The loneliness of being Hasan Gafoor

After 26/11, Hasan Gafoor became the target of a sustained media campaign inspired and managed by an influential group of police officers. Now a year later, after the former Mumbai Police chief got provoked by a journalist into commenting on four juniors, the Maharashtra Home Minister R.R.Patil has promised “strict disciplinary action” against Gafoor to send out the message that “no one will be spared for misconduct”.


Patil maintained that he went through the 26/11 police wireless records after Gafoor reportedly said four officers had under-performed, and “didn’t find anything that shows them to be at fault.”


But Vinita Kamte, the wife of a slain officer, used the RTI Act to access just a small part of the same records for her book To The Last Bullet. And what did she find?


That the Additional Commissioner (Crime Branch) was sent to Cama Hospital with half a dozen armed constables to rescue the injured IPS officer Sadananad Date from the Lashkar duo Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan; that instead of going there he ‘stayed put on the terrace of the Anjuman School (opposite the rear gate of Cama) for over an hour until 00.30 a.m.’; and that much after the terrorists had shot Vinita’s husband Ashok Kamte, the ATS chief Hemant Karkare, Crime Branch Inspector Vijay Salaskar, and four constables, this officer ‘chose to leave the Anjuman School... and took the opposite direction (from Cama) to exit from the Times of India (building) side, even as the three officers were lying in a pool of blood'.
Vinita Kamte doesn’t name this ‘Addl CP’ in the book, though she did in a later media interview. But surely Patil knows that the Crime Branch no. 2 is none other than Deven Bharti, one of the famous foursome for whose sake he has decided to punish Gafoor. Does Patil believe then that just as the Lashkar onslaught was “a little incident...in a big city”, Bharti’s terrace caper was a normal midnight outing?


But why marvel only at Patil’s Alice in Wonderland logic? Bharti and the three others were also defended by ‘supercop’ Julio Ribeiro as “outstanding officers...some of the best in the department”. It doesn’t stop there. Even while the Ram Pradhan Committee damned Gafoor by constantly thumping the laughably incongruous Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) police manual (never mind that it was scrapped immediately after 26/11), it relied on these same four officers to brand him as a ‘poor leader’. So maybe now we will be told that Bharti’s strange behaviour that night (there was more, but enough!) was SOP.


What was not SOP was the dedication and courage displayed by Karkare and Kamte in response to the call that another IPS officer was injured and under fire from terrorists, and needed support. They died fighting. But in the topsy-turvy world of the Maharashtra government, they died because “they didn’t understand the gravity of the situation” (what a top minister told Vinita Kamte during a condolence visit). And in the malevolent view of a few policemen, “they got Ashoka Chakras for nothing....just for taking bullets” — (this was what provoked Gafoor during his ill-fated encounter with the journalist).


Altogether nine policemen died that night before Kasab was captured. A few policemen may have stayed indoors until the army came, or wandered aimlessly, but many confronted the terrorists despite being shockingly ill-equipped and untrained for the challenge. As a result, for the first time a Pakistani jihadi was caught during an urban terror attack, a tremendous boost for New Delhi in its campaign to expose the India-hating terror network across the border.


And where was Gafoor throughout the night of 26/11? Soon after the terrorists struck, he set up his command post in the field, outside the Hotel Trident. This helped him to quickly and correctly gauge that the scale and ferocity of the onslaught was such that only specially trained commandos could combat it. Otherwise, it could result in a bigger tragedy.


The Lashkar fighters were displaying considerable tactical agility and acumen, and were using not just pistols and AK-47s but also hand grenades and RDX bombs. Gafoor himself narrowly escaped being felled first by a bomb in the hotel driveway and then by a grenade hurled at his car.


Until the commandos arrived, the best his men could hope to achieve was to contain the terrorists, rescue hotel guests, and assist the injured.


