FORMER Punjab DGP and tough cop Julio Ribeiro says taking on terrorists in K.P.S. Gill's inimitable style may have brought peace but it also left the Punjab Police in a state of disarray. And that the replacement of DGP O.P. Sharma is one of the "biggest blunders" that may spell fresh trouble for a state that has seen enough of it.
"They made the biggest blunder by shifting Sharma. He was straightforward, professional and a gentleman. Gill had his own ways, all right for war, but in peace time they could cause a heavy backlash. It shouldn't be a situation where police terror is so bad that people want terrorists back,"says Ribeiro. Sharma, he claims, had done a lot to change the image of policemen who ran amuck during Gill's tenure. Criticising political interference—something that could set back the clock in Punjab—Ribeiro says: "Unfortunately there was a lot of pressure on Sharma to transfer those policemen back. And now they have replaced him, choosing caste as a consideration for his successor."
In a scathing reference to the new DGP, Sube Singh, Ribeiro alleges: "He is a spineless person who has given in to the demands of politicians. The danger is that he doesn't understand or does not want to understand the implications of what he has done. The checks and balances will disappear. "
Pointing out that the Punjab Police is on the path to trouble once again, Ribeiro points a finger at the man currently at the helm—he was a Superintendent of Police when Ribeiro was DGP. "He had been kept down as he was weak and incompetent. His colleagues who had joined the force with him were two ranks ahead. Appointing him as head of Punjab Police is a move that concerns the people of the state. It would be a wrong choice in any state, but in Punjab it is disastrous."
Sharma, he says, should have been given three years to undo Gill's terrorist-tackling methods. "The person heading the Punjab Police has to be someone who can say 'no' when required. Sharma was such a person—he could say no politely. For the last eight years he has lived away from his family, sacrificing home to set things right in the state. He did a splendid job as DGP. He was putting things right, but politicians didn't want it that way."
