Harsh Mander

Harsh Mander: an icon of courage and hope

Intro by Asif Saleh, Profile by Sandeep Phukan Interview by Drishtipat and Gujarat Interview by Deccan Herald

Intro:

Last February when we were wondering what on God's earth was happening in Gujarat, then came the earth shattering piece by Harsh Mander -- a first on the spot report from the refugee camp. The article had so much passion and empathy that it brought people to tears. I personally know a lot of expatriate Bangladeshis who started raising funds after reading Harsh's piece. Ever since then, I became a fan of Harsh Mander's write ups -which are a an appeal to the humane side of the people ignoring politics, religion, country and just humanity. My admiration turned into great respect for this man after I read his book "Unheard Voices" which tells us remarkable stories of the unremarkable lives of the less fortunate ones who triumphed their tragedies. Although he does not mention it in the book, in most of the stories, Harsh, as an IAS officer, plays a pivotal role in helping to turn their lives around. Shashi Tharoor, a famous writer and UN's under secretary general, based his latest novel "Riot" on one of the stories in Harsh's book. When I asked Shashi to comment about his childhood friend Harsh, he said,

"I have known Harsh Mander for over three decades. He is one of the kindest, most compassionate human beings I have ever met, a man of utter integrity and uncompromising principle -- a man who reaffirms your faith in humanity." - Shashi Tharoor

That sums of the character of Harsh as it is also evident from the subsequent profile and his interview with Drishtipat.

Profile:

Thirteen years ago, the government of Madhya Pradesh decided to initiate an inquiry into the conduct of Harsh Mander, an officer in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). He was believed to be close to Medha Patkar and her associates who were opposing the state government's stand on the construction of the Narmada dam.

The officer did not wait for the government to act. Instead, he wrote to the government, not only explaining his stand, but also admitting that Patkar was indeed a friend.

I have always believed that you should do whatever you feel is right. I don't think one needs to be a hero to speak the truth or point out injustice

Frank. Fearless. Committed. Just some of the words his friends and colleagues use to describe him. No wonder Harsh's resignation following the riots in Gujarat was hardly a surprise to them. "Harsh is a very emotional person. If he sees something disturbing, it remains with him for a long time," says his wife, Dimple. This was evident when he visited Gujarat to oversee relief operations as the country director of ActionAid, a funding organisation for NGOs.

Reflecting on the carnage in Gujarat, Harsh, who was on deputation from the Chhattisgarh government, wrote: "As one who has served in the IAS for over two decades, I feel great shame at the abdication of duty by my peers in the civil and police administration. The law did not require them to await orders from their political supervisors. The law, instead, required them to act independently, fearlessly, impartially, decisively, with courage and compassion."

About his resignation, Harsh says, "I have always believed that you should do whatever you feel is right. I don't think one needs to be a hero to speak the truth or point out injustice. If this is the case, then these are the times when we have to ask the question: why does one need to be daring to speak the truth? In Gujarat, it is not just the civil services but the entire civil society that has broken down. My resignation was an emotional one."

All the same, he does not regret serving the government for 20 years. Despite all its shortcomings, he says, there is enough space for people in the government to do good work."

People who have known Harsh vouch for his courage and commitment to ideals. "He is an extraordinary person with a very high commitment to his principles," says N.C. Saxena, former director of the IAS Academy in Mussoorie and secretary in the Planning Commission. "He would risk his job for his principles. The decision to resign is a personal one but it is a big loss to the service. He was the right role model for all future IAS officers as he led by example. I would have loved to have seen more Harsh Manders in the academy."

"Harsh has been very straight and honest," says Rajiv Talwar, a senior IAS officer in the Delhi government and a batchmate of Harsh. "If people like him leave the service, there is need for introspection." Harsh's colleagues at ActionAid feel he stands out from the others as he challenges many commonly held beliefs. "His contribution is in terms of bringing the plight of the marginalised back into the policy agenda of the government," says Ravi Pratap Singh, senior programme manager at ActionAid. Even when he was posted in the IAS training academy, Harsh was involved in replacing the age-old hand pulled rickshaws with cycle rickshaws. "He was deeply moved by the plight of the rickshaw pullers in Mussoorie," recalls Singh.

