New Delhi: Even as the chorus for a CBI probe grows louder into the DK Ravi case, it is incumbent upon us, to verify how much of it is genuinely motivated by a sense of justice for the young officer and how much of it is nothing but cynical politics at play. There can be nothing worse for the memory of an officer like DK Ravi than this political tug-of-war being played out right now, especially with several facts coming to light, that point towards "personal reasons" behind the cause of his alleged suicide. What has been equally ugly- the sheer propaganda, perpetrated upon "the nation" by self-styled arbitrators of truth, who seem to have substituted themselves for the investigative bodies of the country.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has advised the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to consider transferring the probe to CBI, something that even people like Sudheendra Kulkarni, not known to be favourably inclined towards the grand old party, have termed as "admirable" . The Karnataka government itself had not closed the doors on this option and now the CM has reiterated again that he would ensure that the truth emerged though a fair and impartial probe and that nobody would be shielded. "Have told the parents of DK Ravi that I will speak to them after his post-mortem report comes in and is examined. We also want the truth to come out, that's what I have promised to the parents," the CM added. All of this does indicate, that their are no reservations per se that the Congress party or its government in Karnataka has in ordering a CBI probe. From the past few days some people have been spinning, what seems to be a cautious and humane approach of the Karnataka government, that doesn't want a spectacle to be made out of the last moments of the IAS officer, into some kind of "cover up" operation!
Let's assume that this spin and propaganda is true- the Karnataka Congress leaders have "something to hide" and hence are afraid of the CBI. So why would Sonia Gandhi advise the CM to consider a CBI probe? Are you telling me, she wants to expose the Karnataka Congress party leadership? And here is an interesting fact: the CBI, as per a study I recently read, has managed a conviction of under 4% in corruption cases. Do you really think any politician will fear an agency so incompetent? This is the same CBI, which the BJP a few months ago said was a "Congress Bureau of Investigation". This was before the BJP came to power at the centre. Since May 2014, the BJP has made no changes to the CBI despite assuring the country that it would be made autonomous and independent. Resultantly, the CBI these days is busy letting BJP leaders off the hook. We are all aware of how it has gone about changing its stance on Amit Shah in the encounter case. Today, suddenly the media and BJP leaders think have this unflinching faith in the credibility of CBI? It smacks of hypocrisy. In 2012, the BJP government in Karnataka did not order a CBI probe into the murder of forest officer Madan Nayak. The circumstances involving the deaths of the spouses of B S Yedyurappa and BJP MLA K Raghupati Bhat were extremely murky. But the BJP never ordered CBI probes in those cases, did it? Even today, the BJP which rules Madhya Pradesh has resisted in calling for a CBI probe into the mysterious death of IPS officer Narendra Kumar Singh or the multi-crore Vyapam Scam, the stench of which goes right upto the office of CM Shivraj Chouhan!
I can understand that the emotions of those close to the officer who cannot come to terms with his untimely demise. I can understand that people want to see the truth emerge. They may not be aware of the politics that drive the demand for a CBI probe by likes of H D Kumaraswamy and BJP, which frankly should be the last one's lecturing anybody on honesty, fairness and transparency. Hence, it is necessary that the media plays a balanced role in bringing out the facts of this case in a responsible way. For instance, DK Ravi was transferred only 4 times in his career and not 28 times as some in the media are falsely claiming. His transfer from Kolar was on request by his Father-in-Law, a Congress leader, who also has on-record confirmed that he did make the request to the Karnataka CM. The CM, Mr. Siddaramaiah, whose reputation remains unblemished as opposed to that of his political rivals, transferred Ravi from Kolar to Vigilance with the Commercial Taxes department that comes under the Finance Ministry headed by the CM himself to fix leakages and augment state revenue and Ravi, true to his reputation of being an upright, no non-sense officer was doing just that with a free hand with the active support of the CM. Bearing testimony to this, is the crucial fact that Ravi lead crack downs and raids against powerful tax evaders. D K Ravi himself, on many occasions, was appreciated and acknowledged for his good work in government meetings and conferences.
The Karnataka government may well concede to a CBI probe come Monday. In my opinion, it would be akin to conceding to those misery hunters in the media and opposition, who have played politics over such an unfortunate incident. It would neither ensure justice to the persons involved and will only be a means of further politicisation by the BJP government at the centre. To be fair, the Karnataka police and CID has done nothing which suggests it was unprofessional job or it cannot be trusted. The Bangalore Commissioner Mr. M N Reddi along with his team had rushed to D K Ravi's house immediately after getting a call from Ravi's relatives. DCP Dr Rohini Katoch, a qualified doctor was asked to investigate. Based on preliminary examination which showed that the death occurred at 11.30am due to hanging and that there were no other injuries on Ravi's body, coupled with the angle that Ravi's last call allegedly was at 11.20am to a woman IAS officer of his batch, who he called 44 times in one hour the day he died, points to the 'personal reasons' behind Ravi's alleged suicide. The investigations have also revealed a text being sent by the late officer to the lady which said something like "We will meet again in next birth." The lady officer in question is co-operating with the agencies and that too has lent credence to the theory that Ravi committed suicide after she turned down his proposal of marriage. If this is true, should our sympathies not be with the woman officer too who was being subjected to such pestering? Merely, because Ravi was popular with the people, his alleged behaviour with the lady officer cannot be justified and we cannot term a suicide committed out of frustration to be a murder by the mafia! We have to be honest with the facts of the case.
Many independent journalists who have been tracking this case have also expressed similar views. Writer Gauri Lankesh's post on Facebook dated 19th March 2015 puts it rather succinctly:
"d.k.ravi calls his woman friend at 11.12.25 am on monday (the day he died) - soon after he had reached his flat - and says "i am going to take a drastic measure". she does not take him seriously and says "are you kidding?" the conversation ends in exactly 16 seconds. then he sends her an sms which roughly amounts to "good bye. we will meet in next life." I am saying this on the basis of his call records. and extremely reliable police sources. what do you make of this? murder by sand and real estate mafia or suicide by a man who was infatuated with his friend and because of unrequited response a frustrated man? no one forced him to go to his flat (for it to be a murder). when he called his friend his mobile was in Koramangala, his residential area. there are many more such details which both the opposition and the media know. but both of them are milking his death to their advantage. opposition parties want something to remain relevant. media wants its trp."
She adds "in all this mess i would like to point out one important thing. i admire ravi for his pro people stance. but he was a human being like all of us with his little failings - just like all of us have our little drawbacks. we should remember that he was a human being like all of us. with his strengths and weaknesses."
In the course of time, the authorities will conclude the probe and give us answers. But thanks to some misery hunters in the media and in the opposition, I doubt if closure will ever be possible for Ravi, his family and the lady officer, after the public spectacle that has been made in this matter. All for the sake of scoring cheap political brownie points.
(DISCLAIMER - Shezhad Poonawalla is a known Congress supporter and lawyer. Views are personal and not that of CNN-IBN and IBNLIVE)
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