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March 17, 1999
ASSEMBLY POLL '98
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'They should not have removed Bhatiasahab. This is gross injustice to him and to us'Archana Masih in Pune. Photographs by Jewella C Miranda.
Bhatia, however, is of the view that it is time the administration became more open -- where citizens have access to information. "The BJP government had said it would pass the Right to Information Bill -- that would be a good thing," he adds. A point Palande agrees with: "The US apparently has a system where government files -- which do not concern vital information like national security -- are made public after 30 years. We should do the same."
"But the Indian bureaucrat is lazy and obstructive. He is the guardian of a democratic system, but is seldom questioned," he says. Pointing to another failing, he says often politicians are badly briefed by bureaucrats which results in further cogs in the wheel. Although he agrees there are honest IAS officers who do take a stand, it is highly unusual that they will go against their own kind. And almost impossibile that they would confront the system. "One might think that peer pressure exists only for children, but there is tremendous peer pressure on us. It is unfortunate to know your seniors don't think much of you," says Bhatia. A former IAS officer reveals that though Subrahmanyam is not one of the easiest officers to work with, Bhatia sometimes is over-zealous. "His motives are not suspect, but everything he does is not necessarily always sacred," says the officer on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, Bhatia confesses that after all these years in the civil service, he has remained a pariah among his peers. His friends have come from the 'outside' -- people he has met in course of his numerous postings -- like the friend from Nagpur, who arrived in the morning just to make sure his pal was alright, and the thousands of Pune locals rallying on the streets in his support for the past four days. "They should not have removed Bhatiasahab. This is gross injustice to him and to us," says a general store owner near the Pune railway station. Citizens have participated in rallies, public meetings, hunger strikes and signature campaigns calling for Bhatia's reinstatement. Local newspapers publish angry 'letters to the editor,' condemning the transfer.
On the fourth day of the people's movement, supporters had collected in 15 spots across the city for a token fast. A public rally held at the Mahatma Phule market, primarily to allow different political parties to clarify their stand, saw support coming from city Congress president Mohan Joshi and CPI-M General Secretary Ajit Abhyankar. Gandhians Anna Hazare and Babasaheb Bharde have also expressed solidarity. The BJP, Shiv Sena and PVA have not expressed any support so far. The signature campaign -- spearheaded by women -- has collected 60,000 signatures from locals opposing the transfer. "This movement is progressing further and will reach its crescendo. The best is yet to come -- we hope the government gracefully agrees and does not make it a prestige issue," says former IAS officer Avinash Dharmadhikari. After having served as a bureaucrat for 10 years, Dharmadhikari left the civil service and now devotes his time to running a school with various disciplines. He also reveals that they have given a call to the people to observe Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian new year's day on Thursday, as a crusade against corruption. "We have been informed that some BJP,SS members are trying to persuade the government to revoke the order, even some IAS officers are giving the same advice," adds Dharmadhikari. Khardekar says if the need arose, people are ready to court arrest. "I think the government is getting a taste of the Bhatia wave. Even people who talked about corruption in their drawing rooms have taken to the streets, " he says. Six writ petitions have been filed in the Bombay high court against the transfer -- one by Congress corporator Nitin Jagtap. "If Bhatia is not brought back by March 23 -- the Bhagat Singh Memorial day -- we are thinking of going on a hunger strike," adds Khardekar. The agitating leaders say the people's movement has remained peaceful and has not been tainted by political elements. It is proposed that the signatures will be submitted to the chief minister. A local website, PuneCity.com, has garnered support from Pune-ites settled abroad. "We want to keep up the pressure. The government may twist the rules in its favour and prevent Bhatia's return, but it will know what people's power is," says Gita Vir, "When corrupt, incompetent ministers have so much power, why can't educated technocrats have the power to tell them so?" Livid with the way builders have proliferated in her city, she blames middle class complacency for the present situation. Yet, she feels the Pune elite are waking up to their duties as citizens. "I do not sport a khadi-kurta-activist kind of role, I go out with my pearls and my usual clothes because I want to change the conventional image. And because of this some women have given up their kitty parties for constructive work," says an animated Vir. However, former bureaucrat Palande feels the movement is becoming more personality oriented than issue based. This, he says, could make it difficult in preventing vested interests in getting political mileage out of the agitation. The agitation's leaders deny this and maintain that the movement will not lose its fervour. While Bhatia says the present moment is not half as trying as those days he spent facing the builders in Bombay, he has no hesitation in saying that the people of Pune had made his career worthwhile. That for an IAS officer -- whose main brief is to execute the laws of a democratic land -- there could not be a better reward. "I told my wife that the past 30 years have been compensated in these four days," he smiles.
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