By Ashish Mishra:
“Dilli Hai Dilwaalon Ki” (Delhi belongs to the ones with a heart)
Really?
Let me take you through a few incidents which will make us feel ashamed of Delhi.
A week back, a girl was brutally stabbed to death in front of dozens of horrified onlookers on the streets of Sant Nagar, Burari, a locality in north Delhi. The disturbing CCTV footage showed a man stabbing the girl repeatedly at least 22 times as people walked away or kept on looking. Collectively, there were enough people to help out while the horrific attack was taking place. But nobody did.
In a case of insensitivity and apathy, a man was left to die on the busy road after being hit by a speeding tempo on August 10, in Subhash Nagar, located in west Delhi. The tempo driver got off his vehicle to look at the man he had hit, but went inside again and drove off. The most shocking bit about the incident was that another man did go near him , but instead of helping him in any way, he fled with his mobile phone. Many others walked past him but nobody volunteered to help.
Who can forget the infamous December 16 gang rape case, which shook the whole world. Jyoti Singh Pandey, who later succumbed to her injuries and her male accomplice kept crying for help but people drove away in their cars. Some stopped, but nobody helped. A patrol van on the highway chanced upon them and informed the police.
There is one thing common in all these cases. Insensitivity of the people who could have helped.
These incidents became ‘breaking news’ for the media houses. There was an outpour of emotions on social media and candle marches were organised across the city for Jyoti Singh Pandey. We forget that we all are equally responsible for the death of such precious lives.
It is high time for us to look inside, instead of passing the blame on the police and the system. Only talks and absence of any action on our part is not going to prevent such unfortunate incidents.
I would end by telling Delhi to have a heart!
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