Over 1000 views, 73 votes and 53 replies in less than 24 hours of this thread going up. Never expected such a response.
Most people appear to strongly support the view that beggars at traffic lights are a menace to motorists, and should be banned. A few are compassionate, and would not mind doling out alms to support them, and another few consider this an issue that does not concern them.
It might sound harsh when it is said that beggars should be banned, as Sam says...
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Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi "Beggars are a menace for us as motorists, and should be banned." pains me. It is perhaps a complete holiday from all types of human sensitivity. |
...but the issue does not focus on beggars in general. It is the so-called organized begging that goes on specifically at street junctions where vehicles stop at traffic lights. The first sentence therefore reads "
Beggars at traffic lights are a menace..." and not beggars per se, who are just unfortunate, and certainly have my compassion and support as much as anyone else's.
This thread is also an eye-opener for me, reading about the various, sometimes horrifying and sometimes surprising, experiences described here.
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there was a couple who would leave their child in the hands of the maid and go to work. They would find the child sleepy when they returned in the evening. One day the lady came back early to find the child missing. Upon questioning the maid, they found out that the maid would lend out the child for beggars, who would drug the child and use it while begging.
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a Beggar was caught begging at a traffic light in chandigarh,and on investigation it was found that,he had 2 laptops and a Iphone in his bag,and used to stay in 3\5star hotels.
and yeah he was carrying a pair of decent cloths in his bag too.
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An incident happened recently at the Banaswadi Signal in Bangalore.
I was waiting for the signal to go green and a girl with a dirty rag starts wiping the bonnet. I ask her not too but she continues. ... She then comes to my window and begs. I don't even acknowledge her presence. What she does next snaps it for me, the scum bag dusts the dirty rag on my windscreen directly in-front of my view and walks away with a smirk.
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Most of the children with dressing on their head and sleeping in roadside pavement are feed various concoctions of medicines such as benzodiazipines, chlorpheniramine, pedichloryl etc. Its extremely harmful if these medicines are taken over a period of time and i have children coming to hospital with withdrawal effects of these medicines.
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There is a mosque near my office where i go for my daily prayers for the last 2 years.I see a woman in her late forties begging near the entrance of the mosque during prayer timings and on the roads between prayers.
I thought of keeping her in my house for house hold chores,but when i asked her indirectly she said that she cannot do house hold chores as she is old and blah-blah.
I came to know from the owner of a nearby restaurant that she earns 400-500 rs/day and deposits the small change in the restaurant 4-5 times and collects the day's total in the evening.
He also said that in the month of Ramzan and on Fridays this figure could go up to 2000/day.
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Apart from beggars, one more type of menace that comes to the fore is that of
hijdas or eunuchs taking to begging at traffic lights. This is a comparatively recent phenomenon, and I do not recall their presence at traffic lights even 5 years ago. This article (
Hijras | Eunuchs | India | Indian Citizen - Oneindia Living) sheds some more light on the problem. Most people are frightened by
hijdas, and pay up heavily even at traffic stops to avoid a confrontation (except perhaps this one
) -
Awesum Reply to Hijra (( : Mst Watch | Watch Facebook Videos - Download - Share.
The original question may be expanded: Do we, as motorists, deserve to be harassed by beggars (whether eunuch or not) at traffic lights? And what should be done about it? Should the government and the police invoke Rule 22(a) of Rules of the Road Regulations, 1989 (framed under section 118 of the central Motor Vehicles Act - 1988), and enforce it strictly? Or should we continue to dole out alms as a way of life, at every street junction in every major city in this country, and wash away our sins / earn brownie points with God?
Let's continue to hear your opinions and experiences about beggars at traffic lights, and hope the powers-that-be take note of this.