Durga Shakti: How she was made a pawn in populist politics

Lucknow, Aug 6: The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) went to the back foot on Tuesday after a report from the local intelligence unit (LIU) said that sub-divisional magistrate Zevar had razed the wall of an under-construction mosque and not Durga Shakti Nagpal, the SDM Sadar of Noida.

The LIU report which was submitted the day Nagpal was suspended, said that a mosque was being constructed in Kadalpur village along with a 10-foot high wall and when the district administration came to learn that the mosque was being set up on a government land and without having the required permission, SDM Zevar and the station house officer of Raghupura rushed to the site and after taking stock of the situation, ordered to bring down the wall. Nagpal was nowhere in the scene when the demolition took place.

The Noida district magistrate had also given a clean chit to Nagpal in the matter.

The intelligence report added that SP MP Narendra Bhati had inaugurated the mosque three months ago and work on it had started with a Rs 51,000 donation from him.

Nagpal found more support behind her when a committee affiliated to UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, which visited the village after the demolition incident, said that the former had no role in the demolition and that she had just advised villagers to follow due procedure.

The panel lauded Nagpal, saying she had instead reclaimed Waqf Board land, including a graveyard, adding that it had made the sand and land mafia unite against the young bureaucrat.

This proves one simple point. Durga Shakti Nagpal has been made a victim of t narrow ppopulist politics and may be the inexperience factor worked against her. But can we afford to put the building blocks of our democracy (read bureaucracy) in peril to ensure that the populist brand of politics lives on?

Both the SP government of Uttar Pradesh and the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre exposed their concern for narrow gains at the expense of an honest public servant.

The SP gave the case a religious angle to hide the state administration's helplessness to curb the axis of the evils and instead show its 'support' for the minorities while the Congress tried to take a moral high ground in the eyes of the youth, hoping that it would put the party at par with arch-rival Narendra Modi in attracting the young minds of the nation.People, however, did not forget its indifference towards the Ashok Khemka issue in Haryana.

Meantime, the political rivals of the SP and Congress, namely the BSP and Aam Aadmi Party, expressed desires to back Nagpal. So, it has basically turned out into a shameless exhibition of securing vote-banks by sacrificing the steel frame which has held India together.

OneIndia News