In the grand theatre of Punjab politics, where every week brings a new episode of shock, suspense, and selective outrage, the suspension of IPS officer Maninder Singh has arrived as the season’s most entertaining twist. According to the government, the officer failed to act against gangsters. According to the public, gangsters are everywhere. And according to the gangsters, “Bhai, we didn’t even know we were supposed to be caught this week!”
The government presented the suspension as a brave strike against inefficiency, but it looked more like a rehearsed scene — the kind where the hero shouts “No laxity will be tolerated!” while the background dancers forget their steps. Meanwhile, officers who have been chasing criminals day and night watched the drama and whispered, “If this is what happens to those who work hard, we should start taking chai breaks more seriously.”
Interestingly, Maninder Singh’s record shows encounters, arrests, and continuous pressure on gangs. But in Punjab’s political circus, results matter less than timing. And the timing of this suspension — coming right after an election — was so perfect that even Bollywood directors took notes. If awards were given for political choreography, this move would surely win “Best Post-Poll Performance.”
Sources inside the police say there were internal disagreements, tactical differences, and maybe even a few bruised egos. In other words: the usual ingredients of any Punjabi office fight, except this one ended with a suspension letter instead of a sarcastic WhatsApp message. Some say he pushed too hard. Others say he didn’t push in the direction the government wanted. As always, the public says, “Bas, show us the next episode.”
The funniest part is how the entire system pretends that removing one officer will suddenly make gangsters disappear. If only criminals respected transfers and suspensions the way government employees do, Punjab would have been crime-free long ago. Sadly, gangsters do not read government orders — or maybe they do, but unlike officers, they don’t wait for instructions before taking action.
As Maninder Singh sits in “headquarters arrest” — the DGP office, also known as the bureaucratic waiting room of forgotten souls — the political leaders proudly announce that they have acted decisively. Meanwhile, we all wait to see who the next line of fire will hit. Because in the land of performance politics, it’s never about solving problems; it’s about finding a new scapegoat for the week.
At the end of the day, the suspension tells us only one thing: in Punjab, the battle against gangsters may be tough, but the battle of narratives is even tougher. And in that battle, the truth is often suspended — just like the officers.