Harsh's reputation has been built on such commitment and compassion. For a person born in a family of bureaucrats, joining the IAS was more a continuing of tradition rather than a voluntary decision. Yet, he decided to get involved with the underprivilegedÑtribals, Dalits and sex workers. He participated in social movements right after he joined the service in 1980 and was extremely popular in the districts of Madhya Pradesh where he was posted as collector or commissioner.

In his first independent posting as the sub-divisional magistrate in Barwani, a small administrative block about four hours drive from Indore, he helped start a leprosy patients' colony and a hospital for the mentally ill.

During his posting as district magistrate in Khargone, he effectively tackled riots and became the source of inspiration for his friend Shashi Tharoor's novel Riot

In 1984, Harsh was posted as additional collector of Indore where the collector was Ajit Jogi, now chief minister of Chattisgarh. The same year, Indore witnessed riots against the Sikh community. As the man in-charge of the relief camps, Harsh was so disturbed, that he went sleepless for three nights. He spent most of his time with the affected people, recalls a fellow officer. Later, during his posting as district magistrate in Khargone, he effectively tackled riots and became the source of inspiration for his friend Shashi Tharoor's novel Riot.

As commissioner of the Bilaspur division, (now in Chattisgarh), Harsh started a novel scheme of 'right to information' in the public distribution system. He made it mandatory for all ration shops to disclose the stocks and names of beneficiaries to anyone who desired to know. This scheme was later adopted by the Digvijay Singh government and extended to all the government departments.

His reputation as an upright officer got a boost when he refused to bow to pressure from the then chief minister Sunder Lal Patwa. As managing director of the Scheduled Caste Finance Corporation, Harsh implemented a scheme called 'Raftar' under which autorickshaws were given to Dalit youth on soft loans. He was asked to purchase the autorikshaws from one particular firm, which he refused to do. He also launched a scheme called 'Jabali' to rehabilitate women from the Bedia and Bachada tribes.

Despite his actual involvement with a large number of social schemes across the country, Harsh remains a family man. "He keeps weekends free for the family," says Dimple. "He likes catching up on the movies and listens to old Hindi film songs whenever he gets the time."

He also loves to read and write. His book Unheard Voices is about the miseries of the not-so-fortunate citizens.

"He is an agnostic and does not believe in any religion. He believes that humanity the is greatest religion," says Dimple.

Perhaps, it is for this reason that he refused to view the carnage in Gujarat as clashes between two religious communities, but rather as one that eroded everything that was human

Interview with Drishtipat

Harsh Mander spoke to Drishtipat on his life as an activist. Here are the excerpts:

How is activist life after resigning from the government position?

First technically, it is not a resignation from the civil service but a premature retirement. In all the years I was in the civil service, I tried to live actively, but I am sure with inadequacy, in the best way that I knew – by my beliefs in a more just and humane world. In that sense, there is continuity after moving out of government. I am the same person, with the same beliefs, working for the same social goals. The location and vantage position is altered, there are reduced trappings of power, but there is also even greater freedom. The energy, the urgency, the solidarity sustain.

What are you doing to create more Harsh Manders in the society?

I am sure there is no merit in the goal of “creating more Harsh Manders”. I am sure one is more than enough! But I feel we need to work more with young people, helping them reclaim beliefs in justice, equity, humanism, peace, and truth. We need to engage them in authentic efforts and struggles for a more just and caring world.

What's your thought on preventing the rise of religion based politics in South Asia?

