t
iran Bedi (born 9 June 1949) is an Indian social activist and a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
Bedi joined the police service in 1972 and became the first woman officer in the IPS.
Bedi held the post of Director General at the Bureau of Police Research and Development before she voluntarily retired from the IPS in December 2007.
Bedi was the host and judge of the popular TV series "Aap Ki Kachehri"
(English, "Your Court"), which is based on real-life disputes and
provides a platform for settling disputes between consenting parties.
She has also founded two NGOs in India: the Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation for welfare and preventative policing in 1988
which was later renamed as the Navjyoti India Foundation in 2007, and
the India Vision Foundation for prison reformation, drug abuse
prevention and child welfare in 1994.
Bedi was awarded Ramon Magsaysay award in 1994 for Government service.
Kiran Bedi was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India.
She is the second of four daughters of Prakash Peshawaria and Prem
Peshawaria. Her three sisters are; Shashi, an artist settled in Canada,
Reeta, a clinical psychologist and writer, and Anu, a lawyer.
She attended the Sacred Heart Convent School, Amritsar, where she joined the National Cadet Corps(NCC). She took up tennis, a passion she inherited from her father, a tennis player.
She won the Junior National Lawn Tennis Championship in 1966, the Asian
Lawn Tennis Championship in 1972, and the All-India Interstate Women's
Lawn Tennis Championship in 1976.
In addition, she also won the All-Asian Tennis Championship, and won the Asian Ladies Title at the age of 22.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English (Hons.) from the Government College for Women, Amritsar in 1968. She then earned a Master’s degree in Political Science from Punjab University, Chandigarh, graduating at the top of her class in 1970. She later obtained Bachelor of Laws in 1988 from Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. In 1993, she obtained a Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the Department of Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi,
where the topic of her thesis was 'Drug Abuse and Domestic Violence'.
In 1972, Kiran Bedi married Brij Bedi,
a textile machine manufacturer whom she met at the Amritsar tennis
courts. Neither of them were particularly religious, so they married in a
quasi-religious ceremony at a local Shiva temple.
Three years later, in 1975, they had daughter Saina, who is now also
involved in community service. In one of her lectures to a corporate
meeting, Kiran Bedi expressed her belief that everyone in society has an
important role to play which will enable others to fulfill their duties
(or important tasks), quoting the example of her uneducated housemaid
whose help in Bedi's daily household work had helped Bedi to complete an
important task of writing a book.
Education
She did her schooling from the Sacred Heart Convent School in Amritsar.
She completed her graduation in the English language from the Government
College for Women in Amritsar. She received her Masters degree in Political
Science from Punjab University, Chandigarh. She continued her studies,
even when she joined the Indian Police force. In the year 1988, she obtained
a degree in Law (LLB) from Delhi University.
In the year 1993, the Department of Social Sciences, the Indian Institute
of Technology in New Delhi awarded her with a Ph.D. degree. Her topic
of research was Drug Abuse and Domestic Violence. Kiran Bedi has won the
championship of all-India and all-Asian tennis competition. When she was
22 years old, she won the Asian Ladies Title.
Career
She began her career as a Lecturer in Political Science (1970–72) at Khalsa College for Women, Amritsar. In July 1972, she joined the Indian Police Service, becoming the first woman to do so.
Bedi joined the police service "because of [her] urge to be outstanding"
She served in a number of tough assignments ranging from New Delhi traffic postings, Deputy Inspector General of Police in Mizoram, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of Chandigarh, Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau, to a United Nations delegation, where she became the Civilian Police Advisor in United Nations peacekeeping operations.
For her work in the UN, she was awarded a UN medal.
She is popularly referred to as
Crane Bedi for towing the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's car for a parking violation,
during the PM's tour of United States at the time.
