New Delhi: Taking a dig at the leadership of Delhi police for their lukeworm responce in the ongoing tussle between police and lawyers, Puducherry lieutenant governor (L-G) and former IPS Kiran Bedi on Wednesday posted on Twitter: “Leadership is a ‘Character’ that takes responsibility and takes tough decisions. It is a ‘life’ of ‘doing’... Tough times go, Memories of Tough Acts Remain.”
In another tweet, she said: “ Rights and Responsibilites are two sides of the same coin. We as citizens must never forget this. Whoever and wherever we be. We need a major shift in our emphasis in this regard. When we all exercise our responsibility of being law abiding there is no conflict.”
“Never drive men and women in uniform to the wall and let them lose faith in their own service and own seniors,” she said in a statement. When police personnel perform their duty “fairly, firmly, fearlessly and responsibly, they need to be protected by the seniors”, said Ms Bedi, who retired in the rank of director general of police.
Ms Bedi recalled that she had faced a similar situation in January 1988 when she was DCP north Delhi and a lawyer arrested for theft at the St Stephen’s College was brought to the Tis Hazari court in handcuffs. “We then did not have video virals. Technology now speaks and provides evidence for and against,” she said, adding that there are lessons to be learnt from the Saturday incident yet again.
The police leadership needs to be sensitive to this. Such actions are the defining moments of police leadership, she said. The lieutenant governor said it is the duty of seniors to ensure that “no one is prejudged and humiliated for doing their bonafide work.” It is the duty of the police department to scrutinise the personnel’s acts of commissions and omissions in a rigorous manner. This is when the role of leadership comes in, she said.
Ms Bedi’s comments came in the backdrop of protests by thousands of Delhi police personnel on Tuesday outside the police headquarters for 11 hours against two attacks on their colleagues at the Tis Hazari and Saket court complexes on Saturday and Monday. The protests were called off after assurances by senior officers that their grievances will be addressed.
Besides the various slogans raised during the protest on Tuesday, police personnel were seen carrying a huge poster of Kiran Bedi that read “we miss you” and lauding her for being a fearless officer.
