Get paid to break laws!

Yesterday morning when passengers boarded the Ajmer Shatabdi little did they know that the 4.30 hour journey would become a tiring 10 hour harrowing trip. Yesterday morning 6 villagers were run over by the train near Gurgaon. These people to safe effort and precious time (rather than taking the regular route to keep save their precious life and that of the infant with them) were walking on the rail track to reach the station quicker.

I understand that there are laws that make walking on the rail track a punishable offence. I am aware of the tragedy that was caused by the train driver not having spotted them in time. But how fair is it for the local villagers to detain the train for hours and to loot the rail locker and break windows and damage the train?

Instead of the management taking action against such rowdy and raucous acts, they decided to award the family of the 'victims' Rs 5 lacs. In a country that has a huge population of people dying of hunger, how fair is to award money to people who break laws? And in case the government and politicians decide to help the so-called victims' families, should someone not be taking the villagers who destroyed public property and stopped the train for hours to task?

When will the government ever punish people who destroy public property? How long will people keep detaining trains and looting passengers and pulling out rail tracks to get their way? When will the government stand up and take action?

Or is this how the common man needs to act to reach out to the government? Is that the message one needs to learn from these incidents?

Read the train story being talked about here.

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