URGENT!! (fwd)

[Guest guest]

Michael Tandy

Staff Associate, Language Learning Center

Dept. of Asian Languages and Literature

University of Washington

 

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------

AFP <C-afp

Newsgroups: clari.world.asia.india, clari.news.law_enforce,

clari.world.asia+oceania, clari.news.issues, clari.news.issues.misc

India's "brat pack" under attack for rising crime

 

(FEATURE) by Abhik Kumar Chanda

 

NEW DELHI, Feb 2 (AFP) - An increasing number of rich, young

Indians are flouting the law with seeming impunity, confident that

their family connections will protect them from even the most

serious criminal charges.

The latest incident, where the grandson of India's former naval

chief ran down and killed six people in New Delhi after a drunken

party, before fleeing the scene, mirrors the attitude of the new

affluent generation, experts say.

The offender, Sanjeev Nanda, a student at a prestigious US

business school, was driving a BMW valued at six million rupees

(143,000 dollars). The car had been illegally imported and did not

even have a valid number plate.

Although Nanda is in police custody, there is wide scepticism

that he will be punished.

The case follows several burglaries, shootings and fatal

instances of drunken driving where the well-connected young

offenders have got off lightly, or not been punished at all.

Sociologist Ashish Nandi told AFP the "brat pack" was

increasingly taking to "a hedonistic lifestyle across India" and

looking to crime for thrills and excitement.

"In north India, they come from nouveau riche families as well

as scions of old families," he said. "In other parts of the country,

old money shows more restraint in these things.

"The values of society have gone wrong. Austerity is ridiculed

now and the idea that wealth can be invested into good work and

charity as an obligation is scoffed at. Consumption for the sake of

consumption is valued and celebrated."

Before the Nanda case, a 19-year-old Delhi woman rammed into a

New Delhi policeman trying to stop her after she jumped a red light.

She drove on with the injured man on the bonnet, until he fell off.

Another New Delhi 20-year-old whipped out a gun and shot his

friend's gardener, saying: "I kill people like this." The rich

builder's son is currently in jail serving time.

Nandi warned the phenomenon would increase and that "nobody can

do anything about it."

"It is the Americanisation of violence here. More than 32,000

people die of homicide every year in the US and we are going to

reach that level soon," he said.

"The affected people are almost psychopathic. If the meaning of

life comes from driving a BMW and drinking expensive Scotch and

doing what one pleases, there can be no checks. Perhaps a satiation

of luxury could reverse the trend."

New Delhi joint commissioner of police Amod Kanth, also a social

activist, said the new generation of urban rich was going astray

because of indulgent parents, who showered them with gifts and huge

sums of money.

"It's the money that makes them go blind," he added.

"They don't respect the law."

Child psychologist Gurmeet Kaur, who counsels students from

elite New Delhi schools, said absentee parents, busy making money or

leading hectic social lives, were also part of the problem.

"In many cases where parents don't give time, I find the kids

grow up with misshapen personalities. They are prone to violence if

they don't get what they want."

Media commentator Sumer Kaul said crime was also rising because

it went unpunished.

"They bribe the concerned functionaries," he said, adding the

"rich and influential" went "scot-free" every time.

Kaul said the glorification of consumerism had changed the "very

concept of a 'good life'" which was "unabashedly mammonish, devoid

of any perspective, any restraint, any morality."

"Everyone wants a slice of the new cake and sets out to grab it.

The rich want to flaunt the goodies the richer are flaunting. The

'demonstration effect' is affecting all classes."

 

-

[Guest guest]

It's a lot worse than you think. The average ISKCON devotee sees the influx

of Indian immigrants into America as proof positive that they are

materialistic. But ask any Indian women, especially those from conservative

families, why they choose to stay in USA, and they will give you a shocking

answer.

 

The bottom line is that women are not protected in India anymore. These rich

boys go around accosting young, single women, trying to talk to them, touch

them, etc. Ramya herself described numerous, numerous, numerous such

incidents of boys chasing her all the way back to her apartment, trying to

get inside her apartment. She was almost *killed* once after our engagement

when a bus driver saw her in the street and tried to run her over (she only

told me about this after the fact). Several times I asked, why not complain

to the police? She was even more afraid of the police than she was of these

ruffians. She said that frequently the police would do nothing, because the

boys were often sons of rich ministers or businessmen. Also, complaints

lodged against the boys would often trigger a bribe to have the policemen

give trouble to the innocents who lodge the complaint. The police officers,

when pressured to make an arrest in such situations, would then go after the

people whose rights were being violated in the first place.

 

Police officers in India also conspire with these boys to rape young ladies

on their way to school, college, etc. Ramya told me of several cases that

were publicized in Hyderabad while she was there.

 

It isn't entirely a problem of the boys either. Ramya told me that most

girls in India these days are inviting this behavior. They dress in

attractive clothing and associate with boys, going with them to cafes,

restaurants, etc. Boys learn that this sort of casual association is the

norm, and push themselves onto more conservative girls who know better.

Ramya tells me that no girl in India has been spared this treatment.

 

Does hearing of this devilry make your blood boil? It should. First of all,

we need to learn several things from this. First and foremost, women need

protection in India, more so than in America. Don't ever leave a wife or a

daughter alone ANYWHERE (not even in South India). Second, the government is

hopelessly corrupt, and this only goes to show the great need for a

Krishna-conscious government that would be above such selfishness. I am

reminded of Mahaaraaja Parikshit, who, upon seeing the torture of the bull

and cow, immediately drew his sword to kill the offender. Today's

politicians who simply take money and look the other way, so evil have they

become.