What happened to the idea called “Kiran Bedi”?

India produced an idea called “Kiran Bedi”, the ‘SuperCop’ and then on November 27, 2007, she requested a voluntary retirement and was relieved on December 25, 2007 by the Government of India. What happened? “How could such a bold, fearless, powerful and confident officer surrender to the system? After all, she had been a symbol of empowerment in India’s male-dominated society.” – quoted by Neeraj Bhushan. But did she fail? Yes, she failed. She surrendered to the system. According to Neeraj, she should not have opted out of the Indian Police Service. But I am not talking about an individual, Kiran Bedi. I am talking about the idea of ‘Kiran Bedi’. An idea of a ‘woman law enforcement officer’ in every single district of India with the power and the weight of State of India. All 610 districts of India need a Kiran Bedi.

Kiran Peshawaria was born on June 9, 1949 in Amritsar, Punjab. She is the second of the four daughters of her parents, Prakash Lal Peshawaria and Prem Lata Peshawaria. Kiran grew up in her father’s joint family, who were industrialists and hoteliers. Her paternal grandfather, Lala Muni Lal was a Hindu, the grandmother was a Sikh. The family spoke mainly Punjabi but also Hindi and English. The extended family was conservative but her parents were fairly liberal. They were all used to the country-club culture. In 1954, Kiran started her formal studies at the Sacred Heart Convent School in Amritsar. Kiran started playing tennis at the age of nine. At fourteen, Kiran began to compete as an amateur tennis player. Her mother helped her manage her academics as well as her tennis. Prem Lata Peshawaria instilled the love for knowledge in Kiran. Her father supported her tennis carrier.

Following her graduation from Government College, Kiran attended Punjab University in Chandigarh, receiving her master’s degree in political science in 1970. From 1970 to 1972, she was a lecturer at Khalsa College for Women in Amritsar. In July 1972, she became the first woman to join the Indian Police Service. Kiran Peshawaria met Brij Bedi at the Amritsar tennis courts, and they got married in 1972. Kiran Bedi, to be rigorous, found basic training at the National Police Academy at Mount Abu, Rajasthan. The 1974, Punjab police training was even more difficult. She served in a number of tough assignments ranging from Traffic Commissioner of New Delhi, Deputy Inspector General of Police in insurgency prone Mizoram and Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of Chandigarh. Kiran Bedi retired as Director General to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Historical sources suggest that the British Government used the ‘Women Police Force’ in 1938 to handle the labor strike in Kanpur. The force was disbanded after the strike was over. Women were also inducted in the police force in Greater Bombay in 1939. The princely state of Travancore also appointed one woman Head Constable and 12 women Special Police Constables, who in 1942 were regularised in the Police force. It was only after Independence that women were appointed in the police force on regular basis in different states after the partition of India in 1947, which brought endless misery and degradation to women. It was therefore necessary for the Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation to appoint women police for recovery of abducted women and girls for rehabilitation. Since then, there has been regular induction of women police in the states of India. The Indian Police Service (IPS) has been appointing women in the IPS cadre at par with men. It is not uncommon to see women IPS officers anymore, anywhere in India.