New Delhi : In potentially controversial comments, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said he agreed with the statement of a former Lt Governor of Delhi who had once remarked that north Indians “take pride in and enjoy” breaking rules.
Though he did not name the Lt Governor, records show the comments were made by former Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna who had said in February 2008 that “it is a specialty of north and west India that the people feel a sense of honour and pride in violating the law and boasting that no action has been taken against them.”
However, the Minister retracted his statement after the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party protested.
Warming up to the theme, Rijiju said people in north India also love to brag about having threatened a police official. “That means the society as a whole needs to change.” The junior home minister also said it was not right to blame the police for everything. “Many people say police has become very rude. Police will be rude only if citizens take recourse to indiscipline. If people are disciplined, then the police will not be rude. But there is a general saying here that until you beat them with a stick, people don’t listen.
“So if people take recourse to indiscipline and they don’t listen even when told once, twice or ten times, the police will have to use the stick to make them listen,” he said.
(Yahan toh boltey hain ki danda jab tak nahi dega toh log sudhartey nahi hain. If citizens theek nahi hai, indisciplined hai, dus baar bolney ke baad nahi mantey hai, toh phir toh danda toh chalana padega).
The minister’s comments came against the backdrop of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s allegation that the Delhi Police was the “most corrupt”. “Kejriwal keeps on saying that the Delhi police did not do something or the other but if he, himself, will not correct his approach what can the police do?” (Aap (Delhi CM) khud nahi sudhrogey toh police kya karegi),” he said.
Defending the men in uniform, he said it is easy to blame the police for any incident or crime that takes place anywhere, but it is only the men and women in ‘khaki’ who keep awake all night to ensure peace and law and order.
“Police ko gaali dekar samaj nahi sudhrega (society will not be reformed by abusing police alone). One incident cannot make the police force corrupt,” he said.
The minister said if a woman does not feel safe in her surroundings, the society will have to take the blame for it.
“There is something wrong in the society. We have to accept. We are very good at criticising others (but) we don’t accept our mistakes. I am very critical of my own conduct, my own system and my own society if they are not perfect. If we don’t criticize and develop ourselves, how will we improve?” he said.
Rijiju said it was very “disturbing” and “frustrating” as a minister when there are frequent media reports about harassment of women. “You feel very helpless. But I cannot show my helplessness outside. We have to take action against these things…but it’s not enough…,” he said.