Like many others, I sat all night watching the horrific drama unfold on TV. Occasionally, I would catch sight of Gafoor at the Trident. I was startled to see that Mumbai’s police chief was without a bullet-proof jacket. When I met him later, I remonstrated. His reply, I thought, was typical of an officer who is down-to-earth yet innovative, and always ready to lead from the front.


“I had put on my bulletproof vest when I reached the Trident,” Gafoor said matter-of-factly. “But then I saw that my men were falling back, they didn’t have any such vests. As the police chief, I felt I had to set an example. So I took it off.”


This was probably another violation of the SOP. But is it at all possible that during his amazing, lathi-swinging surge toward the silver Skoda, Asst Inspector Tukaram Ombale, the policeman who finally pinned down Kasab, may have felt a little extra motivation knowing, as he would through the police wireless, that further up the road his own chief was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his men confronting the terrorists? (In fact, Kasab’s car narrowly skirted Gafoor’s command post, from where orders first went out to stop the Skoda.)


No police chief anywhere in India has been indicted or removed after a terror strike. Gafoor is the first. Now he faces severe punishment that, according to reports, could include demotion or dismissal. Will the Queen of Hearts shout, “Off with his head!”?


Misguided media critics of the Mumbai police’s performance on 26/11 should get out of wonderland and examine a simple fact — what the Indian Army and the Navy commandos did that night. The Army, perhaps sensibly, did not take on the Pakistani jihadis inside either the Taj or the Trident-Oberoi hotels, but maintained ‘perimeter security’. The Navy’s fearsome Marcos commandos refused to fight at the Oberoi, but did go inside the old Taj. A few hours later they announced they had killed two terrorists. But all four Lashkar gunmen were still active when the NSG arrived. So who had the Marcos killed?


Heavily-armed soldiers without the instincts and skills of a force like the NSG which is specially trained and equipped to combat fanatical gunmen inside large, civilian-occupied buildings (the toughest of all commando operations) can do more harm than good. But in the inspired media campaign coming from within the force, only the lathi-wielding Mumbai cop, a shadow of his former self due to years of neglect and political interference, is portrayed as the villain, and the police chief vilified.


Even with the NSG, a significant detail always goes unmentioned. The fighting arm of this special counter-terrorism force consists of commandos drawn from the Army. The inductees from the police are used for security duties, such as guarding politicians. Though the NSG is always headed by a police officer, it discovered early on that its police recruits are neither physically nor mentally capable of lasting the full stretch in its commando training programme. In Mumbai too it was the slain Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Havaldar Gajendra Singh and their Army comrades who fought and killed the Lashkar terrorists.


After taking over as commissioner in February 2008, Gafoor was worried about his ragtag force’s ability to counter a terrorist strike. But he was starved of funds. So he improvised. Former British commandos whom he had befriended as Air India’s security chief were invited to train a select group. Kamte was given charge of this programme. The famous Israeli-run ICTS aviation security company trained Mumbai airport police on essentials such as how to profile passengers or identify a suicide bomber. The training was free of cost, since ICTS was looking for an entry into the Indian market. His most ambitious project was to modernise the antiquated police control room through a citywide electronic surveillance system. (After its mysterious metamorphosis into a privately-sponsored proposal, the CCTV project languishes.) But in a police force bedeviled by corruption and crass careerism, men like Gafoor, Karkare and Kamte (two officers he was professionally close to — he called Kamte “my right arm”) remained ‘outsiders’.


When the so-called ‘Deccan Mujahideen’ claimed credit for 26/11 in a spurious email, the media, ever hungry for dramatic contrasts, missed an act. Leading the brave policemen confronting the fake Hyderabadi Muslims was a genuine one, Hasan Gafoor. This was one more message from Mumbai to the Lashkar’s sponsors in Pakistan. Now he too will be a victim. I can only hang my head in shame.