Kiran Bedi influenced several decisions of the Indian Police Service, particularly in the areas of narcotics control, Traffic management, and VIP security. During her stint as the Inspector General of Prisons, in Tihar Jail
(Delhi) (1993–1995), she instituted a number of reforms in the
management of the prison, and initiated a number of measures such as
detoxification programs, Art of Living Foundation Prison Courses,
yoga, vipassana meditation, Murat redressing of complaints by prisoners and literacy programs.
[16] For this she won the 1994 Ramon Magsaysay Award, and the 'Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship', to write about her work at Tihar Jail.
She was last appointed as Director General of India's Bureau of Police Research and Development.
In May 2005, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Law in recognition of her “humanitarian approach to prison reforms and policing”.
On 27 November 2007, she expressed her wish to voluntarily retire
from the police force to undertake new challenges in life. On 25
December 2007, the Government of India agreed to relieve Bedi of her
duties as Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and
Development.
Lokpal Movement
Kiran Bedi is one of the prominent members of the India Against Corruption (IAC) along with Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal. IAC has been actively protesting against corruption and is urging the government of India to enact a strong Lokpal Bill.
On August 16, 2011, Key members of the India Against Corruption
including Bedi were arrested four hours before the planned indefinite
hunger strike by Hazare.
However, Bedi and other activist were later released in the evening same day.
After twelve days of protests and many discussions between the
government and the activists, Parliament passed a resolution to consider
three points in drafting of Lokpal bil.
Honours and Awards
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wards
For her outstanding work, Kiran Bedi has received a number of accolades
like:
- President's Gallantry Award (1979)
- Women of the Year Award (1980)
- Asia Region Award for Drug Prevention and Control (1991)
- Magsaysay Award for Government Service (1994)
- Mahila Shiromani Award (1995)
- Father Machismo Humanitarian Award (1995)
- Lion of the Year (1995)
- Joseph Beuys Award (1997)
- Pride of India (1999)
- Mother Teresa Memorial National Award for Social Justice (2005)
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Year |
Name of Award or Honor |
Awarding Organization |
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2011 |
Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar |
Indian Institute of Planning and Management |
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2011 |
MSN Most Admired Indian Female Icon 2011 |
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2011 |
Avicenna Leadership Award 2011 |
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2010 |
Tarun Kranti Puraskar - 2010 in Women Empowerment Category |
Tarun Award Council |
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2010 |
Kalpana Chawla Excellence Awards 2010 |
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2010 |
The 9th Annual Academy Award |
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2010 |
Global Trail Blazer Award |
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2010 |
STAR Parivaar Awards |
STAR Plus |
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2009 |
Arch Bishop Benedict Mar Gregorius Award- 2009 |
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2009 |
Women Excellences Awards |
Aaaj Tak |
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2009 |
Certificate of Recognition, Los Angeles, State of California |
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2009 |
Indo- American |
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2008 |
Pride Of Punjab |
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2008 |
The Indian society of Criminology |
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2008 |
Lifetime Achievement Awards |
Bank of Baroda |
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2007 |
Suryadatta National Award |
Suryadatta Group of Institutes |
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2007 |
Baba Farid Award |
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2007 |
Amity Woman Achiever for Social Justice |
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2007 |
Public Service Excellence Award |
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2007 |
Zee Astitva Award |
Zee TV |
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2005 |
Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice |
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2005 |
Transformative Leadership in the Indian Police Service |
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2005 |
FICCI Award |
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2004 |
United Nations Medal |
United Nations |
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2002 |
Woman of the Year Award |
Blue Drop Group Management, Cultural and Artistic Association, Italy. |
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2001 |
Morrison Tom Gitchoff Award |
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1999 |
Bharat Gaurav Award |
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1999 |
Pride of India Award |
American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) |
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1999 |
Serge Sotiroff Award (UNDCP) |
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1998 |
ACCU-IEF Award |
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1997 |
Fourth Joseph Beuys Award |
Germany |
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1995 |
Lion of the Year |
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1995 |
Father Machismo Humanitarian Award |
Don Bosco Shrine Office, Bombay-India |
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1995 |
Mahila Shiromani Award |
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1994 |
Magsaysay Award |
Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation |
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1992 |
International Woman Award |
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1991 |
Asia Region Award for Drug Prevention and Control |
International Organisation of Good Templars (IOGT), Norway |
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1981 |
Women of the Year Award |
National Solidarity Weekly, India |
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1979 |
President’s Gallantry Award |
President of India | |
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In films and literat
A non fiction feature film on Kiran Bedi's life, Yes Madam, Sir,
has been produced by Australian film maker, Megan Doneman. This film is
being screened in film festivals around the world. Its commentator is
an Academy Award winner, Helen Mirren.
