Thread by @DeviPrasadRao8

Thread alert!
Just to show how short-lived public memory is & why there is no fear of the consequences of our actions (or inactions), let's take a quick trip down memory lane.

On January 7th 2010, Sub Inspector Vetrivel from the Alwarkuruchi Police Station in

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Tirunelveli District near the southern tip of Tamil Nadu was driving on the road on routine duty, in uniform. SI Vetrivel was a decorated cop as he had been part of the Special Task Force that hunted down Veerappan.

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Out of the blue, he was attacked by three assailants with crude country-made bomb. They knew he was a cop as he was in uniform, yet chopped his legs and left him bleeding on the road, crying out for help. The event occurred in broad daylight.

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Luckily for Vetrivel, a convoy happened to pass by a few minutes later. In the cavalcade of cars were the then Health Minister of Tamil Nadu and Youth and Sports Development Minister. Accompanying them were the District Collector and a horde of cops, Vetrivel's colleagues.

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Unluckily for Vetrivel, this was a group of insensitive, incompetent, callous politicians, bureaucrats and policemen. The cavalcade stopped, the District Collector M Jayaram, a State Govt Officer promoted to the IAS cadre after 11 years of service, cautiously approached the

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bleeding Vetrivel who was pleading for help. Journalists who were covering the ministerial jaunt were capturing the developments, or rather the lack of it. The Collector dithered and hesitated about what to do for a full eight minutes before calling for an ambulance.

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Even with 2 VIPs visiting, the ambulance never arrived.
They waited
Twenty minutes later, the bleeding policeman was bundled into a car from the cavalcade & sent to the nearest hospital
But, it was too late!
He was dead on arrival, over half an hour after the murderous attack

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The Ministers did not get out of their air-conditioned cars for the entire period but, in their defense, they claimed they were the ones who ensured he was attended to and offered a car from their cavalcade. Their sacrifice melts one's heart.

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Public outrage followed but the same public forgot soon enough
The Ministers went on to contest the subsequent elections & won!
One of them got elected from the SAME district, his apathy not a factor in the elections
Another is the State's current Agriculture Minister

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The IAS Officer got transferred two years later. Believe it or not, he was first posted as Deputy Secretary of State Human Rights Commission and then promoted to Secretary

Vetrivel's widow & 2 kids got Rs 7 lakhs and their family a preference in Government job.

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Now, here's another twist
D Sivasubramanian was an SI at the Kadayam police station in the same district. His estranged wife Sivakami had filed for divorce citing dowry harassment. On that fateful day, she had put out a contract on her husband and the gang, which included

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her brother & a relative of the intended victim, attacked SI Vetrivel in a case of mistaken identity

Except for the actual perpetrators who ended up in jail, those who contributed to his death by negligence of their duty, got rewarded, by the Government and by We The People

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As long as our judiciary remains dysfunctional and public memory fickle, those in office will not take their responsibilities seriously.

Food for thought! 🙏

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