’s character. It can’t be borrowed or imitated. It grows with you when you weed out the habit of speaking lies, being greedy or dishonest. Primarily character-building should be done by parents and teachers. Once that is done collective conscious can keep us away from societal ills to a large extent. If still an odd ball deviates he is likely to face the long arm of the law. This also means strengthening our criminal justice system. It is not simply punishing someone; all the wealth that have been acquired illegally by corruption must go back to the people. So through bottom-up approach you can minimize corruption. Problem is there is a hiatus in today fast-paced world in a child imbibing moral values. Young generation must be made to understand crime never pays. There is no other way out of corruption impasse. The top-down approach is related to people in top positions viz., the politicians, top bureaucrats, and rich businessmen. The bottom of the pyramid are people in general over which bureaucracy plays a role, either negative or positive given the prevalent political culture. Once the corruption starts to seep from top it is dangerous as it percolates to the vast pyramidal base. Nation would want to know what sort of people we are producing. And studies have shown that in China corruption is symbolic of "inverted pyramid," with most bribery cases emanating from the bottom and the top fairly clean while in India it is the opposite, with corruption getting official encouragement being rampant at higher levels. So you need to work from top to clean the bottom of the pyramid. Q. There’s so much of Modi in the air. Do you think if he becomes PM it will be transformational and beneficial to India? A. Modi is now BJP’s official prime ministerial candidate. Given the ground reality he is a better candidate because of experience in governance. He’s the only person officially declared as PM candidate. I think he knows administration more than others who are likely to be candidates. He has the will to govern and deliver too. He communicates exceedingly well to common man, honours commitments and the masses quickly bond with him. So I think these are certain qualities which a political leader needs to have and he has. Compared to others he is a hands-on man willing to take the task of leadership seriously. Q. Any expectations from Modi if he comes to power? A. I expect three things from him if he comes to power: He should give the country a strong Lokpal, give Gujarat a strong Lokayukta, and should abide by the Supreme Court judgment in not supporting convicted/criminal elected representatives to contest elections unlike the UPA which is trying to neutralize SC judgment. Q. Recently Modi tweeted to you about increasing voter registration among youth, and you supported him. Would you campaign for him or for any such causes if need be? A. I am campaigning for voter registration. Every young man and woman should vote and in large numbers. Because many are in hostels, colleges or coming from different cities they have difficulty in getting themselves registered to vote. I want call centres to be set up to help these youth. These centres should be manned by knowledgeable young people who can answer telephone calls regarding what are voter rights, where to go, whom to ask, whom to meet etc. I have been campaigning for this cause. And I did it even during Anna’s (Hazare) anti-corruption movement. Our mission was to encourage voters to vote and vote out the corrupt. That’s what I am doing and will continue to do so. Q. You recently said the transgenders can play a role in curbing crime rate against women. Can you explain? A. Yes of course! Transgenders can be deployed for security duties during late evenings and nights. Why are we wasting them? They are well-built…They can keep vigil in public transports in order to ensure that there is no eve-teasing. Q. You favoured the court verdict on Delhi gangrape. Don’t you think it is sheer Talibanism to send rapists to gallows? You should have rather advocated for life imprisonment for the rapists in the hope those criminals, or at least some of them, turning over a new leaf. Don’t you think so? A. It was all due process of law. Gravest punishment for gravest crime is equal to justice. Justice to the victim and justice to the society. Q. Do you think the state of women in our country will improve after the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment regarding rape? A. It will improve. At the same time we must train our boys to be more responsible and sensible. Also you must train girls to be more courageous and able to defend themselves. Both boys and girls need training. Only then such inhuman incidents will stop.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 15:45:11 +0000
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