An example, stupid

Much passion has been spent denouncing IG Rajendra Kumar, the Madhya Pradesh IPS officer who has used Ajmal Kasab as an example to psyche up 150-odd policemen. Kumar himself has denied “praising” Kasab. In his defence, he claims to have used Kasab only as an instrument of motivation, and his other examples — like Sachin Tendulkar’s — were ignored. News TV made its pitch shrill. The Congress, the main opposition party in the state, asked the MP government to punish Kumar. The state government appears to have obliged.
Let’s forget Kumar for a while and ponder how the terms “example”, “inspiration” and “emulation” mutually differ. In a context such as Kumar’s, an example serves an illustrative purpose. Inspiration provides intellectual and emotional stimulation. Emulation, meanwhile, means what it usually does — imitation of the aspects or actions of another. Unless specified to the contrary, an illustration, a source of inspiration, an object of emulation, need not imply holistic dimensions. A part, or parts, of the whole may suffice. So if Kumar asks policemen, with unenviable challenges ahead, to learn from Kasab’s speedy acquisition of skills or passion for a cause, he need not be asking them to run amok in our streets.