Forced Accountability

With the R. Pradhan report finally being criticised for a lopsided appraisal of the reactions of security forces to the Mumbai terrorist attack, one can finally breathe a sigh of relief. This issue has raised immense controversy and received uninterrupted media attention in the past few days. When the first ‘ratiocinations’ of the report were publicised by the media, there were many questions that remained unanswered. How can only one man in the entire Mumbai police department face the blame for the handling of the 26/11 carnage? Why is the Mumbai Police Chief the only casualty of the Pradhan Committee report? Why have other security agencies, such as the Coast Guard & NSG, not been held accountable? Why was Hasan Gafoor not allowed to submit his comments and make a rebuttal? Unfortunately these pertinent questions have not been considered worthy of mention by the mainstream print and television media thus far. The sadistic pleasure that is ingrained in the unbalanced projection of this issue has been disheartening and the damage that such hasty reporting may have caused to the otherwise spotless reputation of Hasan Gafoor cannot be ignored.

When one man is blamed and accused while members of his own force (both subordinates and superiors) are praised, one cannot help but feel the strong undercurrents of a bias emanating from the report. These undercurrents are so apparent that the two member committee comes across as naïve and tactless in lacing the report with prejudice. From the moment he took up the post of police commissioner, Mr. Gafoor has faced turbulent times, both in terms of adverse events befalling the city, and personal attacks from the opposition parties (some even claim they found him sleeping in his car during the attacks). These accusations, however, have never been backed by concrete proof. It is as though a target was picked out long before the blame game had begun. Whether this bias is political, communal, or both, is hard to distinguish, but its existence can hardly be questioned.

The untimely promotion of Mr. Gafoor as Director General of Maharashtra state police Housing and Welfare Corporation is undoubtedly a safe political move by the ruling parties, particularly in the backdrop of the upcoming state elections. The move disarms the opposition on one hand and ‘promotes’ Mr. Gafoor on the other, thus upholding political diplomacy. Had the state government and CM waited for this clearly unbalanced report to be discussed in the Assembly and had the courage to back the chief of police until proven guilty, it would have been laudable. But we all know that Indian politics is a dirty game where power is the first and only priority.

The irony of the entire situation is that the first agency that must be held accountable for any terrorist attack is the intelligence department. This is because the collection and subsequent provision of crucial information to aid preparation for, and more importantly prevention of, any terrorist threat is the prerogative of this department. However, the commissioner of the State Intelligence Department at the time of the terror attacks (D. Shivananandan) is now the commissioner of the Mumbai Police Department. Furthermore, although this "intelligence failure" has been highlighted in the Pradhan report, it has not hampered the appointment of Shivananandan in any way.

In conclusion, we have witnessed some serious lapses on behalf of the Pradhan Committee, the media and the state government. The Pradhan Committee itself must be investigated for its unfair conclusions, ironically by yet another committee; and a new endeavour to ‘seek the truth’ must be launched. The media should attempt to salvage its reputation as a sensationalist instrument and make a sincere effort to enhance governmental accountability and transparency. As for the Indian politician, till political agendas remain steeped in bias and hatred (against an individual, caste, race, region or religion), energy and resources will continue to be diverted from the key concerns of welfare, justice and security for the citizens of this country.

If wishing were enough...

A number of times, I wished I could make this world a better place. Unforutnately, on most of the occasions I was clueless on how could I do it. With time the faith turned weaker, the feeling faded, and all I cared about was my own selfish little world.

Suddenly, the feeling is back and I am delighted. Just that, this time I won’t let the conviction slip out of my hands. I will try and make my part of the world a better place to live. I would do it every single day.

And this is my plan:

Make everyday count – Be productive. An individual’s productivity makes a difference in the nation’s economy. If every one worked as much as they were supposed to, there would be no backlog.

Give your best – Do an excellent job each time and every time. That saves everyone a lot of non-value time.

Mediocrity is unacceptable, but perfection isn’t the goal either – Being average won’t get us too far. Perfection will hold us back too. So let’s aim at being good enough. We have a lot to do in very little time.

