Durga Shakti Nagpal: An IAS officer suspended for doing her job

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

In several of my blogs I have drawn attention to the criminalization of politics in India, particularly in the state of Uttar Prasesh which has elected a Samajwadi party as its single largest party. Mulayam Singh Yadava, the strong man of the party appointed his son Akilesh Yadava as the Chief Minister and this young man presides over a government in which  crimnals with serious crimes to their names were appointed Ministers. The case in point is the Rajput criminal, Raja Bhaiya who is known to be a thug operating in eastern UP, the bad lands of the state. There is a story, I wish it were not true, that this man feeds his enemies to crocodiles reared in a pond in his extensive "kotti" or bunglow. The Samajwadi party like its predecessor in power the Bahujan Samaj  Party under Mawawati is steeped in caste warfare and criome. The social base of the Yadava dominated Samajwadi Party is of courase the Yadavas, the Muslims, the Mallas and the intermediate caste. The poximity to the national capital has made NOIDA or Gautham Buddha Nagar an important centre for the booming real estate mafia. It may be woth recalling that Neera Yadava, the former Chairman of the NOIDA Development Authority an IAS officer is presently under conviction for crimes of bribery and misuse of power when she was in charge of the land development in the same district in which Ms Durga Shakti Nagpal was posted as Senoior Divisional Magistrate.

This young woman was palced under ssuspension two days back for having shown the courage in taking on the sand mafia. The term sand mafia may appear ridiculous to a western audience. However, given the building boom in New Delhi and Noida, river sand which is mixed with cement in order to make building concrete is in huge demand. The sand mafia was using sand dumpers to excavate sand from the dry river bed of the Yamuna and was selling it at a huge profit to the real estate dealers. The nexus between party members of the Samajwadi Party, the local power elites consisting of the usual Thyagis and Yadavas, and the real estate developers was so strong that when this young woman stated seizing the sand dumpers and confiscating the sand, the yelps from the yadava criminals soon reached Lucknow. Akileh Yadava, the son of Mulayam Singh immediately ordered the suspension of the woman who showed some courage. What is really surprising is that a week back I wrote in a comment in Times of India that this woman is taking on criminals and she is asking for trouble. And exactly as I predicted Durga Nagpal was suspended.

In western countries the officialdom is not takken to task for carrying out the law and implementing policy. The young woman was following the instruction of the Supreme Court of India which has laid down a strict policy of government regulation of sand mining because of its environmental hazards. Durga Nagpal perhaps thought that having the Supreme Court verdict on her side would strengthen her position. However, Akilesh Yadava's government resorted to a crude ruse inorder to have the officer placed under suspension. Citing law and order problems, the criminals of the Samajwadi party tries to give an "identity" colour to the issue by saying that Muslims were being targetted. This line was contradicted even by the local police. Thus, when people elect criminals to power one can expect anything and the suspension of Durga Nagpal shows the depths to which civil administration has sunk in India. In the neighboring state of Haryana, another IAS officer, Khemka who exposed the shady real estate deals of Robert Vadra, the son in law of Soniaji, faces similar problems.

The IAS Officers rallied to the support of the officer and even put out a feeble statment. However, the rot in Indian politics is so deep that honesty does not pay and hopefully in the next elections people of India will show more intelligence in their voting parrern.

MULAYAM SINGH YADAVA, MAYAWAT, MAMTHA BANERJEE AND THE CIRCUS OF INDIAN POLITICS

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and bOOKS. In Casablanca, the classic film of the 1940,s there is a famous line: One in one out, thats the way it goes. This line is equally true of Indian politics; One out, Mata, one in, Mulayam. This merry go round will continue until the next election which are scheduled to be held in 2014. Unfortunately opportunistic alliances of sheer convenience whose only purpose is to cling on to power at all cost is legitimized using the "secular" card. It does not take too much imagination to realize that the most corrupt and obsessively dynasty based are the so called secular parties. The DMK is neck deep in the 2G Spectrum scam and the old bandicoots daughter too was in jail for nearly a year, Laloo Prasad Yadava is caught in the Fodder Scam and though the witnesses are being killed systematically the case is still alive, Mulayam Singh Yadava if facing a disproportionate assets case and since the CBI is a coalition partner of the UPA, the case is weakening or strengthening based on the politics of the Yadava chieftain and there is no need to even mention Mayawati with her diamond nose rings and flashy salwars with bags in tow.With such specimens in the political field the UPA will not run out of partners who will suddenly discover the virtue of "secularism" in order to hide their sins. There is however, one snag in the calculations of the UPA and its potential partners in crime and power. All these parties are directly in competition with the Congress for the same political space and the more they support the Congress the more they will have to face the responsibility for the scams, scandals and corruption. It will also have to bear the backlash and it is inevitable for the FDI in the retail sector which will dominate the next elections more than any other issue. The Congress will be able to dilute peoples anger by pointing fingers at their partners, and therefore it is not in the interest of these parties to throw a life line to the Congress. Of all the regional players only Mamtha Banerjee has understood the inherent logic of the emerging political scene. The Congress Party is heading for a total disaster in the coming elections and with the revival of the Left in West Bengal, Mamtha had few options left. She pulled the rug from underneath the feet of the UPA hoping to create a crisis and she has succeeded eminently. The options before Mulayam and Mayawati are rather slim. THe next elections both these parties will not be able to retain their seats and they also have to take responsibility for all the sins of the dynastic fascist party, the Congress. Without understanding this basic issue both these parties are falling over eachother to extend support.