For shame!

I’m travelling outside India at the moment, celebrating A Big Scary Birthday.

So it’s time to relax, have fun with my family, and try and forget how damned old I am.

And yet…

Because the news never stops, one knows what’s happening back in India, and the story I’m about to share is one that is so very, very sad and so utterly revolting at the same time.

A 32-year old bus conductor in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has allegedly committed suicide, after being suspended from his job because he allowed 2 Muslim passengers to get off his bus for a couple of minutes to pray.

I remember reading the report of the peremptory sacking of the driver and conductor, and (sadly) like so many other worrisome stories here, I tut-tutted…and then forgot about it.

According to the Free Press Journal:

“Mohit Yadav (32) was the conductor of the UPSRTC bus which was on its way to Delhi from Kaushambi. Conductor Mohit Yadav asked driver KP Singh to stop the bus before Rampur for two minutes to allow two passengers to offer Namaz in the middle of the road. The other passengers of the bus protested against the conductor and the bus driver for allowing the two Muslim passengers to offer Namaz in the middle of the road. The incident occurred on June 3, 2023. The conductor and the bus driver were suspended after the incident.”

There are seemingly no depths to the nastiness of people towards Muslims. It appears that the bus had been stopped so people could go to the loo. Mr. Yadav told the men to use this time to pray. According to his widow, her husband told her that the prayers were over before the loo break. If that is true, and why would the poor young widow lie, it shows just how spiteful and downright evil some people can be.

What a revolting story, showcasing the ingrained hatred towards Muslims, and the sheer arrogance and nastiness, the pettiness and the lack of common courtesy of the passengers.

Every single one of those intolerant people who complained is complicit in the death of this poor man, who was genuinely poor (in the financial sense) but a bigger man than any of them.

As the sole breadwinner of his family, and unable to get another job after being sacked, it would appear that this young man committed suicide.

This is a thoroughly shameful story.

And a shocking reflection of the growing intolerance I spoke of just a day or so ago, here in this blog.