Exercise – It makes you competitive, builds conviction, and challenges your mind and body.

Volunteer – You don’t have to always give away money to help. Give what you have the most - time, ideas, labor, or just be there for support.

Be courteous – Be nice to people. It will come back to you. I promise.

Donate Blood – That’s like saving lives (and they give you free fruits).

Read good stuff – If everyone read good things, our community would be better informed.

In the coming few weeks, besides other things, I am volunteering at a traffic signal, donating blood, and working for a cause.

What about you?

And I thought growing up was fun!

I was impressed when my 16 year old cousin in New Delhi scored 93% in his board exam. His parents weren't. It seems in the new competitive India, you don't have a future if you score less than 95%. Like most teenagers in the world, he likes football and online games. But all that he's been doing in the last two years is solve algebra. When he takes a break, he studies science.

As a kid I envied my classmates who knew what they wanted to do with their lives at 15. At 24 I am still figuring it out. I was never a good student. In school, I just managed to stay afloat i.e. not flunk. I was a non-conformist kid. I learnt dancing and I read Shakespeare. My conventional teachers didn't appreciate it, and I never found a mentor. But that was me.

There is no doubt that Indian education system is rigorous and disciplined. But it's also linear. There is little appreciation for a child's natural capabilities. Everyone is measured with the same scale of test scores. And it's frightening. The Indian education system needs a little retrospection. With X board exams being removed, there might be a little respite for children. Vocational studies should be introduced in high school, where students can experiment with future professions. It's not fair to make high school students decide at age 16-17, what they want to do for next 40 years of their life, without giving them a taste of different vocations.

Educators and parents need to be aware of gauging their's children's performance and strengths across various parameters like interests and creativity . I wonder how many teachers/parents know if a kid is right brain or left brain. If they know what a kid was naturally good at, they would be better equipped as mentors. Children are a nation's hope. It's our duty to give them an environment, where they are nurtured and encouraged based on their talents and not just scores.

Let's make growing up fun!

Morality, Etichs and Law

Every individual... neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it... he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.

Adam Smith, The Theory Of Moral Sentiments, Part IV, Chapter I, pp.184-5, para. 10.
(The above quote defines the basics of modern capitalism.)

Capitalism is defined as an economic system that emphasizes private ownership of the means of production or a privately controlled economy. In a capitalist society companies live by the profit motive. They exist to make money.

Today, corporate America faces the worst recession since the Great Depression, precipitated by unethical business practices, corporate greed, and fraud. The collapse of several financial industry giants since early 2001 has put companies including Goldman Sachs under intense scrutiny. The conflict between short-term profit and long-term viability, the lack of legislation and failure of self-regulation has never been questioned more. The writing is on the wall. It’s not just about profits anymore, but also the effect of these profit-making tactics on the society - a key stakeholder.

As Thomas Friedman points out, corporate decisions have to be made based on sustainable values and not situational values. Although the concept is simple, the implementation is not. For ethical decisions to be based on sustainable values, they have to be clearly defined and incorporated in enterprises and leaders. In this highly interconnected world, there is immense interdependence among individuals and institutions. However, this interdependence of businesses makes ethical decisions difficult and conflicting. Integration of ethical guidelines in business is challenging as the understanding of ethics vary depending on the profession and culture. Although ethical business practices prove to improve the value of an organization in the long-term for all its stakeholders, management ethics is usually a deviation from enterprises’ fundamental business operations.

In a capitalist society, professional ethics is defined and dictated by preferences of the trade itself. The welfare of the larger public usually takes a backseat. Although, stringent legislation is imposed by the state from time to time to reinforce integrity and the safeguard the society, it takes the freedom away from the “free-market”. For sustainable values to become the backbone of corporate decision-making, strong codes of ethics and moral have to be intrinsic in nature. Leaders have to create a sustainable yet flexible code of morals and ethics, which takes into consideration desperate times and desperate measures.