Category: Atrocities

Fourteen Days of May

Edward Earl Johnson, convicted by the Mississippi, U.S. for the murder of a policeman, and the sexual assault of an old woman was executed on May 20, 1987 . Throughout his eight years on death row he continued to plead his innocence. In the months after the execution, a book claimed that the key witness was unreliable, changing her story and identification of her assailant several times at the time of the event and in subsequent questioning.

Another woman who wanted to testify that Edward was with her when those crime happened was prevented from appearing in court by cops.

Here’s the documentary about the case.

Indian Railways Disaster Facts

The Indian Railways network stretches across 64,000 KM, fourth largest in the world after the US, Russia and China. This fact makes me proud, but what follows are facts that can make any Indian’s head hang in shame.

Disastrous Numbers

  • More than 1,000 accidents since 2004 alone.
  • In 2008-09, the number of accidents declined to 177, down from 320 in 2003-04, and a shocking figure of 2,000 in 1960-61. Bet this was the year when they tried running the trains on the fields rather than the tracks.
  • In 2008-09, over 200 people died in railway accidents. This year has already seen 200 dead, wonder what the count be at year-end.
  • The railway safety fund has $3.6bn (£2.4bn) to make trains safer for the millions who use the rail network every year. Little surprised that most railway officials have palatial houses and luxury cars at their disposal.
  • Nearly 17,000 unmanned railway crossings across India allow people to walk or drive through them without wasting precious time waiting for the train to pass. So what if every once a while they get hit by a train. Believe it or not, these have amount to over a third of all railway accidents since 2004.

I can write more, but what is the point? Accidents are not going to end anytime soon.

Forgive me for my pessimist views, but hey, this is what history has taught me. Just when we are about to forget about one train accident, another one happens.

Rs. 31 crore and counting

Rs. 31,000,000 is the amount that the Maharashtra government has spent in keeping Ajmal Kasab safe to face trial. Its anyone’s guess how much more will be spent before its Kasab’s turn to be hanged (provided death is what he’s sentenced to.)

The Times of India reports that before Kasab, the final fate of 50 other convicts serving death row needs to be decided. Obviously, there is no law that can prevent the government from jumping the line and deal with Kasab first. But being a democracy, our home minister Mr. Chidambaram has assured that his ministry will dispose of the cases on a “first come, first served basis. 

If Mr. Chidambram said this fearing a backlash by other people in the queue, then he need not worry. This, perhaps is the only queue in the world in which people would not mind being overtaken by others behind them.

Others on this list include people responsible for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the attack on the Indian Parliament amongst others. These two acts occurred in 1990 and 2001 respectively, but are yet to meet their logical conclusion. Kasab should take solace from this and should carry on enjoying the hospitality of the Maharashtra government. The fact that Kasab probably will be in solitary confinement and that too in an egg-shaped cell should not dampen Kasab’s spirits. On the contrary he should be thankful for being alive. If this has happened in China or even in the US, Kasab would have been hanged and buried by now.

Wonder when the political leadership and the Judiciary of India, realize that the certainty of the sentence is as important as its severity. Real justice will be done when Kasab and all others on death row get what they yearned for.

Must-Not Visit: Royale Riviera Hyderabad

I have had so many unpleasant experiences in Hyderabad but what we’ve been through just now is really the icing on the cake. Today is my birthday, and like almost every other couple, Tina and I wanted to spend a day or two at some resort in or around Hyderabad. So on the 15th, we sat down to look for a decent place where we could celebrate my birthday.

After much effort, we were finally able to get a reservation with Royale Riviera a resort located just outside Hyderabad. I spoke to one Sridhar Reddy who claimed to be the manager. He confirmed that getting a room wouldn’t be a problem as they had several available.

Like two excited kids we woke up today morning and went to our respective offices to wind up any important work and come home by lunch so as to make it to the resort by maximum 5 PM today. Fortunately, it occurred to me that I should talk to this Sridhar Reddy, just to let him know that we would be there by 5 PM. Out of the blue, he told me that the resort doesn’t get any power supply from 10AM to 6PM every day, and I should take this into account before coming to the resort.

Obviously, we weren’t ok with this because our idea was to have a good time, so why should be pay to stay without power for a day. We’d rather sit at home in the AC and watch movies. What we can’t figure out is why didn’t Sridhar Reddy tell us about this minor detail on the 16th when I called him up for the first time? At least, we could have tried other resorts. Now at this eleventh hour it is highly unlikely that that we will get a reservation. Being in the service industry isn’t it his duty to tell the customer what to expect.

If we were to rate this resort, I would give it a -1 because if this is the service we are getting before we even go there, God only knows what will happen if we do decide to spend a night there.

Too much sadness!

2006 hasn’t been a good year for me yet. First, I lost my mom unexpectedly on 30th January, and then on 11th March, an old college friend Vikas Sharma (Mickey) died of bone cancer. Vikas was only 29 and has a wife and two-year old son. We weren’t in constant touch in the last 2-3 years but he still was a very dear friend. May his souls rest in peace.