By Vishnu Makhijani
New Delhi, Jun 10 (IANS): In this dog-eat-dog world where back-stabbing is often the norm and more people will try and drag up down rather than help you up, the memoirs of an IPS officer who superannuated as Special Secretary (Internal Security) and before that had an illustrious innings as the Delhi Police Commissioner and the DG of the CRPF, and saved the government from many an embarrassment, are an abject lesson that it is possible to be truthful and authentic and consistently go by the conviction of what is right and not failing to apologise when things go wrong.
Don't hesitate to apologise for the mistakes you've committed as "I believe that only people with courage apologise for the mistakes they commit during the course of their lives," Mukund Kaushal writes in "Sailing on My Own Compass: A Policeman's Diary" (Rupa) that aptly describes his philosophy in life and explains his rise to the very top of the ladder.
Kaushal also served as Special Secretary Incharge, Department of J&K Affairs, and was also nominated as the negotiator with a terrorist group in Kashmir, a role in which he was also successful with the Naga Groups and the Gorkha National Liberation Front.
Normally, "the tendency is to ignore the mistakes if they have not been noticed. But such persons forget that while others may not have noticed it, they cannot hide it from themselves and continue to live in guilt. It will always remain in their subconscious mind and if they repeatedly do it, it may adversely affect their ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Those who commit mistakes and feel apologetic earn respect from others. If they happen to be part of leadership in any organisation, they not only get the respect but also earn the trust of their team members", Kaushal writes in the memoir.
Kaushal makes no pretence of being a superhero but through a series of episodes enumerated, he displays a mixture of professional rectitude and humanness. And some of these episodes could have had catastrophic consequences had the crises they created not been stemmed – all through teamwork.
For instance, in debunking "Big Bull" Harshad Mehta's claim in June 1993 that he had paid Rs 1 crore to Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao at his 7 Race Course Road residence through an intermediary, Sat Pal Mittal, at 10.45 am on November 4, 1991 for letting him off the hook in the securities scam.
It was claimed that Rao had personally received the money and "blessed" Mittal and his son, Sunil Mittal, during the meeting.
The allegation had rocked the nation and Parliament, which set up a JPC to probe the issue.
Through a meticulous examination of the logbooks of different police units it was found that on the concerned day, Rao had left his residence at 9.12 am for a customary meeting with President R. Venkatraman, reached his South Block office at 9.56 am, left office at 1.12 pm for his residence, which he reached at 1.16 pm, left his residence at 4.50 pm for office, which he reached at 4.55 pm and finally left office for his residence at 8.27 pm.
Kaushal also told Rao at a subsequent meeting where this evidence was presented that the logbooks "are running documents and their authenticity cannot be doubted. The logs are maintained at so many different places that it is virtually impossible to tamper with them".
There was just no way Rao could have been at his residence at 10.45 am on that day.
This evidence was presented to the JPC, which closed the matter.
This is just one of the incidents Kaushal details in the 33 briskly written chapters of the 251-page memoir, which reads like a thriller.
Among other instances are preventing a potential communal riot in New Delhi in the wake of Babri Masjid's demolition; taking a firm stand before the Privilege Committee of the Lok Sabha that he alone and none of his officers were responsible for the arrest of 118 BJP MPs, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and M.M. Joshi for violating prohibitory offers in the wake of a BJP rally planned for February 25, 1993 being disallowed, following which the proceedings were dropped; meticulous planning for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in J&K in 1996; negotiations with the Hizbul Mujahideen, Naga Undergrounds, and GNLF leader Subhas Ghising; securing unprecedented sanctions for raising the strength of the Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs); fighting for better pay scales for the CRPF and other CPMFs; preparing an action plan for fighting militancy in J&K; protecting the dignity of a constitutional institution by standing firm for preventing any demonstration before the Supreme Court or the Delhi High Court; and ensuring bumper promotions - all of about 1,700 - for Delhi Police officers and other ranks.
In all this, Kaushal is modest about his achievements.
"When I reflect on my years in service, I realise that mostly I did what I thought was right and took decisions with which I could live with," Kaushal told IANS.
What is his advice to the new generation of leaders?
"Leaders must realise that a highly motivated and committed team is the key to success. The difference between a leader and a manager is that a leader builds stakeholders in his mission," he added.
Kaushal, who retired on December 31, 2001, had "A long innings", the second subtitle of the memoir, set his compass and then motivated his team to achieve the objective at hand, with humaneness.
That's the breath of fresh air this memoir provides.