Monday, November 14, 2011

KERALA: IN NEED OF SOME COURTSEY

Kerala, the southern most State of India is endowed with natural beauty in order to claim in the tourist brochures as ' God's own country'.The indices on child mortality, general health care and living standard are too not bad. It is also from this Indian state that highest number of persons go for work in abroad especially to Gulf counties. Although there is still poverty at the lowest level, people generally have cash to spend and the Mobile phone density is one of the highest in India. The youngsters are just awaiting to buy the newest models as they hit the market.

Now let us go to a news report of a tragic death of an young man, named Shaheed Bava last Wednesday. He was hailing from Cheruvady, near Mukkam, employed in the Gulf,  he was on leave here. It is said that he was frequenting a house where only two women resided and the local youngsters had  warned him not to visit there again. However the locals found him there again on the fateful night last Wednesday. Messages flew back and forth from the Mobles and within no time there was a sizable crowd there in the night.They tied him to a tree and started beating even with iron rods. He became unconscious and blood was oozing from all over the body. On hearing the incident the relatives of the poor young man reached on the spot and they tried to take him to the Hospital. The angry mob did not allow it and he layed there nearly for two hours on the road before Police came and rescued the young man to the Hospital where he died on Sunday in coma.

A similar incident took place in a bus in central Kerala. A young man was accused as pickpocket in the bus and he was beaten to death on the spot.

On reading all these if you thought that the people of kerala are impeccable moralists there is another think coming. Know that Kerala is almost a foremost State in India for child  sex abuse and women sex trafficking. People indulge in secret affairs and then come out in the open and vent their guilt-consceince on an hapless, less clever persons, a moral policing to escape from their own guilt.

Then it would be thought that the people in kerala have quick response and initiative on events taking place around them. I wish they had. Kerala is densely vehicle-populated State with notoriously bad roads, as such, road accidents are a daily event ( also first in number of accidents ) and people laying in a pool of blood on the road are a frequent sight.

There, at the accident site, a huge crowd  would be standing around the unfortunate accident victim  without doing nothing to help the person lying in need of immediate  hospitalization. The crowd, some talking in a hushed voice, some pensively looking at the poor man on the road or some taking photos of the blood-bathed person. But no one would take the initiative to take him to the hospital and  a police team has to arrive from far off places to do that. Many accident victims die just because they were not brought to hospital in time.

The favorite cuisines for the crowd are sex offenders and pick pockets and once any unfortunate one was caught  the mob would  ensure that the person did not see the next sunrise.

On reading all  these, do not jump to a conclusion that the poeple of Kerala are all some sort of brutes or aborigines. Instead, individually all persons are nice and good to deal with.like anywhere in the world but collectively they are a different entity and a very dangerous, merciless entity at that.

  This trend started recently, after economic progress and it raises a question whether economic progress has hidden dangers like this.



2 comments:

TPShukooR said...

Shaheed bava was my friend and neighbour. I don't know what to tell. What a brutality! I have heard the word 'mob psychology'. But didn't think it would have been this much cruel. Anyway, no comments can bring back the life gone. The incident was condemnable and could have avoided at least if the angry mob allowed the police to take him hospital on time.

Your article is relevant and timely.

V.M.S. said...

I am sorry to read that Shaheed Bava was your friend and neighbor as you must be be experiencing the sorrow and anger doubly.

The post I wrote was the child of my own spontaneous reaction on reading the news.

Kerala has become a spoilt child of sort.

Thank you for the comments,Shukur.