The Power of Civil Momentum: Annamalai Kuppusamy (Transcript)

Here is the full transcript of Annamalai Kuppusamy’s talk titled “The Power of Civil Momentum” at TEDxDSCE conference.

In this TEDx talk, Annamalai Kuppusamy, an IPS Officer widely known as “The Singham Of Karnataka” emphasizes the critical role of citizen engagement in addressing societal issues and the necessity for public servants to act when the public chooses not to. He illustrates this with examples from his experiences, highlighting situations where police intervention was necessary due to public inaction, such as traffic management and emergency response during natural calamities.

Kuppusamy also addresses the misconceptions about police work, stressing that most officers are committed public servants facing significant challenges. He delves into the rise of crimes like rioting and hate crimes, attributing it to a lack of proactive community involvement. The talk advocates for the use of technology, like social media and apps, for citizens to report violations, demonstrating how small acts can lead to significant societal impacts.

Kuppusamy calls for a collaborative effort between the public and law enforcement to create a safer, more proactive society. His message underscores the idea that societal momentum towards progress or chaos is significantly influenced by individual actions and collective civil responsibility.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

Good to be here with this young, eager audience of Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering. It’s a privilege to be here among all the great achievers you have done. In fact, when the organizers met me, they said that the topic is “act,” and you have to speak on it. The first thing I said is, “I never acted, why are you calling me?” They said, “No, no, we have seen your videos here and there, and you should speak.”

The Essence of Action

In fact, the whole idea of doing this is to demystify a couple of things you have seen in the video and to put policing in proper perspective.

All through civilization, great people have acted. Fantastic people have acted. In times of crisis, they have acted. In times of need, they have acted. They made sure humanity progressed at a faster pace. And today, sitting here, we are enjoying the fruits of their labor. We feel very happy, very contented.

We feel very peaceful and very secure. But it is not necessary the world has progressed only because great people have acted. A lot of small people have done their part in making sure the civilization has progressed as a whole. So, today, I thought it’s a good idea to come before you and to share some experience from a force that I represent.

Perception of the Police Force

Normally, my force, the Indian Police Service, or the Indian police is generally known for its inaction. Sometimes for its action. But most of the time for not acting on time. We don’t hit the sweet spot correctly. Most of the blame, in fact, one of the participants when I was walking in, she was telling me, “I hate police generally, but you are an exception.” I said, “No, you are telling me only because I am here.”

Before getting into that, two things I have to talk to you in detail. Only then can we put things in the proper place. This perception the Indian police have got is something that all of us are trying our best to come out of it. Normally, you go to a movie, you see the bad fellow is always a cop. Maybe a pot-bellied cop. That is the kind of character the movie always plays. Before coming to the service, whenever I see a fat cop, I get very angry. I say, “Oh, look, this fellow must have taken a lot of money. He must be a corrupt fellow.”

Understanding the Challenges

That is why his belly is very fat. So, after getting into the service and working for about 7-8 years, then I understood the simple rule. This person is fat because he gets up at 5 o’clock in the morning, leaves his home at 6 o’clock, reaches the police station at 7:30, starts his daily duty at 8 o’clock, attends God knows how many work he has to attend per day. He has to manage traffic, he has to catch a criminal, he has to go to court, he has to attend the VVIP bandobasts in the hot sun and the pouring rain.

By the time the day closes at 10 o’clock, he reaches home at 11. The whole family is asleep. So, many cops keep complaining: “I never saw my son or daughter growing in front of me.” He eats at unhealthy times. Breakfast at 11 o’clock, lunch at 3:30, dinner at 11:30 at night. You do this for a month, then you will know how the pot belly automatically comes on. Because society puts so much responsibility on him.

ALSO READ: Transcript: Noam Chomsky on ChatGPT, AI, Universal Grammar, Language and Mind

That is some responsibility which he cannot meet in the first place. So, naturally, this perception, it took about 7 years to understand.

Second, if I ask you, how many of you believe a policeman is corrupt? I think many of you will raise your hand. But if I change the question a bit, if I tell you, how many of you personally experienced police corruption? Meaning, personally, you bribed a cop because you were overspeeding. Personally, you bribed a cop simply because you wanted things to be done at a fast pace. Maybe one-tenth of you might raise your hand.

The Reality of Policing

The reason all of you say the police are corrupt is that it’s a myth that is built into the whole system. That myth gets reinforced every time you go to a movie, every time you see a paper, every time you hear your friends talking about a cop. So, this is the perception I want to set before I get into my talk.

