Once during a lecture on ‘leadership’ in Delhi University, an MBA student asked Mr. KPS Gill, “Sir, you and your family have remained under the threat of terrorists for the most part of your life; weren’t you afraid of death?” Gill paused for a moment and said, “Death has come to each one of us, so I never bothered about it.”
A true patriot, a leader, a saviour of the nation, a poet and what not — there never was and there never will be another like him. Once, I asked him how he felt to be admired by millions. He said he didn’t feel much about it, since a couple of millions hated him too. I asked how he felt about the haters and the critics; and he said, “May God bless them”.
While I was writing the biography of KPS Gill, I had the occasion to interview the then Chief Minister of Gujarat and the present Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. “Without cops like Gill Sahib, there can be no democracies, no political leaders and no kings,” Modi told me.
Due to these competencies, Modi had appointed Gill as his security advisor when the Gujarat Police was not able to maintain law and order during the post-Godhra riots in 2002. Gill brought an end to riots within a week of assuming charge.
I am reminded of an anecdote which is comparable to what KPS Gill did for India. In 1860s, when the civil war was on in America, General Ulysses S. Grant, the Commander of the Union Army under President Lincoln, played a major role in preserving the Union. Soon thereafter, Grant was elected the 18th President of America and that was Americans’ way of thanking their beloved leader.
Many people will find it ironic that Mahatma Gandhi was Gill’s role model, and that he practiced non-violence while in school and college. But, destiny landed him amidst troubled times and bestowed him with the task of fighting for his country, with an iron hand.
In his career as an officer of the Indian Police Service, spanning over almost 4 decades, Gill epitomized honesty, unwavering courage, and uncompromising patriotism.
In business management, Jack Welch, former CEO of GE is considered the greatest manager ever. If Forbes would have rated managers in the government sector, then I can say with conviction that KPS Gill would have been rated as the greatest manager in the field of policing, ever.
What I say here might not be remembered for long but what KPS Gill did for our nation should never be forgotten. The living legend belongs to the ages now. Good Bye, Sir. You will be missed till the last minute of the last day of my life.(Rahul Chandan is alumnus of IIM Ahmedabd, biographer of ‘Supercop KPS Gill’ and author of 'KPS Gill the Paramount Cop'. He has been an adjunct professor of ‘leadership’ at SRCC, Delhi University. Views are personal)
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