Saturday

Fallen Humanity – TN sets an example.

People of Tamilnadu witnessed a shocking incident a week ago in which a police Sub-Inspector was brutally killed by gangsters. This incidence shook the entire country not only because it happened in broad daylight, but also because this incident unfolded in front of two Tamilnadu ministers who were passing by. It was also the first time our north Indian media has done some justice their  work by bringing a shame to center stage. This cold blooded murder happened in Alwarkurichi near Thirunelveli minutes before the convoy of health minister MRK Panneerselvam and environment minister TPM Mohideen Khan reached the spot. After all, this was a murder of mistaken identity as the gangsters meant to kill another policeman Sivasubramanian but unfortuantely ended up in killing a sub-inspector Vetrivel.

I don’t want to analyze why this murder took place, but I would like to analyse how humanity failed when this bloody event unfolded in front of as many as 50 people. The gangters hurled a bomb on R. Vetrivel who was riding a motor bike. The 44-year old policeman’s leg was chopped off in the blast, and the gangsters moved swiftly to inflict more injuries to him using thier knives. Vetrivel was left lying on a pool of blood crying for help after the gangsters fled the scene.

A government convoy passed by this part of Tirunelvelli which included two state ministers – for Sports and Health. The convoy stopped. Now one cannot guess what these ministers did . Neither of the ministers step out of their cars. Along with them there were bureaucrats as well – a Collector and a Health Secretary.

The Collector, M Jayaraman, finally got out of his car after ten minutes. But nobody offered to take the wounded inspector to hospital. The Collector called the ambulance but the ambulance did not arrive.

During these dying minutes, Vetrivel was conscious of what was happeing and looking forward for some help. The climax of this incident was, Vetrivel asks for water and one compassionate (rather cruel) person pours down water  from the top assuming a safe distance from the wounded in fear that he may get the blood strain. I wonder how a terribly injured person of this scale can drink water  poured from such a height.  I presume even Christ had a better treatment when he asked for water during crucification.

Twenty minutes later, the cop was taken in one of the cars (not the minister’s). The policeman finally died on the way to the hospital.
Though this incident sparked a huge furor as the North-Indian media were continuously telecasting this fallen or failed humanity , the ministers did not care for any criticism. When Jayalalitha demanded resignation of these ministers, the ruling party was trying to save the ministers comparing the incident to Kumbakonam tragedy in which 100 people died. Apparently Kumbakonam tragedy was caused by Jayalalitha’s attendence in a function long time ago.

This is was not the first time that a policeman was killed by gangsters. In earlier incidents, Sivakasi SI Ayyapalam was killed by rowdies 20 years ago, Abhiramam SI Subramaniam was killed by robbers in Ramanathapuram district in 2006 and constable Selvaraj was killed in Coimbatore during the communal violence in 1997. However, number of common people who are killed by paid gangsters in Tamilnadu is far more higher. In most of the cases, people were killed in the broad daylight and also in the middle of many surrounding witnesses.

Now I would like to brief on the tendency of people who witness these brutal murders. In 2001, on a busy main road in north Chennai, I witnessed a group of people chasing a man with iron rods, sickles and long knives. The running man was hit on the legs by the iron rod and the man fell to the ground. In a few seconds, the gangsters sliced and pierced the man’s body with deadly weapons. As the main aim of this gang was to kill the man, they made sure that the man does not survive the attack. As soon as this incident happened, surprisingly the first thing I saw was, the shutters of all shops closing and all people fleeing the site. In a jiffy, the gangsters fled in an autorickshaw and the only people left on the road was myself and the victim. There was not a single person who offered help to take the victim to the hospital. I could confirm that the man was dead as his head was chopped off and his brain was out of his skull. I do not want to narrate what happened after this. Later I understood why all shop keepers closed the shutters. They were in fear that police may ask for an eye witness to the murder. This is one such incident and there are many incidents happenning every day in Tamilnadu which involves accidents or murders in public.

Now we could realise why tamil people were not affected by the genocide which took place in our neigbourhood. People are so much self-centred that they are not bothered about anything unless the tragedy happens to themselves. They are so busy with mega serials, cricket, business, shopping, spiritual tours, etc and therefore have less time to wait and watch a tragedy which unfolds in front of their eyes. I am not blaming the ministers alone who watched the police personal massacred, but also the people who were watching him die. Not a sinlge soul wanted to help the cop and this exibits the collective mentality of the people in Tamilnadu. If people are not united to save their own race, their own brethren, then they have to understand that they pave way to the graveyard for themselves. Because this may happen to them as well at any point of time. If we have to live with security, then we have to prove that we care for other’s security too. This common caring human tendency will certainly mitigate the miseries of people around and also lay a strong foundation for better living of mankind.

Our concerned ministers are not going to resign from the posts as they have spent a lot for getting a seat in the berth. They simply have removed their compassion out from the hearts just before they stepped in as ministers. At least we common people should develop an attitude to help people in crisis. We should understand that we failed to save thousands of people who died during the final phase of Eelam war. We are morally responsible for not stopping this genocide as we did not do enough agitation or protest believing that our political leaders will solve the issue. Now we could understand that these politicians will not help us as they are only concerned about their own safety and not the safety of the people. It is high time that we need to think what’s stopping us from helping people in crisis. We have to handle a situation like this ourselves and prove that we indeed have a social / human responsibility.

My heart melts and five senses trembles whenever I hear a cry next door – Saint Vallalar.