Kiran Bedi was present during its screenings in Toronto, Dubai and
Adelaide, and to address the Q&A sessions at the end of each show.
The documentary has made a clean sweep of the award
categories---“Best Documentary” with a cash award of $100,000, the
biggest prize for a documentary in any film festival in the US and the
Social Justice Award with $2500 at Santa Barbara International Film
Festival. Yes Madam, Sir got a unanimous vote from the jury.
In 2006, Norwegian Mpower Film & Media and film maker Oystein
Rakkenes released another documentary on Bedi and her prison revolution
in Tihar Central Jail, In Gandhi's footsteps. The film was awarded Best Documentary at the Indo-American Film Festival in Atlanta, in November 2006.
Kiran Bedi also became host in 2009–10 on the TV show Aap Ki Kachehri Kiran Ke Saath on Star Plus.
Biographies of Bedi:
- I dare!: Kiran Bedi : a biography by Parmesh Dangwal
- Kiran Bedi, the kindly baton by Meenakshi Saxena
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Kiran Bedi: The game changer
From being a tennis champion to a top police officer to a woman who
fights selflessly for the greater good, 62-year-old social activist
Kiran Bedi has stepped beyond the traditional role of the perfect wife
and mother and set a benchmark of courage for women in a deeply
patriarchal society. Never one to mince words, her fearless spirit has
attracted awe and fear in equal measure from those in power (often men).
In recent times, she has seen the wrath of Parliament after her
controversial, and rather animated ghoongat act, raising her voice
agianst the hypocrisy of its members. While most people, clearly
shocked, questioned her irresponsible behaviour as a public figure, she
defends herself by saying that, "It was the frustration of the youth
that I voiced that day."
The activism demonstrated by the youth
in their movement against corruption, renews her belief that the people
of this country are clear about what they want. "Now people are looking
for value-based politics. Substance is coming back to centre-stage," she
claims.
In October 2010, civil society activist, Arvind Kejriwal
came to her and invited her to join the fight against corruption. First
off, he wanted to expose the corruption in the CWG Organising
Committee, and Bedi jumped in without any hesitation. "He came to me
with evidence and asked me if we could file a first information report.
And I thought, if we can file one for a small theft, why can't we do it
when our country is being plundered," says the Delhi-based Bedi.
Almost
a year later, the question has turned into a neo-nationalist movement
which jolted Parliament as much as it did the people of this country,
resurrecting their faith in democracy. "We were just two people then,
and now we've grown to two million," she says with child-like
exuberance.
Bedi with Anna Hazare at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan
The
Jan Lokpal Bill, drafted by India Against Corruption, a forum
consisting of civil society activists, aims at providing grievance
redressal forums to the citizens of this country who are victims of
corruption. It's no wonder that the movement touched a chord with Bedi,
who believes that legal literacy in the country is almost negligible.
She
should know, having been the host of the popular TV show, Aap Ki
Kachehri, she moved justice out of courtrooms and provided a forum for
people to solve issues such as domestic violence, adoption and property
disputes in a quick and simple way. "We need more interesting forums
like that to make justice more accessible so that it iseasier for people
to understand their laws," she says.
Social justice is what
drives Bedi. With a keen sense of right and wrong, her entire life has
been one long fight against injustice. "She's a highly motivated woman
who always wanted to do something different," says husband and fellow
social activist, Brij Bedi, who is based out of Amritsar. Just as
unconventional as her, he lent his unconditional support to her
ambitions. "I knew what kind of a person I was getting married to and
her work for the nation and society make me very proud," he says.
