“I always told my colleagues to accord due respect to all public representatives, politicians, and bureaucrats, but never should they follow their wrong orders,” says Mr. Prakash Singh, the former DG of BSF who also served as DGP of Uttar Pradesh and Assam. He is considered one of the most effective and efficient police officers and also the one who never fulfilled the ‘unjust demands’ of politicians. In a free-wheeling interview with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Singh revealed why most politicians loved to hate him.
You can watch the full interview by clicking here…
“I always held that a police officer has to abide by the law and the constitution and not by any individual,” he claimed. In the interview, he spoke in detail about the incidents where the then Deputy Prime Minister Charan Singh got angry with him for acting against the police officers belonging to his caste, Jaat. The then Chief Minister of Assam, Mr. Hiteshwar Saikia, had a deal with ULFA militants and got pissed off with then Assam DGP, Mr. Prakash Singh, when he opposed the release of these militants.
THE UP STINT
Similarly, the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Kalyan Singh, also got annoyed with Mr. Prakash Singh for acting tough against those inciting communal violence in the run-up to Babri Masjid demolition. Mr. Singh was unceremoniously removed as the DGP of the most populous state, only to be reinstated by the Centre after the imposition of the President’s Rule. The moral of the story is that there is always a need for efficient officers, and the latter doesn’t always have to bend backward to please the political masters.
DOESN’T MINCE WORDS
Mr. Prakash Singh is one person who never minces words. And in this tête-à-tête with Indian Masterminds, the 90-year-old officer has poured out both his heart and the mind. He candidly talks about creeping casteism in the armed forces, those responsible for it, and how to deal with such things.
Mr. Singh talks about how he combated terrorism in the Terai region of UP with an iron hand within the confines of the law, not through extrajudicial killings. He also speaks about the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple movement, why he was shifted out barely a month before the Babri Masjid’s demolition, and how he was reinstated to the same position only a few months later.
To watch first part of the video, click here-
