Tender Tears

Police officer Charu Sharma briefly became India’s favourite person after footage of her emerged wiping away a tear after standing up to a crowd and the blustering, bullying Radha Mohan Agarwal, BJP MLA from Gorakhpur, home turf of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Sharma later claimed on Facebook that her tears were the product of tenderness, not weakness, that she was touched by a senior officer who stood by her as Agarwal waved his finger in high dudgeon. Agarwal refuses to apologise. You can’t blame him. In his world, being a jerk is how politicians distinguish themselves from the little people.