I think psuedo-religious fundamentalists are a threat to both peace and development, in all countries of South Asia. There is a huge amount of work that needs to be done, which requires masses of us to devote time and energy for the rest of our lives. We need to be clear not only about what we are ideologically opposed to, but also about what we stand. What is our alternative vision for our countries, region and the world, to ideologies based on hatred and divide? We need to reclaim goals of equity, justice, peace, harmony, truth and humanism, not merely as statements of intent but in the way we live and work. We need to work particularly with children and young people, impact on the content of education and how it is transacted. We need to revive and strengthen all popular social and cultural forums and expressions that celebrate pluralism. The strongest bulwark against communal politics would be for engaging once again masses of people in constructive work and non-violent democratic mass struggles for justice. Politics of divide has to be opposed resolutely, and state complicity in communalism must not only be resisted but the guilty must be made accountable.

Tell us about your current project.

Presently, my engagement with poor and marginalised people is primarily through the agency of ActionAid India and its partner organisations. We believe in clearly taking sides and expressing solidarity with the people who suffer the greatest injustice, exclusion, deprivation and discrimination, to ensure their access to rights, justice and equity. Also, that meaningful change in persistent inequity and injustice was possible only by addressing the causes of poverty and not just the distress conditions, and that the primary responsibility rests with the state, from which it should not be permitted to retreat, and for which it must be held accountable.

In keeping with our mandate, we have built partnership with dalit and tribal people, women, children and other categories of marginalised people. And within them, those living with destitution and hunger, migrant and bonded workers, children left out of education, manual scavengers, disabled people, urban homeless, people in custodial institutions, trafficked persons, sex workers, and people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy, mental illness, and other stigmatised illnesses. Our partnership has resulted in poor people getting informed and organised to influence policy changes in their favour and to struggle against injustice, marginalisation and deprivation.

On a more personal level, I have been attempting to amplify poor people’s voices, first through my book “Unheard Voices” (Penguin Books 2001) and later through my column in Frontline Magazine. Through my other writings I try to engage with state and non-state actors in the current discussions and search for pro-people policy alternatives on issues such as anti-poor laws and policies, good governance, custodialisation, bonded labour, displacement and migration.

Where do you draw your inspirations from in working on such emotionally taxing projects?

I am only one among very many who work in our own way to defend our vision of a kinder, fairer world. I derive emotional strength most of all from the extraordinary humanism of ordinary people, innumerable unsung everyday acts of compassion and courage by poor women and men, girls and boys. I am inspired by people who engage in struggles, often unknown, to make the world better for other people. I am nourished by the love and trust of my friends and family, my literature, cinema, theatre, and music and my writings.

Another Interview on the Gujarat Riot

'By tolerating injustice you are supporting it' : Harsh Mander

Harsh Mander is an IAS officer of the 1980 batch who recently shot into fame when he resigned from the services after expressing his disgust with the Gujarat carnage. But since going public about what he felt then, Mander, currently working for a NGO, ActionAid, India, has avoided media glare. Mander told Deccan Chronicle that what has happened in Gujarat is a trend that has developed over the last 20 years and could erupt anywhere given the facilitating environment. Excerpts of the interview :-

Having been part of the bureaucracy not so long ago, can you comment on how the Gujarat bureaucracy and police conducted themselves during the arnage?

The Bureaucracy and the Police have very clearly defined roles, partly in law, partly in practice. But the underlying principle in all these is that the State must use minimum necessary force to control public disorder. But for communal or sectarian violence, the principle has been turned on its head. Instead of minimum force, maximum possible force, mustered in the shortest amount of time needs to be applied. Because every minute's delay leads to the targeting of largely innocent people. Equally important is that the poison of sectarian hatred spreads very fast both across space and time. For instance in this case too it did attempt to spread to other states like Rajasthan or Maharashtra. There is also this danger of it travelling across time because the poison of hatred is something we could carry with us for generations. Therefore it is the utmost duty of all the State authorities to do all that they can to control sectarian violence within the minimum possible time. What happened was totally contrary. I think 1984 was the turning point when this principle was reversed and the riots that followed in 1989 and 1992 demonstrated further decline in standards set for the bureaucracy. But this carnage showed complete abdication of responsibility by the bureaucracy. When any citizen engages in sectarian violence, it is a very serious crime. But when the authority whose raison d'etre is to protect innocent lives, commits a crime, then that becomes a crime of a completely different order. Besides the less dramatic but equally serious failure has been the total lack of involvement of State authority in the process of relief and rehabilitation which is unprecedented.