The second part, the knowledge part, the police force works with about 30% vacancy. It does all the job under the sky. So, in this, the policeman is expected to act. So, in fact, when the organizer is telling me, “You should talk something about your personal experience.” I said, “No, I will avoid it.” But still, you should speak.

Some of my personal experience could be, if you look at the social media channel, a couple of my videos are there. There is one video where a sub-inspector gets kind of house arrested, I go rescue him. And you say, “No, you have done good work, you acted.” But I say, “I am not proud of doing that.” Because a civil servant, by its very nature, he has to be a backroom boy. He can never come out in the open. He should always allow the system to take over.

Navigating Challenges with Strategy

The system should be so robust and fine. The system should function even for a rich person, even for a poor person. The system should not see, “Oh, you are influential, you are not so influential.” But many times when you go out, when you come in the open forum and treated as heroes, you feel very uncomfortable. The reason for that incident is, one day morning you get a call, they say you are, people have hijacked the sub-inspector, kept him in a house. Not every day morning you get a call like that. Maybe it is a bad morning for me. Maybe it is a unique morning for me.

You go to the spot, maybe after 40 minutes, you need that traveling time. By then there is a big mob, baying for his blood, very angry mob, emotional mob, the mob which cannot be controlled by reasoning with that mob. The sub-inspector is put in a house. People demand justice. You ask him, “What is the justice you want?”

The first thing they say is, “No, no, your sub-inspector’s car has touched my car.” And we asked him why. He said something. So, we have put him inside. And the funny part of the whole episode is, a lot of people who are witnessing the whole action, they have also become part of the mob.

So, it took a lot of effort. It is not necessary you go, you act immediately. But there are amazing people, as co-speakers have seen them. There is an 18-year-old person who says, “I have decided to act because the world is getting warmer every day.” There is a guy who has decided because I am going to do something, electrical car and bike, because again, a lot of pollution is happening. There is another speaker who says, “No, no, I am going to do something good because a lot of people need to have the communicating ability.”

Strategic Communication and Leadership

A lot of problems happen in life because people don’t communicate well. So, these are the so-called good people with whom we can reason out. So, with this mob, very specifically, you find a way to control this. You do the divide and rule. You find who is the weakest leader in the crowd. You attack him. You split the group. You find the opening. Then you search for the rational person and the tension when the action is on. You get that rational person. You build a mob so that he becomes the leader in the mob. You give him importance. You discredit the other leaders. You talk to him. You reason out to him. By the time the force comes, maybe another 10-20 minutes later, then you save the situation.

But why was I forced to act? Because the public chose not to act. Again, they say, there is another video of you on YouTube, on Facebook, in other social media, where in the pouring rain, you are there doing a service. No, I get paid for it. Every month I get my salary, and I am supposed to do that because I am a public servant. I have taken an oath on the national flag. But why were we supposed to go, maybe as a district head, in the pouring rain to go and save the situation?

ALSO READ: The Secret Life of Social Norms: Michele Gelfand (Transcript)

5000 vehicles stuck in a ghat because the ghat has, some mud has come in. It is blocked. Nobody wants to get out of the car. For the simple fact, if they get out, they get drenched. The public chose not to act, so we are forced to act. Generally, a public servant, if you look at it, most of the time, we are forced to act because the public chooses not to act. A policeman whom you see on the road, there is a population of about 1.2 crore in the city, with an unknown number of vehicles getting added every day.

So, navigating through this traffic is a big headache. And every time there is a 40 traffic car for a population of about 6 lakh, that guy comes out, he does his best to control it. But the citizens decide to do their own way. There is a traffic signal that is off, then the citizens behave differently. The signal is on, then they behave differently. So, in this age and time, it is very tough for a public servant to act. That is the rational thing I want to say. I have to give a small statistic.

Crime Statistics and Public Perception

Of late, people keep complaining. Crimes are increasing, crimes are increasing, we feel terrified. If you look at the data, if you slightly analyze why crimes are increasing, our country registers about 30 lakh crimes per year. That is the Indian Penal Code major crime. If you subdivide and analyze it, there are only certain crimes that are increasing. Murder is down, robbery is down, dacoity is down, all the important crimes are down.

But what are the crimes that are increasing? Rioting. Rioting is a very serious crime. A group of people in the name of an organization, in the name of a political party, they decide to take the law into their own hands, come out, create a ruckus in the public area, destroy private property. It is very tough to control.

Rioting is growing at a double-digit every year. Hate crimes. I don’t like it because your skin color is different, you come from a different part of India, you speak a language I don’t understand, you pray to God in a different way, I don’t pray to God in the same way, over which we keep fighting. We call that as hate crimes. Again, this is increasing. The past 10 years, the past 12 years.

