Sangeeta Kalia Trasnfer: Another Case of 'Intolerance"

Its yet an another case of 'intolerance".  A woman cop is merely punished with transfer order as she dared to speak before a minister.  Haryana health minister Anil Vij is known for his  "intolerance". He has been in news for  " terrorizing'" employees to fall in submission. Its good to be a revolutionary while in opposition but as a minister Vij is expected to show good conduct. He know represents the state, not just a constituency. Sadly, in contemporary India our ministers are more confined  to their constituency people and supporters than encompassing the state  This is the third case of  'harassment' of woman officer in state in present BJP govt tenure. Earlier, chief medical officer of Kurukshetra Dr. Vandna Bhatia was punished with transfer this year in January after she had a spat with Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Bedi over the phone. Another IPS offcer Bharti Arora was also punished with transfer early this year.  Fatehabad SP Sangeeta Kalia was transferred a day after she had an argument with BJP’s Haryana health minister Anil Vij in a meeting. Both had locked horns over the issue of illicit liquor smuggling in Ratia. Vij wanted to know from district police chief why and how the liquor smuggling was going unabated in the district. When SP replied the police cannot kill smugglers, the minister accused the police of being hand-in-glove with the smugglers. He lost his cool and asked the police officer to leave the meeting. And when woman cop  refused, Vij himself left the meeting with his supporters in a huff. All these developments have been widely reported in media and haven't done any good  to the saffron govt riding high on " Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (Save Daughter, Educate Her). The Khattar government’s image has taken a hit and the  campaign is bound to suffer,” Interestingly, the 2010 batch  IPS woman cop, Sangeeta Kalia  hailing from Bhiwani has a humble background. Her father retired as a painter from the police in 2010. The same year, his daughter made him proud to join state police as n IPS officer. He hadn't  imagined in his wildest dreams that his daughter would become the police chief of the district where he once served. Sangeeta Kalia is an inspiration to all budding girls of this skewed sex ration hit state. As a school-going girl, Sangeeta was smitten by actor Kavita Chaudhary, who played the role of an IPS officer in the popular TV serial Udaan in the 90s.  Sangeeta aspired to be like her reel idol in real life and realized her dream. By any stretch of imagination, its an outstanding achievement.  Her service record as district police chief shows  that she was doing excellent work. Apart from nailing down criminals, she was imparting  self-defense training to young girls every Saturday-Sunday.  Its a pity that such an brilliant officer has become  victim of political maneuvering.  As a district police chief, she was, undoubtedly, expected to satisfy the minister heading the district grievances panel. As per the details as emerged in media, she tried her level best but then it seemed minister wanted to prove himself supreme. This is the common practice with Indian  ruling class, often , characterized with a sense of 'arrogance' and superiority complex. Three decades back, we (journalists) were witnesses to the similar public humiliation  of a a senior IFS officer at a Press Conference as he wanted to correct his minister on certain points. Annoyed over this, minister ordered him to "get out", the same rough and arrogant utterances, Vij had used for a woman cop.  Its the bloated ego of our politicians that they expect pliable officers for total  submission. This explains why, over the years,  most of our strong institutions have been defiled.  By punishing an upright cop, the BJP govt has only harmed itself. Such an "vindictive act" only harms the bureaucracy.  Sangeeta Kalia's  is another case of  damaging the executive, the most important pillar of democracy.