Date:20/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/20/stories/2007012004571100.htm

Opinion - News Analysis

Uniforms in the Raj Bhavans

Harish Khare

The inclination to appoint security hands as Governors is very much at odds with the democratic spirit as also with the dynamics of reconciliation in insurgency-affected States.

THE UNION Government has appointed E.S.L. Narasimhan, who has just finished his stint as Director of the Intelligence Bureau, as the next Governor of Chhattisgarh. Thus the country will have as many as three former intelligence bosses presiding over Raj Bhavans. Already, Raj Bhavans in Lucknow and Kohima have former Directors of the IB (though it needs be noted that Shyam Dutt's term as Nagaland Governor is coming to an end and a replacement for him has already been announced).

The appointment of a new Governor in Chhattisgarh ought to be placed in a larger context. There is an unhappy preponderance of security/military men in the Raj Bhavans. Earlier the practice was to have one or two retired service chiefs in this or that Raj Bhavan. The likes of General S.M. Srinagesh (Karnataka), Air Chief Marshal I.H. Latif (Maharashtra), Air Chief Marshal Arjun Singh (Delhi) commanded all-round respect as Governors.

Then, during the 1990s considerable faith began to be reposed in the retired generals as ideal candidates for Raj Bhavans in the insurgency-affected States. K.V. Krishna Rao, the former army chief, was sent to Srinagar at the height of the militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. Gradually, it turned out that all the Raj Bhavans on the periphery were being manned by retired service chiefs, former Directors of the IB, former RAW chiefs or retired police officers.

During the National Democratic Alliance era this preference became a policy, so much so that for the first time, even retired Lieutenant Generals were deemed eligible to hold the Governor's post. The United Progressive Alliance Government has not shown any inclination to move away from this unofficial Raj Bhavan quota for former security officers. Today, the Raj Bhavans in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, and Puducherry are manned by gentlemen who have had something to do with security management.

Under the constitutional scheme of things, a Governor is expected to be a wise friend to the elected Government in the State. He or she also has the obligation to be the Centre's eyes and ears, and report periodically to the President about the developments in the State. However, over the years, the polity has had to deal with the rather sticky problem of overtly political gentlemen in the Raj Bhavans trying to do the Centre's bidding in the State's affairs. But sufficient attention has not been paid to the increasing emphasis on security experts as incumbents of Raj Bhavans.

When, for example, a retired RAW chief is sent as Governor, say to an insurgency-affected State such as Manipur, the expectation is that his experience and insight would be of help to the local government and administration in dealing with a difficult situation. However, it should be obvious to anyone that the experiment has not yielded the expected result in any State, and insurgency has become a larger and ever expanding phenomenon.

For example, a former police officer, Ved Marwah, was sent to Manipur as Governor but there is hardly any evidence that his presence in the Raj Bhavan in Imphal has helped either the Union Home Ministry or the local Chief Minister in coping imaginatively or innovatively with the insurgent outfits. On the other hand, the country had to witness the ignominious scenes of the government being airlifted out of the Raj Bhavan when the militants went on a burning spree in downtown Imphal.

More than anything else, the idea of staffing the Raj Bhavans with retired intelligence men is at odds with the democratic spirit. After all, the way out of all insurgencies is to put an end to violence and to bring about a reconciliation between those who choose to defy the Indian state with arms and those who have a constitutional obligation to preserve and protect the Union.

Reconciliation is a democratic process that can be carried out only by those trained and conditioned in the rites and rituals of democratic contestations. On the other hand, the retired generals and intelligence personnel can only bring with them a life experience anchored in a craft and profession that is intrinsically undemocratic. Mr. Narasimhan could have been appointed Chhattisgarh Governor because someone had decided his presence in the Raipur Raj Bhavan would be an asset to a State facing a Naxalite challenge.

The appointment to the Raipur Raj Bhavan is troublesome on another count: it suggests an inclination towards appeasement of the security hierarchy. The civilian government seems to be too much in awe of the retired "security expert."

Already, the security forces have been conceded too much share in policy space, and now there is a new mood to mollycoddle the security men. Not a very comforting development.