Night of shame continues…..

However, the demonstrations at India Gate and Raisina Hill refused to abate. The composition of the crowd was amorphous and diverse with no one leader who could be approached by the government to initiate a dialogue. Nor was any political leader of standing prepared to come forward and address the protestors on behalf of the government. It was a stalemate between the police and the protestors, who wanted to make Vijay Chowk a Tiananmen Square of sorts.

On the afternoon of 22 December, the  cabinet secretary of the Government of India, Ajit Seth, convened an emergency meeting attended  by  Pulok  Chatterjee,  the principal secretary to the prime minister, and senior representatives of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and MHA. I was also present along with Dharmendra Kumar, my special commissioner of police (law and order). As the meeting was in progress, news of protestors at Raisina Hill turning violent reached us. Even though all the six accused had been arrested, the wrath of the demonstrators was difficult to assuage.

During the meeting, everyone wondered what the protestors were looking for after the arrest of all accused. While various opposition parties and lumpen elements wished to keep the embers burning, there wasn’t anything left to be done by the government. I took the liberty of telling those present that crowd psychology usually expects victory for itself in some form or the other, some takeaway to show that their protests were not in vain. It was my assessment, based on the feedback from my officers dealing with the protestors on a day-to-day basis, that they expected the government to strengthen the laws dealing with crimes against women. Secondly, they wished to know if there had been any failings on the part of the police, and if so, those responsible should be punished. I proposed that judicial committees should be appointed to go into both these aspects. I was aware that by offering to undergo a judicial inquiry, I was sticking out both my own neck and those of my boys.

To be continued……