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Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Lawless in India
Reagarding my earlier post about an incident in Bangalore, Vikram Goyal writes in:
I am surprised that you are surprised that this kind of thing happened in Bangalore. Surely, you would realize that something like this can occur anywhere in India. I have spent 4 years in Bihar, 2 in Mumbai, 6 months in Bangalore and about 18 years in North India and I can say with a fair amount of conviction that Bangalore or Bihar, India is the same everywhere and this is what maddens me the most.The last of those questions sums it all up, doesn't it?
Once, while travelling from Agra to Delhi on a train, I got robbed of all the money in my pocket (approx. US$ 800 + Rs 2000). The culprits? Guards of the Railway Protection Force (or is it the Railway Police Force?). I was recently overseas returned, full of optimism for my future in the country, carrying a laptop and wearing shorts and sandals; in short, a safe, naive and stupid target. They gheroed me (There were 5 gun-toting constables), threatened me, demanded my passport, threw away my laptop and in short almost pushed me off the running train till I agreed to hand over the money.
What could I do? Could I complain? To whom? The Police? The Railways? The same people who robbed me?
