Kiran Bedi - She changed the inmates of Tihar Jail
Kiran Bedi
Kiran Bedi, the first woman police officer of the Indian Police Services was born in 1949 in a Punjabi family of Amritsar. She completed her college education at government degree college Amritsar. In the era when Kiran Bedi completed her college education, most middle class families used their education for their marriage purpose but very few wanted to educate their daughters for a purpose to see them in government jobs or for uplift their mental standard. But Kiran Bedi was a girl having a mental standard par excellence. She was brilliant in her studies and a champion sports person. She attracted the attention of the sports circles when she won the Asian Women’s Tennis competition in 1972. During that period, she came in contact with Brij Bedi, a prominent tennis player himself and a machine tools factory owner who had interest in photography also. They became close friends first and soon they tied the holy knot to convert the friendship into marriage. Kiran Bedi, the only lady officer awarded Ramon Magsaysay award in 1994 for her outstanding services.
Crane Bedi
The aim of young Asian Champion Kiran Bedi was not limited to marriage but she wanted to serve the nation and the society with her unique ideas. And to fulfill her desires to serve the nation she appeared in the Indian administrative services exams. Once she passed the exams successfully, she opted for Police Services and entered in the Police Force in 1972. She was not satisfied with her job for the next ten years as she wanted to do something outstanding for the society but she grabbed her opportunity in 1982 when she was appointed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in the traffic section of Delhi Police. She immediately came into limelight by attracting the public as she made crucial improvement in the traffic of Delhi. She became popular and regularly found her name in newspapers for her work and soon she became poplar as Crane Bedi for use of crane for illegal parked vehicles and that included the car of the then Prime Minister of India.
Social Work
During the same period, Kiran Bedi worked for rehabilitation of thousands of homeless people living on the Delhi’s footpaths mostly depending on begging as their only source of income. She acted from the set working pattern of police by going all out to help by providing them government aid for homes and beginning small business. She did lot of efforts to see that every deserving candidate received his due and not left fighting with red-tape tactics of government machinery. The year brought some downside for her as after she ordered cane-charge on agitating lawyers she had to face Badhwa-Committee and later transferred into the anti-drugs bureau as Deputy Director. In 1990, she was transferred to Mizoram as Deputy Inspector General of Police where she had to face more problems for the admission of her daughter based on as a resident of Mizoram in M.B.B.S in a prestigious Delhi Medical college. As a result of protests, the admission of her daughter was cancelled but later they won the case in Delhi High Court, her daughter was re-admitted into the medical college and completed her degree course.
Her Tihar Connection
In 1993, Kiran Bedi took over Central Jail Tihar in Delhi, the biggest jail in the entire South Asia with a capacity of 7,000 inmates. Generally such postings are considered as punishment for highly placed officers but the work Kiran Bedi did for uplifting the condition of the prisoners gave newer heights to her career. She won Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994, the highest honor for a police officer of Indian Police Force. She transformed the Tihar jail that was considered living hell for the inmates before she started her reforms. The jail filled with smugglers, mafias, rapists, murderers, drug sellers and dacoits besides terrorists and ISI agents were more like terror to staff of the jail those were hard to control. Kiran Bedi changed the life of inmates of the prison with her human approach and willingness to help them.
Education for inmates
She started by focusing her attention at the education for inmates by making it mandatory for all. Every one had to spend two hours in the morning for educating or learning. The educated prisoners were appointed to teach the uneducated ones. The inmates willing to study further were provided with facilities to continue their further studies. Many prisoners benefited by this facility by becoming graduates from Indira Gandhi open University in different subjects. Incidentally, an under-trial prisoner who was there for more than 10 years was provided the library facility to enhance his knowledge in criminal law to help inmates in their legal procedures later. Life of the prisoners, who were kept under special police of Tamilnadu, began to change.
