Encounter Killing in UP under the Yogi- Modi Raj

Radhakanta Barik

Encounter killing of Vikash Dube has created problems for the BJP government. The incident has created an echo of Gujarat where the home minister Shah played a suspicious role in encounter killing of Prajapati and some more with the help of police men. The investigation created problems for Shah and jailed for some time and the trial is going on in Mumbai. The same question will haunt Shri Yogi in UP and Shah as the Home Minister in the centre. Here the killing has been executed in the circumstances which create doubts in the minds of public. That the journalists were following the vehicle of Dube taken by the police from Ujjain to Kanpur. They were stopped at a point by police men on a bridge. After twenty minutes the encounter killing has been done. Furthermore, the vehicle number of the police vehicle carrying Dube is different from the vehicle which had been turned upside down. All these doubts create further problems for the Yogi government.

Last time when Phulan Devi got arrested, we were in Satna and in the evening we found that a basti near the river had no light and we inquired of the matter we found that that was the day Phulan Devi got arrested. The community was experiencing sadness and sharing a moment by keeping their houses without light and without food. Vikash Dube got arrested and got killed in Kanpur. The Community he belongs must be fasting today and experiencing the moment in a melancholic manner. Here caste functions as a communication system. The information they received and they must have interpreted in their mental map. Let us examine both these arrests happened under two different regimes. Phulan Devi got arrested under the Congress rule that was allowed to face the trial and got justice. Here the case of Dube is happening under the Modi yogi regime where killing is the answer. The judicial process has been sabotaged by killing of Dube. These people do not trust the judicial system and they want to take justice to their hands. Dube the criminal gang leader got surrendered in Ujjain in the compound of Mahakali temple after offering a darsan. He cycled to Faridabad from Kanpur to avoid arrest by UP police. From Faridabad he cycled to Ujjain where he surrendered.

The sociology of sub castes within Brahmins has come out with his arrest. Dube belongs to Brahmin sub caste "chaube" and he has hatred against Mishra and Tiwari who belong to other sub castes of the Brahmins. The sub caste consciousness of 18 Brahmin sub groups of the Northern India has come out sharply to public domain. Here I want to cite a story of sub caste consciousness of T N Chatruvedi retd I AS worked as the chairman of Indian Institute of Public Administration till his death. He remained the chairman for more than two decades. He usually holds the chairman position in the selection committee for teaching and administrative posts. In IIPA history he sees that no body from SC and ST got appointed to the faculty. Once a Bengali Muslim got selected and he saw his name got removed from the panel. Once he faced a person from his sub caste Choube and he decided to select him. But there were many brilliant Brahmins for the post of Professor in Economics. He selected them but on condition they had to join immediately by which they could not do. In the process his caste person got appointed as the Professor of economics. Dube the gang leader and T N Chatruvdi have the same sub caste consciousness which guides them to go for action which violates the famous sociologist Parson that human action is a rational action. Here it is irrational because of sub caste consciousness of Dube.

The way Dube the gang leader of Kanpur is playing hide and seek game with the government of UP brings out the truth lying behind this game. As a retired DG of UP puts it in a subtle manner that Dube has a close connection with political leaders and business men and police officers. Till this connection is working no arrest of the gang leader is possible. This brings our discussion to the domain of public administration that police reforms have been handled by the Commission in a sketchy way. Once the state has IPS officers then the question will be there and the local landlords, businessmen and political leaders will suck him or her into their network. As they get married to big rich business families of their caste which pressurizes them to work for them. The best way to dismantle the IPS system which is like the landlords created under the Permanent Settlement System. Landlords went to the rural India from cities and worked as the exploitative agents there. The real work of policing is being handled by the constables and Inspectors then the role of IPS as landlords turns into superfluous. IPS after the recruitment work till he or she turns as SP then they lead completely political life or business life in absentsia. As a teacher of Public Administration the police officers themselves tell the truth while in discussion with us in class rooms and outside. As a constable in Delhi tells that they are interested in chairs. This is high time for recruiting constables than IPS which is a luxury in a poor country like ours.

