DEY AND DAWOOD: A MURKY CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

Almost 40 years down the line after independence, the cloud of suspicion had thickened and a stygian climate of chicanery, cupidity and brutality had became so overbearing that the possibility of piety co-existing with the atrocious and ruthless behavior of mankind seemed almost unfeasible. The veil of secrecy covering the entire gamut of political and social deeds had cast a gloomy shadow on its horizon. People had become greedy and unhappy; rude and careless; infidel and demanding; materialistic and unfulfilled. There had been a minatory climate of loot, suppression, murder and felonious activities. The government and its machineries were fully hands-in-gloves with unscrupulous elements of society. The common people were helpless and hapless. There seemed to be no way out of anarchy and despondency. It was not a sudden crescendo of vice and depravity, but a culmination of a long and systematic apathy which had turned the place into an inferno infesting scoundrels and decadents prominently.

                       The period was early 90s and the place was Bombay. Two persons from dissimilar backgrounds were at the pinnacle of their respective careers. They were toiling day and night with a single-mind. They were resolute, focused and ambitious. They could have stopped then and there, as the name; fame and money they had created for themselves were enough to sustain them for a long period of time. But, there had always been something in their stomachs which never allowed them sit complacently. They went on relentlessly in pursuit of their dreams and objectives. A collision and confrontation of interests was imminent between them as both of them were working for a different and contradictory set of objectives. One was anti-social and criminal who was heading and sprawling a vast illegal empire based on money churned out of illicit business of extortion, contract killing, gambling and drug-trafficking. He was driven by the idea and dream of an illegal concentration of money and power at his hand. The other was an intrepid journalist who had vowed to vanquish the entire illegal empire of the underworld which was thriving and flourishing at the cost of development and peace in society. He was driven by his own conviction of truth, justice and munificence.

                           A one time petty criminal of Bombay had snowballed into an underworld don who wielded so much power that in the early 90s, it was rumored that around 75 politicians owed their entry to parliament to him. Indeed, Sheikh Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar had come a long, long way in a highly-globalized underworld. His rise as a don depicts a sad story of greed and fear; of state-patronization; of an impotent machinery and of an inactive and indifferent civil-society. He owes his success as a don to an entire obsolesce system which gave him an opportunity to be what he is now. He equally credits his success to servile, greedy and venal political and administrative machineries, which helped him, nurture his devil dreams and fulfill them with impunity.

                               Dawood Ibrahim never faced protests even at his home when he would commit petty crimes at his childhood. His home itself became a breeding-ground of criminal in him and his father, senior kaskar, who was a police havaldar, was instrumental in making Dawood and his brothers what they are today. Whenever there was a complaint, he would pretend to scold them, but would later pat them on their back. He himself would wait for visits from erstwhile smuggling kingpins Haji Mastan and Karim Lala, who would give him some money to keep them going. Later with Haji’s help, he opened an electronic shop for his son Dawood. The smuggled goods started coming in this shop and Haji delegated the responsibility of smuggled goods to Dawood. Those days were highly restrictive in terms of imports of even general goods which are found quite easily these days. This gave Dawood an impetus to enlarge his smuggling network and earn huge amount of money. He never looked back since then and kept scripting new stories in the world of crime. Smuggling, extortion, betting and drug-trafficking became his prime source of revenue. He invested in Bollywood and real estate and almost erected an empire by influencing, threatening bribing and killing officials and politicians. His rise was not meteoric but he hardly encountered any real difficulties on his way to become a Don.

                  It always interests common people to peep into a don’s life. How he lives, whom he believes and what his likes, dislikes and hobbies are. They are always curious to know how he operates his syndicates and eliminates his rivals. How he manages to evade police and how much he loves his girlfriend. The conjecture and stories revolving around a don’s life creates excitement among common people. Any number of Bollywood movies centered on underworld and its complex syndicate’s hits the roof with their releases. Company, Risk, Black Friday and Once Upon A Time In Mumbai are some of the latest Bollywood movies which have thrown some grimy insight into underworld and its invisible empire. But, have we ever thought how do such stories relating to underworld pour in public domain? Are these stories mere conjectures or based on some solid evidences? Are they the first-hand account of their lives or just journalistic babbles gathered around? How do they come to the surface and etched in peoples’ mind? Who are the men behind such stories?

                    Joytirmoy Dey, among others, was the man always behind such stories. He was fascinated by the world of crime. He would venture into a risky domain to snatch stories from there and serve them in readers’ platter. He would go to any length to understand the complex things with notorious world and his obsession with his area of work was so much pitched in his mind that he used to be considered as an expert on underworld. Joytirmoy Dey was a fearless crime-reporter who never danced at the tune of any underworld or became a puppet at their hands to blow their own songs of popularity. He was there for an entirely different reason----less out of curiosity, more out of necessity.

