Mathura tragedy: All political parties to ensure no-repeat of such incidents

Arun Bhatnagar
New Delhi/ 7 June 2016. The heart-rending pictures that I have seen of the grieving family, parents and younger son of Mukul Dwivedi, S.P. (City), Mathura who died in the violent clashes last week will haunt me for the rest of my life. It is a supreme tragedy for them and the memories will never die.

My mind goes back to a day in early 1955 when, as a boy of 10 years, I sat for hours near the dead body of my grandfather, a well-known scientist, who had passed away very suddenly. 

The police fraternity and, hopefully, other sections of society, will have to rally around and come forward to help the bereaved families of all those who were killed in the line of duty in Mathura. This is not a one-time exercise and must continue over a period of time.

Judicial intervention could have (and may yet) ensure a completely free and fair enquiry which is the least that needs to be done. Equally importantly, it should be recognized that the Mathura clashes are but another example of the astounding depths to which governance and administration have fallen in several parts of the country. While this may not be the place to suggest corrective steps (many of which already appear in the various Reports that have been gathering dust for decades), it is imperative to acknowledge that the situation can be permitted to deteriorate further only at the nation’s peril. The main political parties (and their leadership) will have to collectively arrest the unprecedented decline in the preservation and maintenance of law and order, in the morale of the police force and in the security of life and property afforded to the man in the street, before visions of all-round development and prosperity are entertained, much less accomplished.

Let Mathura now show the way!

The writer is a former IAS officer (Madhya Pradesh, 1966).