Vikash Dube is the face of UP politics. Vikash stands for development. Modi gave a slogan of Vikash for the state of UP when he contested the election from Banaras in 2014. Let us examine the development indicators of UP in last six years. Literacy rate has fallen and health facilities according to Niti Ayogh are the last state out of 29 states. Health facilities in terms of beds for thousand people and doctors are the lowest. The worst is Yogi's district Gorakhpur where every year children die of encephalitis and the doctor cum Professor who treated children is in jail under the sedition act. Agricultural growth has declined and industrial growth is negative in UP. If one take out NOIDA from UP then UP is worse than African poorest countries. If UP can be taken as the independent state then it is sixth country in the world in terms of population and but in terms of poverty level it is fifth poorest country in the world. University and college education has disintegrated for last six years and crime rate is the highest in India and encounter deaths are the highest in India. There are a large number of communal riots in UP as the criminal gangs attack the Muslim property and life in an open and blatant manner. Last three years of Yogi there were 93 communal riots happened in UP.

Dube stands for a caste which stands for the Brahmin caste which is the biggest community in India and they have joined the Yogi who is the Rajput. It is Brahmin and Rajput combination ruled UP and criminals among these communities have increased. The percentages of criminals in Assembly and Lok sabha are the highest in India. Further more public administration has been reduced to caste groups as out of 88 districts most of district collectors and SPs are from only two castes. 44 are from Rajputs and other from Brahmins out of 88 districts. Dube stands for caste politics and Vikash stands for development of UP. He is the real face of the BJP politics of UP.

Sholay remains the classic film on gangs operating in India. Dacoits are working with their gangs and enjoy their life by looting rural people. In Sholay the famous character is Gabbar Singh which has been played by Amzad Ali Khan and his language "Kitne Admi the" and Tera kya hoga Kaliya tuned into common vocabulary of the big town and small towns for years. Today Gabar Singh has been replaced by Vikash Dube who kills at the instructions of his master. He has acted like Amjad Khan who is soft spoken and cruel and brutal person who dared to kill a minister in the Police Station and he dared to kill and plunder the rich business man or Public Contractor and opponent politician. The difference between Amjad Khan and Dube that Amjad Khan acted as Gabbar Singh as a secular dacoit who kills only rich and powerful. He has no caste or community. Here the case is different as Dube is a caste leader who collects voters of his caste for the BJP and gets patronized by them. Dube after killing eight police men must have told his gang members: Kitne Admi the and the answer is there were eight police men. He must have answered: Tera kya hoga Kaliya, the magical words of Gabbar Singh are haunting public intellectuals and opposition leaders and honest media persons.

(The encounter death )
The valley is full of clouds
it is dense and foggy
it is mystical
one cannot see the nearby hills
Truth is hidden behind this foggy weather
One has to explore it
the son in law of the state is Shukla
was taken from Ujjain to Kanpur
on the national high way
when the rain water has flooded the fields
it is plain land
He visited the Mahakal
Here he met the Yama
Yama is the most powerful god
of the Hindu pantheon
he is most powerful than Indra and Vishnu
He can take life of a king or worker
Today the Yama is the king himself
He is a religious fundamentalist
His cops went to fetch their son in law
He has helped him and his party
to kill backwards dalits and Muslims
there are 60 cases against him
He sits and discusses the matter
with the powerful in the party
he enjoys patronage from them
He loots and shares the loot
He plunders and shares it
He kills cop in the police station
He kills eight police men
He terrorizes the voters
He enjoys power
he lives in big hotels
without payment
he lives in Circuit house
He is called the king today
He has been enjoying power
He is called by his supporters
caste men as the king
The real king got elected with his help
He controls the cities and villages
He is the monarch of all he supervises
The present ruler is a religious fundamentalist
He believes in mantra and tantra
He does not believe in Constitution
He does not believe in rule of law
He does not believe in democracy
He thinks himself as God's nominee
He sends his cops to their son in law
It is a circuit way to catch him
He is moving from one city another city
He surrendered in Ujjain
In the temple town
He is surrounded by media and power
On the way the Yama picks him
by shooting by good cops
it is announced that he fled away
only way the Yama can pick him to heaven
by shooting at him
He is no more
Law and rule of law get ignored
Yama cannot provide justice
in his kingdom there are people
they decide justice
Here the King himself turned into Yama
Yama has decided to do justice to him
Here Constitution has been ignored
Laws of the state have disappeared
Good cops have turned into bad cops
This is time of Lockdown
this is the time of Corona
Yama has turned into Corona god
Nobody has the right to question Yama
This is a new India
this is the law of jungle
the dark clouds will disappear one day
the truth is behind the clouds
It will be seen like hills.

Prof Radhakanta Barik (retd), Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi

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Frontier
Jul 12, 2020