This is the most cringe-worthy news we have heard today. Ministers seem to be controversy’s favourite child. The latest to join that list is Madhya Pradesh’s Animal Husbandry Minister, Kusum Mehdele. On Sunday afternoon, when she was in Panna, she allegedly kicked a teenage boy, who begged on his knees and asked for Re.1. Shocking, condemnable behaviour!
This incident makes me wonder if an Animal Husbandry Minister can be worse than animals. Animals seem far more evolved.
This video shows that Mehdele was entering her car, when the boy bowed down to her feet and begged for money. She kicked his forehead and the guards then manhandled the boy.
According to a news channel, the minister has received flak from the opposition and child rights activists. Jaya Singh, a Child Rights and You (CRY) activist also demanded the minister’s resignation. She said that as a minister, she should have helped the child, but instead of that she committed an inhuman act.
A leading English daily reported, “A policeman who was on duty during the minister’s visit said the boy begs at a bus stand. ‘The boy suddenly came from nowhere and bowed at the feet of ‘Jiji’ (Mehdele) and demanded Re.1,’ the policeman said on condition of anonymity.”
A quick Google search will tell you that Mehdele has been in the headlines for varied reasons. Recently, she was ridiculed for having sent a bizarre suggestion, to the state forest department seeking a law that allows people to domesticate big cats like lions and tigers for their conservation.
In another incident, she said if farmers did not commit suicide after their sons died, how one could believe that they killed themselves over crop damage, reported another English daily.
This is indeed shameful news. Among the many crimes and cruelties that are rampant in India, the least one would expect is to be more compassionate towards the poor.
Two things are heartbreaking in this piece of news: that a woman kicks a child and that a child is begging for Re.1. How far have we gone in the rich-poor divide? And how far have we gone in being insensitive about human suffering?
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