Farrukhabad Days

Dheeraj was a good human being. The son of a diligent, if un-ambitious father, he had recently cleared the extremely competitive Indian Administrative Service exams and was looking forward to his first posting in rural Uttar Pradesh. As the Election Commission’s delegate, he was to ensure that the district of Farrukhabad conducted the elections to the state government in a fair and legal manner. Considering this to be a nice gentle introduction, Dheeraj was hoping to use the experience to help tackle bigger challenges he felt would lie ahead – some people at his college believed him to be a visionary.

So it was with a healthy dose of optimism that Dheeraj arrived for his first day of work some 2 months before the elections. Time passed by largely uneventfully and Dheeraj became a popular man around the district. His charming personality and innate desire to help people won him fans wherever his official travels took him. It was on one of these trips that he realized that while the district capital Fatehgarh had a remarkably high number of registered voters, the number of villagers was much lower. Wishing he could have done something more serious about this, he promised to make a note of this for any such future assignments.

On the political front, trouble was brewing. The in-power party candidate, Charan Singh, had a sway with the upper and middle classes owing to his pro-industry, pro-tax-exemption stance. His opposition was a khaadi-wearing son of the masses, Raam babu, who was gaining popularity in the villages. He was out-spoken about the rampant corruption and under-hand dealings of the current government. He pledged to make rural development and helping those below the poverty line his main agenda.

In fact Raam babu’s popularity grew so much that the elections were starting to look like a close run thing. His tireless campaigning in the rural areas out did even the advantage Charan Singh’s larger bank balance and position in the ruling party granted him. Having met Raam babu, Dheeraj had taken a real liking to him but that in no way affected his decision making in his administrative duties.

When the elections arrived, the race for the district seat had become tight enough for the national media to start paying attention. However, through the workings of an influential lawyer, an age-old scandal re-surfaced in the courts. The allegations, if proven, would have left a lot of the ruling parties’ candidates ineligible to contest the elections. Seeking to clear its name, the party chose to exercise its powers and delay the elections till after a verdict had been passed in Lucknow. It was widely believed that this result would be pro-government. In fact the extra publicity that the ‘hurtful’ accusations would bring and the momentum from the subsequent proving of ‘innocence’ was expected to help smooth the road to their electoral victory.

Ceasing upon the extra time that had appeared, Dheeraj decided to act on his pledge. He thus began promoting the elections in the rural areas, often going door to door to tell the people about their rights to vote. Never once did he show a leaning towards any of the candidates but the newly registered voters were, as expected, largely pro-Raam babu. Charan Singh and the ruling party, neck deep in a murky corruption case, were turning a blind eye to most of these pivotal happenings.

And they ended up regretting this. As once the case was hastily put aside and elections were once again organized, Raam babu pulled of an unlikely victory! The ruling party, shamed by the court case and hurt by many smaller parties and independent candidates, could not believe what had happened. They resorted to their old tactics – provoking and participating in communal violence through their many brain-washed followers or Sevaks. Wherever a Muslim leader had been elected, they spread vile rumours about his intentions – and smear campaigns work well amongst the impoverished and illiterate.

In Farukhabad, even the gentle and religious Hindu, Raam babu was accused to evil intentions. His past troubles with a long estranged black sheep of the family were recalled and sensationalized. There was serious rioting and blood spilt on many streets of the otherwise peaceful township.

Dheeraj, under-prepared and under-trained to handle such a situation tried desperately to quell the fires. But such is the power of communal flames that he could do nothing but watch as many of his new friends were maimed and badly scarred.  Being the kind and gentle soul he was, Dheeraj could not believe what had happened and resigned from his post. Worse still he blamed himself for having laid the path to Raam babu’s victory and the pain and suffering that it eventually resulted in. He became a tame administrator with no motivation to change or improve anything.


Shamelessly based on Matt Charman’s excellent play The Observer. I was powerfully influenced by Richard Eyre’s production of the play that I watched a year and a half ago.