The beauty of our Indian democratic system is: the moment you feel proud of it, you will see a thousand reasons to be ashamed of. And if you are ever ashamed of it, you will have another ten thousand reasons to be proud of the system! Today, when I went through the 18 pages of HT, I got three interesting news to prove this:
Incident 1:
In Yavatmal, Maharastra, the district police has been allegedly harassing a taxi driver and had filed a few false cases against him. The taxi driver was in a helpless situation. He came to know that a state minister, who hailed from his district, was coming to hoist the national flag on 15th of August at Yavatmal. The taxi driver reached the venue. This was full and final attempt from his part. He was so serious about his plans and future, that he took a bottle of poison with him. But the police prevented him from meeting the minister. Seeing his efforts to meet the minister turning futile, he consumed poison in front of the minister. He was rushed to the district hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Incident 2:
A state minister's car ran over a 60 years old lady who was crossing the road. She died on the spot. After the accident, the minister left the accident site on another car! Later, villagers blocked the traffic on Nagpur - Umrer road. The police arrested the minister's driver.
Incident 3:
At a legislator's residence, his supporters were bursting crackers on the eve of his birthday. It was already midnight. A police patrol party arrived and asked the legislator and his supporters not to burst crackers at this time of night. The supporters misbehaved with the police party. Then the police commissioner arrived, and arrested the legislator. The MLA tried to resist his arrest violently. Then, the commissioner allegedly shoved a revolver in the legislator's mouth and beat him up before arresting him. The legislator spent his night in the intensive care unit of a hospital! Next morning, he was produced before a court, and was released on bail.
The third incident makes things even for an optimist, and proves the assertions at the beginning of this article. Here are some conclusions:
Many a time, even life saving drugs are sold fake in India, but the poisons are always genuine!
It is easiest for the aam-aadami to protest violently on the roads, and vandalize public property, because they are rarely honoured and graced with the opportunity to see and talk to their own representatives.
There is still some amount of Bollywood remaining inside the Police Inspectors.
If you thought such incidents happened in Bihar and UP alone, get your facts right. All these three incidents have happened in Maharastra.
To: *@hindustantimes.com, *@hindustantimes.com
CC: *@hindustantimes.com
Sub: Letter to Editor
Dear Sir,
This is with reference to the report in HT (Cabbie kills self in front of minister, by Pradip Maitra, Page 7, 17 Aug, 2007). It was so sad that the cabbie had to resort to such extreme step in frustration of not being able to meet the minister. Indian democracy is so screwed up that the aam aadami has to resort to threats and vandalism just in order to see his representatives! Or should I say mai-baap?
Yours truly,
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