Would you say the bureaucrats were in complicity or were they mere mute spectators?

There is a very thin line between fear as a reason and fear as an alibi - that you did not perform because you were really frightened or you did not perform because actually some part of you believed in it. But I would say that there is so little justification to say that you were frightened. Having served the bureaucracy for nearly two decades I know you are given so much legal protection and statutory protection, that if you stand up, all they can do to you is transfer you out.

But in the face of reports that two ministers sat in the Police Control room on the first day of the carnage, that armed mobs were seen emerging from the houses of some other ministers, could a police constable or even an SP resist such pressures?

I wouldn't say that about a constable, though there are some who have stood up even in this situation. But certainly the leadership of the Police and the civil services had the legal authority and moral duty. If you say that it is natural for one to be frightened of fighting on the front, I would say please choose a different profession , don't be a soldier.

What about reports that a lot of Gujarat bureaucrats are either going on leave or seeking postings outside the State?

I don't belong to the Gujarat cadre so I would not have inside knowledge of it. I can only comment as a distant observer. And I find it sad that officers want to leave. I can understand the pressures are difficult to deal with. But once again I would like to reiterate that this is the real test for which you are given all the power. We can't partake of the advantages of the posts and abandon them when things get hot. Though I can understand the feeling of alienation and isolation of honest officers, they must also act collectively with mutual support and stand up to it. If they give in so meekly even on questions of holding their meetings they don't have anyone to blame for that.

Is it some silent complicity or fear that is the cause?

Maybe I am an optimist. But I feel that a large majority of people feel it is enough to be passively good in your own private sphere. 'I am not bigoted, I don't practice casteism. I am not communal in my personal life. I pay my taxes. I stop at the red light. That's enough. But it isn't enough. The whole point I am making is that tolerating injustice around you is actually taking sides with that injustice.

Before you there were others like G R Khairnar, Arun Bhatia who opted out or attempted to opt out. Why do people like you have to opt out?

I think that apart from the people you have described, the real heroes in the services are those who have done really remarkable work, stood up for justice, stood up against corruption but kept a low profile. Even in the darkness of Gujarat you have had some very fine young officers specially in the Police who have stood up courageously and acted. For instance Baroda rural SP, Kesho, and Bhavnagar SP, Rahul Sharma. So there is space to stand up and be counted. I served more than 21 years. I don't think that even for a day I did anything my conscience told me not to do. Over the years unfortunately there has developed some value to some postings and less value to the others. You might be getting the same salary, have the same official level but people want to be in influential positions. They don't want to let go of that.

You are working with ActionAid on the Aman Samudaya project to provide relief to the victims in Gujarat. You have spoken that the chasm between the victims and the rest of the population in Ahmedabad has grown so wide that the plight of these people does not seem to affect the day-to-day functioning in the state.

I think events in Gujarat are actually holding up a mirror to us as a society and as a polity and as human beings. And it has shown that we have such a capacity to indulge in such brutality. Sadly despite ample evidence of this now, there is almost no remorse in the society.

Instead you have the Lawyers Association saying they would not plead for Muslim clients, businessmen saying they will not trade with Muslims and all kinds of outrageous things. The word that you keep hearing everyday in Ahmedabad is 'boarda' (border), this divide. They keep talking of this border within the city itself and it seems to have fairly wide support in the middle class and even the working classes.

Trade unions, NGOs and most of the leading players did not either try to stop the carnage or even help in terms of relief. I must say these are really, really worrying trends and what I would like to say very strongly is that I am not sure this is not peculiar to Gujarat alone. I think something has happened to our society over the last 10, 15, 20 years which could happen elsewhere also if a certain facilitating environment is created. In India the large majority still remains humane, tolerant, secular, but passively so.

And the minority of various religions believing in the ideology of hatred are the ones who are active and organised and they are carrying the day and unless we recognise this and wake up, our society is going to be so fundamentally transformed that there will be no going back.