The Role of Education in Society

But the point of the matter is, in an educated society, the more it is getting educated, it is supposed to progress. The crimes are supposed to come down. Especially this kind of crimes are supposed to come down. Unfortunately, this is not happening. When you just cross a road, there is a group of four people who create a ruckus. People don’t come out and ask them, why are you doing this? Why are you creating a ruckus? Why are you disturbing public peace?

Why are you blocking the road? If you don’t ask, that four becomes seven. The next car guy, the next bike guy chooses not to interfere. It becomes 15. The next guy also chooses to do the same. It becomes 50. By the time the police come to the spot, it is 100. So what happens?

The Impact of Citizen Inaction

It builds momentum of its own. Then you get into all these issues in society. Next, you will ask me, should we act every time? As a citizen, should I act every time I see that? So that you don’t choose to act? No, I am not meaning to say every time you decide to act. In fact, the greatest of the American presidents, Abraham Lincoln, if you look at the history slightly behind, maybe 1861, 1862 when the Civil War was out there.

If you look at the American papers of that time, everybody criticized the president for not acting. They said, you are too slow. You are not sending the forces faster to the southern part of America. You are not changing your general. You are fighting a losing war. These are the kind of paper headlines New York Times, Washington Post had a long time back. Later if you analyze Abraham Lincoln’s history now as a president, we are unanimous in telling him he was the greatest of presidents. Because many a time, Mr. Lincoln knew when to act, when not to act.

ALSO READ: Transcript of Decoding China's Economy: Present and Future at WEF Annual Meeting 2025

Encouraging Proactive Citizenship

There are many issues that die of their own. When we act, we complicate it. It goes slightly beyond control, and we need to put too much effort to control it. I am not asking all of you as citizens to act, act, act. But simple things you can do in life. We have a traffic eye for Bengaluru city. You see a small traffic violation, just take a picture, put it in the app, it comes to us. Without even we contacting you, based on the picture, we will make sure that particular person who has made a mistake will face the music of the law. But small citizens, ordinary people like us, millions of us, when we choose not to act even for a simple reason, what happens? It builds momentum of its own.

Second, Twitter. Recently, we all have seen a tweeted image of constable of Uttar Pradesh. You must have seen a week back. Sitting in a police station, having a six-month-old baby next to her. She was doing her police work in uniform. It became so viral last week.

The Power of Social Media

It forced the Director-General of Police, Uttar Pradesh police, to act. After seeing all those images, to call the lady, talk to that lady personally, and to transfer her to the place of her choice and to make sure she is comfortable with her husband and with her parents. Because many a time as citizens, you see a good thing happening outside. All you have to do is take a picture, tweet it. You might not understand. Does my tweet have power? Because everybody criticizes you. This younger generation is into tweeting, is into Facebook, is into this, that.

Yes, that is a sign of times. We can’t do that. We are growing with technology. But many a time we can use the technology for a productive purpose. A single, the Arab rebellion, it started because one fellow chose to commit self-immolation in Tunisia. He said, “My government is corrupt. I am going to commit suicide.” Yes. But look at the spark it generated. It just went about seven, ten countries it went. Only because Twitter was active, certain social media were active, citizens chose to act instead of waiting for anybody to come. That is my only hope and wish.

The Role of the Youth in Society

A public servant is always a backroom boy. He is not supposed to come out. If he comes out, if his video comes out, he is seen in action. Which means, those are all preventable causes. Maybe. It is not prevented, he is supposed to come out. So, this younger generation, amazing generation, fantastic generation. I am meaning this because you are the very few fortunate people in this country’s history.

You are at the right time in India’s right progress. Maybe if you are 30 years before, you must be in the age-old state-controlled times. All we are searching for RBI job, searching for a police job. Maybe if you are 50 years later, you might be in the same Japanese model. Old people. Maybe the economy is not doing that great. You are right then in the best of times. Very few people have this opportunity.

Conclusion and Call to Action

It is an opportunity for you to control the space you live in. Make sure your public service works to your best, to your optimum level. And I hope and pray this generation who is here will do that, will achieve that. And make sure you stand hands with us. We will act. But many a time you blame us for inaction because by the time we come there, things are beyond our control. It has achieved momentum of its own. So, let us not allow that to happen, the citizens of Bengaluru and everybody around the globe.

So, act when you are required to act so that the public servant is forced not to act. For the whole greater benefit of the society. I wish you the very best and may God be with you whatever you want to do in life. Thank you so much.