UL Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Caste, Politics and Criminality in Urban India

Thesis:

            Indian mobsters control certain areas and are looked upon as high political figures.

Summary:

            In urban India mobsters of different castes have control over the people and protect them in some sort of way. The people do not look to the police or other government officials for help. They rely heavily on the mobsters to fix whatever issues they have.

            Crime was at an ultimate high because of kidnappings and murders. People feared coming out at night. Some people were literally locked into their buildings at night by guards. Crime even occurred during the day, even near a police station. The kidnappings usually occurred in the upper caste neighborhoods. On page 271 it explains the victims who were targeted which were business families and engineers of the state owned electricity board who had access to illicit sources of income as stated in the chapter.

Personal Reflection:

            I guess crime is all the same all over the world, but to a different extent.  Personally if I lived in India I would live in fear for my life every day. The status doesn’t matter because if you don’t agree with what mobsters say you still find yourself in tough situation.