Page 35 - Tehelka Issue 15 August 2018

bureaucracy

then collector of Barwani district of slogans …But this brave upright civil gades, not just disrupted the about-
Madhya Pradesh, had to even delete servant who had dared to speak out to -begin flag hoisting function but
one of his posts which appeared to was made to remove his Facebook raised provocative slogans.
be indirectly critical of the BJP. post. Not to be overlooked the fact
And early this year, 2018, Bareilly Around the time of rioting in that Yogi Adityanath government
district magistrate Raghvendra Kasganj, at least two senior officers transferred district police chief
Vikram Singh was also charged posted there were heard and seen Sunil Kumar Singh after communal
with violating service rules after on the television saying that just as rioting in Kasganj, because he had
he put up Facebook posts that several young boys of the Muslim also bared out another of those dark
appeared to blame right-wing dominated locality of Kasganj were truths of the communal madness.
brigades for provoking communal readying to unfurl the National Flag, Not sure what punishment was
clashes in certain districts of Uttar men on bikes, said to be affiliated to meted to the then district mag-
Pradesh. the VHP and other Hindutva bri- istrate of Kasganj as he too was
Soon after communal rioting honest about the ground realities
broke out in Kasganj, Singh wrote prevailing in today’s Uttar Pradesh.
on Facebook — “Ajab riwaz ban gaya If a civil servant To quote him from a news report -
hai. Muslim mohallo main julus le jao “fringe groups coming up in every
aur Pakistan murdabad ke nare lagao. dares to talk part of the state, taking the same
Kyun bhai woh Pakistani hain kya? (A ugly route to instigate people of the
strange tradition has come up. To aloud or write minority community by forcefully
visit Muslim areas and raise slogans candidly, he entering their locality in the name
against Pakistan. Why, are they of nationalism.”
(Muslims) Pakistanis)?” is singled out, Tell me what’s amiss if a civil
In fact, last year Singh had writ- readied to be servant speaks out and hits out at
ten a similar post, where he had hit the dark realities of the day! After
out with this fact — in Khelam area suspended, if all, he is focusing on the ground
of Bareilly, a group of kanwariyas, not mauled in realities.
went through a Muslim-dominated
village and had raised provocative varying ways letters@tehelka.com

• rule
breakers
Many
proactive
bureaucrats
are accused
of violating
service rules

Tehelka / 15 august 2018 35 www.Tehelka.com