Work for Prisoners Welfare
Kiran Bedi concentrated on working conditions of prisoners to provide them better facilities related to their working opportunities inside the jail. She arranged exports of the cloth produced by prisoners that brought better price. Prisoners were trained in different repairing works and provided with opportunities to get outside jobs that brought enough revenue to be distributed among the prisoners. All these activities brought Kiran Bedi to headlines of national newspapers to be hailed by politicians and public alike. Different ministers and leaders of various parties visited Tihar to inspect and praise the Tihar’s progress. All dignitaries those visited Tihar accepted with all praise for Kiran Bedi the positive changes in the prison. However, she was accused of favoring Charles Shobhraj, the international crook of allotting him with a typewriter, cooler and meat in his diet. Incidentally, the matter became more famous because Charles was writing a book on Kiran Bedi. But, it was later established that all the facilities provided to Chrles Shobhraj were provided as per the order of Supreme Court of India and Kiran Bedi was not responsible personally for providing these to him.
To improve the situation of Tihar, Kiran Bedi worked regularly and found newer ways and most of these were different from the beaten track and had democratic values. For instance, she started a local level committee for women prisoners who will decide for small finance related disputes or bringing forward their demands before the jail administration thus for not heard or taken any action promptly or never reaching to jail administration. Now, there issues were taken care of on priority and promptly. She appointed a petition officer to bring the demands of the women prisoners on priority basis to Mrs. Bedi for her personal intervention. It was never done before in any Indian jail and it was very much appreciated by everyone. The best part was the violence that was regular feature of Tihar almost stopped.
Kiran Bedi - The reformer
Kiran Bedi changed many bad practices those were going on in Tihar for a very long time with her untying efforts. She once said that the aim of the police and jails is to remove the crime from the society and not the criminal. Mostly the role of police is limited to catch the criminals and get them punished and once the criminal is out of the jail, he repeats his crimes and comes back to jail because he does not know anything else to do. If a criminal is repeating his crimes, it shows that the police failed in its purpose of removing the crime because the crime and criminal was still there. The old method of catching the criminal and jail him is not a solution unless a way was found to stop his further involvement into the crime and providing him a chance to do something worthwhile that will make him useful for the society.
Kiran Bedi did just the same and succeed to change many criminals those wanted to change them but did not know how to it. Kiran Bedi provided them a basic platform. She provided them opportunity to learn and earn. She believed that jail was a hospital for criminals where they could get rid of their illness of criminal activities and not punished for their illness. Since the prisoners have to follow certain rules so they can learn to live within control and learn lot many things that will convert them into good human being. It is not necessary to abuse them but they can learn through meditation, education, how to earn money while inside the jail and make it a profession when out of the jail. If you will treat them ruthlessly, they will become more violent and feel lesser for the humanity and will head for further crimes. She thought to change them a human approach was necessary and she was doing just the same with absolute dedication and honesty.
Kiran Bedi was not power hungry
Kiran Bedi did not consider Police as a force that was created to punish the criminals but for her it was for the sole purpose of reforming the criminals. Jails were not concentration camps as the Nazis or British thought while dealing with their prisoners but more of schools where criminals could be converted into good citizens only if the police behaved with more human methods. This was especially true for our country because most of our citizens have a trust in their religion. Religious methods work wonders on our prisoners. Meditation camps are working magic on most of the inmates and religion does not matter on them while going for meditation.
Kiran Bedi converted Tihar into an Ashram rather than an ordinary prison where violence was order of the day. Now, most prisoners accept it that Tihar is no more a concentration camp that it used to be before she started her reformations. Kiran Bedi’s heart is full of love for people and she still wants to work for them without having any ambitions for her own. Presently she is associated with Anna Hazare’s movement for a corruption free India. Incidentally, she declined the offer of AAP to join them and if she had decided to join that party, she could be part of the ministry that is ruling over Delhi state but she loves her principles more than a seat in power. I know she is destined for greater services for our country in future.
Photo source- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiran_Bedi
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