Shemin Joy
New Delhi, Dec 26, 2007 (PTI) She made a mark as the country's first IPS officer. And bidding the police service adieu, Kiran Bedi [Images] lamented that her sisters in the force continued to be an unknown entity.
"Women are still an unknown entity in the force. They remain anonymous and the government thinks they are unpredictable," Bedi, who ended her 37-year-old eventful career in the police force on Wednesday, said.
Bedi had alleged in July, when she was overlooked for the post of Delhi police commissioner, that the government was biased towards women in the police force.
She was relieved of her duties on Wednesday after the government accepted her one-and-half month-old application for voluntary retirement.
Bedi was also critical of the "negative" political interference in policing, saying it was affecting the efficiency of the police force in the country.
"There are no debates in the country about the police and its reforms. We had a number of police commissions. What did they achieve? Have you done any audit? There are no police officers who speak out against this and there is nobody to speak for policemen. This is despite the best being there in the service," she said.
Asked how she assesses her illustrious and sometimes controversial career, the 1972-batch officer said she remembers the service with "nostalgic gratitude".
"There were milestones, valleys, mountains, plains and sometimes trenches also," she said.
"I was in a service where I truly belonged to. I was never a misfit. I was fitting beautifully in the system. I grew up for this," she added.
On criticism that she was the "most pampered" officer, she said, "If I was a pampered officer, I would not have spent four years in the training department. Not a single pampered officer goes to Tihar."
Bedi, who has been an Asian Tennis champion, said she imbibed many a thing from the game.
"Tennis was never my goal. But it taught me what books did not. I travelled with books. I attended exams after my matches. My priority was something else," Bedi said, adding she knew that the game has a shelf life.
She was ready to acknowledge what tennis taught her. "It taught me how to manage stress and time, what to eat, when to sleep, how to exercise and many other things."
She said her travel to various places in the country in general women compartments of trains made her come close to realities of life.
Asked what she did after receiving the relieving letter from the home ministry on Christmas eve, Bedi said she went to a temple to say, "God, Thank you and now take care of me."
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