                              When the entire city had come under control of various mafias and they were busy over negotiation and cross-battle for their respective larger aresas of operations, Dey took an endeavor to expose them and nullify their fear in peoples’ mind. He was a challenge to the underworld as his narratives always proved as valuable tip-off for police to counter their activities. He wanted to provide a clean society---- a society free from the danger of underworld and mafia. His works began to prove fatal for their unlawful activities and this infuriated them. He never pointed out Dawood, his contemporary, in particular. His fight was against evil forces; so he never discriminated between Dawood and Rajan or any other mafias. He even challenged the encroachment of a zoological reserve area by the Maharashtra government. His report in this regard created a furor in the assembly.

                                His methods of working were unique but effective. He would never get photographed or highlighted for his reports. He avoided harping on stories he would work on. He was a man of a few words--------a complete no-nonsense person. He would roam around the city on his bike and maintain a low profile. What he carried in abundance were guts and determination which obviated any other possession required to work against these highly dangerous mafias. Even IPS and IAS officers with huge backing fail to deliver. Here lies the importance of an unarmed solitary journalist who had a mission to rout an illegal empire through his work. Joyirmoy Dey wrote two important books on underworld which unraveled some intricate mysteries surrounding the underworld and helped police to lay out strategies to crack on them.

                       Almost of an equal age of Dawod Ibrahim, Jyotirmoy’s mission came to an abrupt end when he was shot dead in broad-day light just a few days ago. He fought to the last ditch and had written a series of reports about oil mafia and underworld. This would have triggered them to eliminate him. The sad thing is that while the illegal empire of underworld and mafia keeps on flourishing leaps and bound, the voice of truth and justice got suppressed. How could this be possible without complicity of politicians, bureaucrats and law-enforcement agencies? His murder is a clear indication of a supine administration sold-off at the hands of mafia and underworld. It points out towards a society which worships money and power, glorifies wrong-doers and penalizes those in search of truth, justice and peace. Has the greed for money over-powered us to such an extent of ignominy? Has the lust for money rendered us impotent? Has the fear for our own life allowed us to witness mass-scale extermination? If this is so, I am ashamed to be a part of such society and would rather pursue the path Dey has discovered and illuminated for all of us.

                      The respective rise and fall of underworld and Dey are not sudden occurrences. It may have taken several decades of ineptitude, avariciousness and coyness for an empire to take birth, grow, rise and hit the summit. It may have equally taken several decades of indifference, thanklessness and viciousness for a valiant soul to crumble and perish. The society as a whole stands responsible for the malignant growth of underworld and its assuming power out of proportion. It is also responsible for the brutal murder of Dey and his ilk at the hands of mafia. And above all, our government and its machineries are responsible for all these circumstances. They took an oath of office to protect its people and prevail upon truth and justice. In practice, they just do the opposite----- protect and rally round criminals and persecute the upholder of truth and justice. Is this what we elect for our representatives to assemblies and parliament? Is it what we pay tax for? Is it what we expect of them? Is it what we repose our faith on them for? If answers to these questions are a simple NO, why are we silent then? Our silence, timidity and docility have emboldened them to act against common interests and serve for criminals and dons.

            Our ancient and medieval rulers were lovers of art, architecture and literature. They patronized and respected people related to these fields. We have a great number of classical examples of art, architecture and literature. They are incomparable, of magnificent class and marks of intellectual and pious creativity. We enjoy them all----- their beauty, wisdom, creativity and find solace----- only because our past rulers and people encouraged and supported artists and their works. We shame on our government and society that expels artists like M.F.Hussain and guard criminals like Iqbal Kaskar( Dawood’s brother). How can one then find examples of beauty and creativity? How can one boast of modern Indian art and literature, except a few only? But we can definitely brag about Indian criminals who have got their notoriety world-wide. We can definitely boast of their inhuman and destructive works of murder, rape, extortion and extermination. The coming generations are also bound to suffer for our present possessions and patronization.

              As the half-hearted investigation into the murder of Jyotirmoy Dey proceeds and India, without expecting any result, once again bombs Pakistan with most-wanted list of hardcore criminals, we have all the reasons to eschew the path of greed and fear. This will be highly ingratitude on our part if we simply sit on information furnished to us by some audacious journalists like Dey and boast of ourselves being knowledgeable. The genuine tribute to Jyotirmoy, who sacrificed his life in line of his noble duty, requires us to kindle and illuminate the space occupied by evil spooks and hound them out. This asks for guts and determination which Jyotirmoy Dey was a proud owner of.

                         VASHISTHA RAY.