The Hindu Business Line : Kolkata’s concern

On Monday a blind man was “kicked and abused” by a bus conductor who did not want him on the vehicle. He wanted to board the bus but his way was blocked by the conductor with the result that he had to hang on precariously while the driver stepped on the gas. As he said later: “I repeatedly asked the conductor to stop beating me as I would get off after two stops. But he did not relent and tried to push me off at the next halt. When I protested, he again t hrashed me and then hurled me down on the road near the Mint”.

Violent behaviour

The day before, a woman who wanted to get down from a bus at a particular stop had to suffer fate at the hands of another conductor. First, the conductor did not halt the vehicle at the stop the woman wanted to alight and, secondly, turned violent when she was getting down two stops later, where the bus stopped. In her words: “I had climbed down to the third step when I felt a kick on may back. Followed soon by another. I turned around and pulled the conductor’s bag. It fell and all the coins scattered.”

On September 5, a college teacher was hit by a bus conductor because he protested against the way the bus was being driven. As he said, there was no problem till the point where more people usually boarded the vehicle than got off. But after crossing that point, the driver, goaded on by the conductor, started speeding recklessly. The teacher and a few other passengers asked the driver to go slow but no attention was paid to this. When the teacher wanted to get off at his stop, his way was blocked and invectives were hurled at him. When the teacher pulled the stop-bell, the driver slowed down a bit. As he said: “As soon as I stepped on to the sideboard, the conductor pushed me hard. I lost my balance and fell off the vehicle.”

Not really public-minded

The striking thing about all these three events (among the countless others that occur daily but go unreported) is that the buses in all the three cases were crowded. In other words, if they had so wished, the other passengers could have easily over-powered the errant conductors and handed them over to the police. This did not happen. What this emphasises is that ordinary citizens are reluctant to involve themselves in issues like these because they are not public-minded beyond a point. Certainly, they will discuss the events when they appear in the newspapers the next morning but would not like to take any action when they see such things happening before their eyes.

Issue to be ADDRESSED

One wonders whether this is happening specifically in Kolkata or whether it is a part of life in every other place in the world. Those who protest are always in a minority, and it is because of the protest that the world comes to know of the incident. But the more important point, to this writer at least, is the strength derived by the anti-social elements involved to do whatever they are doing with increasing impunity — even to the extent of hitting a blind person! This is the point of concern that needs to be addressed seriously, certainly by the people of Kolkata. Is the police becoming mere spectators (barring honourable, but increasingly rare, exceptions), or is lawlessness becoming the rule in society?

RANABIR RAY CHOUDHURY

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