01 May, 2008

The Old Man and the Street

The Times of India reports from Kolkata:

The bus stopped midway to get rid of him. The old man got down trembling. He leaned against the shutter of a closed shop, gasping for breath. Passersby saw him but didn’t offer help. They informed the Bantra police, who took hours to sort out if the case was under their jurisdiction. The man lay on the road unattended for three and a half hours until he died.

The emphasis is mine. Read the full story—at one point, when the police arrived…

… they dispersed the crowd and streamlined the traffic, but didn’t touch the old man. Instead, they informed the Shibpur police because the spot where he lay under the blazing sun was not under their jurisdiction.

To think that those cops get their salary because people like the gentleman in question pay their taxes—if not as income tax, then every time they make any purchase, for the government gets a cut of everything.

Also: I’m reminded of Dnyaneshwar Kulkarni.