From
fighting corruption in sports back in the 1970s up to now, Bedi has
never feared authority and always stood for what she believes is right.
Being the first woman to join the Indian Police Service, she also became
the highest-ranking woman official in the nation's history, changing
the dynamics of power in the force.
From
1972, when she joined the force, to when she became the Delhi traffic
police chief, earning her the nickname, 'Crane' Bedi, till the time she
took voluntary retirement in 2007 as director general of Bureau of
Police Research and Development Cell, she changed everything she took
charge of. One of the first police officers to introduce prison reforms
in India, her humanitarian work in improving the condition of prisoners
in Tihar jail won her the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994.
"More
than a moment of victory, it reinstated my belief in my work. That award
gave my work the acceptance and respect it deserved," says Bedi, who
believes that receiving the honour was the turning point of her life,
where, "the cynical part of our community finally came out to support
me." This was the time she realised that an international recognition is
the only way to be taken seriously in India.
"Even though the
global community recognised my work, the police force that I served so
diligently has never given me a merit certificate. The play of politics
is unavoidable in any structure," she says. Her exemplary work in the
force caught the attention of a young woman, Megan Doneman, an
Australian filmmaker, who came to visit her in 1998, with a proposal to
make a documentary on her life.
"She literally followed me
around while making this film," says Bedi. Yes Madam, Sir was screened
at several international film festivals . "Once the film was made,
tables were turned. I started follow-ing Megan around, wherever she
screened it," she says laughing.
Closer home, another person who
quietly derives inspiration from her life is daughter Saina, 36. A
social activist by profession, she says her mother is "the most focused
and determined person I have met." Not always around to give her life
lessons in person, "she taught me right from wrong by the way she
conducted her life," says Saina.
A
simple person with limited needs, Bedi taught her daughter to be
content and grateful for what life had offered her-lessons learnt from
her own upbringing. "We fought like everyone else. Sometimes she was
very strict and sometimes she was not there, but all the while, I knew
when I really needed my mother, she would be there for me," says Saina,
who has no regrets about the limited time she spent with her mother
during her childhood.
Bedi made sure her family understood that
duty towards her nation was a lot more important than the one towards
her family. "There were situations when my duty called and my family
took a back seat. But when Saina really needed me around, there was no
question of work taking priority," says Bedi. The fact that her family
was always "non-complaining," says Bedi, is what helped her achieve what
she set out to do. "I have an understanding family, so I made the most
of my life," she says.
Bedi left the force before her term was
over "because I realised that I was limited in the force. I wanted to do
a lot more for society," she says. As a result, she founded two
NGOs-Navjyoti, through which she has worked extensively in the areas of
drug abuse and community education and placements; and Safer India,
which aims to curb crime by working for prison reforms and empowerment
of women.
"I realised the power of an NGO. I could work on my
own terms and get results that are far more extensive than when I was
limited by the system," says Bedi. The success of Anna's fast has only
made her convictions stronger as she gears up to reform the nation.
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The Motivating
Bedi
Dr. Kiran Bedi has
hit the headlines once again. This time with her third
book on social awakening-What Went Wrong? Published
by UBS Publishers Distributors.What Went Wrong is a
Unique collection of uncensored narrations volunteered
by individuals who had nothing to declare but their
wrong past. The real life experiences provide readers
a close insight into lives they may otherwise ignore,
be unaware of or have no access to. Being the first
woman IPS officer and a recipient of the Ramon
Magsaysay Award. Kiran has been a path breaker in
prison reforms, community policing, crime prevention
on strategies, drug abuse treatment, spirituality in
policetraining and schooling of street children. Raj
Mohan Gandhi called it a motivational book when he
released it last month. Motivational it is bound to
be, for isn't Dr. Kiran Bedi a great motivator
herself?
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