Tiff with Kiran Bedi

Tiff with Kiran Bedi
CAMIL PARKHE
Sunday, August 01, 2010 AT 06:44 PM (IST)
Tags: Kiran Bedi, Goa
I was a cub reporter in 1983 when Kiran Bedi was posted at Goa as deputy superintendent (traffic). Goa was then chosen as the venue for the Commonwealth heads of governments meeting (CHOGM) retreat. In those days, Goa had very little vehicular movement. Portuguese-built Potto Bridge was the only spot in the Union territory where a constable monitored traffic. Bedi's task was to monitor traffic during the three-day Goa visit of 39 heads of states including Margaret Thatcher, Robert Mugabe, Bob Hawke and the host -- Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Our newspaper had only three reporters -- chief reporter, a senior reporter and I. Crime was one of the many beats I handled. Bedi was among the police officers I met every evening at the police headquarters. Sometimes, she would take me along in her Gypsy for conducting rehearsals, with instructions flowing on a walkie talkie set from Panaji to Dabolim airport and to Fort Aguada beach resort, the CHOGM venue.
CHOGM being a very, very high security event, government offices were to be closed for three days to minimise people's presence on streets. One day, Bedi gave me a press note regarding traffic restrictions during the retreat. As a routine affair, I published the press note. Next day, Bedi asked me to repeat the same press note on three consecutive days. I laughed at her suggestion and told her that newspapers never publish the same press note twice. I told her the same press note can appear umpteen number of times but only as an advertisement.
Bedi pondered for a minute and said she would have a word with my editor. Despite my protests, she almost pushed me into her jeep and took me along to visit the editor. 'Ki khabar,' my editor asked her in Punjabi as we entered his cabin. I was left astonished and sulking when he, without any hesitation, agreed to repeat the press note for three days.
Later, when I protested, he said, "Come on, have a heart! It's not very often that Mrs Gandhi, Thatcher and several other presidents and premiers come for a retreat in Goa. Besides, in your journalist career, you would very rarely find an officer as charismatic as Kiran Bedi. Let's give her some concessions!”
Three decades after the incident, I believe my first editor was very right in his statement as also his judgement.

Kiran Bedi Always a crusader

			pune
Always a crusader CAMIL PARKHE Thursday, August 18, 2011 AT 11:12 PM (IST) Tags: Kiran Bedi,   Indian Police Service Kiran Bedi was deputy superintendent of police (traffic) in Goa when I got acquainted with her as the crime reporter of a local newspaper. The first woman to join the Indian Police Service, she had efficiently handled her responsibility in the traffic department during the ninth Asian Games in Delhi. During the preparations for this prestigious event, Bedi had earned the nickname Crane Bedi as she used to tow away vehicles of the mighty, including those of the staffers of them prime minister Indira Gandhi from the no-parking zones. Bedi was transferred to Goa, specially for coordinating the traffic movement during the Commonwealth heads of government meet (CHOGM) which was to be held in 1983.   The CHOGM was to be attended by nearly 40 heads of the Commonwealth nations, including British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, although British Queen Elizabeth was to return home after attending the New Delhi leg of the meet. It was one of the important assignments in Bedi's career. As a crime reporter, I often accompanied Bedi when she conducted recce of the travel routes of the VVIPs from Dabolim airport to the Fort Aguada beach resort. I found that she was a no-nonsense officer and totally committed to her work. And she would not tolerate anyone's dereliction of duty. I was in my early 20s and did not realise that I was in company with an extraordinary government official.   After the conclusion of the CHOGM retreat, Bedi moved out again to New Delhi. She continued her commitment to work and continued to perform with zeal, no matter what post she was given. For reasons not clear, Bedi was rarely given field posts. Nonetheless she has shone wherever she was sent to do that sort of work. Even while holding the otherwise non-significant post of inspector general of police of Tihar jail, she managed to come out with a wonderful achievement, introducing many reforms in the high-security prison.   What is so remarkable about Kiran Bedi is that she has remained a consistent crusader for social causes throughout her career as a police officer and now has continued it as a civil society activists along with Anna Hazare. She has tried to cleanse the system from whatever level she was from time to time. On her nickname 'Crane Bedi,' she has written in her blog, “A crane removes obstacles -- something I have tried to do all my life.” The country needs many more of her tribe.