Is India A Dangerous Place?

India is renowned for its beauty, wildlife, movies and exotic cuisine that its unique culture has to offer. Unfortunately few people are aware of the dangers and the astonishingly high rate of crime that exists if one is unaware, not to mention the corruption that runs through every level of government and society, fuelling the injustice towards criminal activity and violence. With terrorist attacks, bombings, sectarian clashes, spontaneous mob demonstrations and political rallies that claim the lives of many, kidnappings, murders, rapes and assaults coupled with the significant amount of infectious diseases transmitted daily as a result of the lack of proper hygiene and widespread poverty in India, it can be quite a dangerous tourist destination.

Travel

India’s air passenger market has expanded at breakneck speed, but many companies are laden with debt due to cut-throat fare wars, high fuel costs and shoddy infrastructure. In 2011, the airline sector was shaken by a scandal over a number of unqualified Indian pilots flying on fake licenses. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stripped India of its top safety rating, citing a lack of safety oversight. According to skynews.com India’s aviation safety rating was downgraded to category two from category one, putting it in the company of such countries as Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

For pilots the biennial standardization checks are sacrosanct checks of proficiency records as per the DGCA regulation for examiners and training assignments in the airlines. However in a serious violation of directorate general civil aviation (DGCA) rules, the leading English daily, Times of India reported that two management pilots of a major Indian airline were found continuing as examiners despite the lapsed validity of their mandatory standardization check.

With run-down buses, many unlicensed taxis and a dangerous train system, travel in India is a serious issue. Although there are over 7,000 trains in India, 18 million people buy tickets every day on Indian Railways causing a massive overcrowding problem. 25,000 people die every year in train-related accidents in India and the majority of those deaths are caused by overcrowding. Since tickets on Indian trains are almost always sold out, many surf the trains. Train surfing is when people hitch a ride on the outside of a moving train. This too contributes to many accidents and deaths. Since train tickets are almost always sold out many commuters run across tracks to catch their train. Both illegal and dangerous, this has been the cause of hundreds of deaths each year. Trains in India also regularly hit cars, buses and pedestrians at railway crossings. There have been a significant amount of cases of travelers being drugged and robbed on trains, often on overnight journeys.

Terrorist Attacks And Religious Conflicts

Between 2005 and 2009 over 130 people on an average have died every year from communal riots. In the last three years the Deganga, Assam and Muzaffarnagar riots have been the cause of over 120 deaths and destruction of multiple temples, shops and buildings. From 2012 to 2013 Muslim-Hindu clashes resulted in 200 people dying and over 3,500 being injured. Terrorist attacks in recent years have caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries, targeting hotels, trains, markets, cinemas, churches and restaurants. The attacks are carried out by insurgent groups including the Lashkar-e Tayyiba, Jaish-e Mohammed, the Indian Mujahideen and the Maoists (known as the “Naxalites”) – the most active of them all. The Naxalites attack Indian government officials but also target other goverment buildings and western companies, derail trains and kidnap foreigners. Travel to the state of Jammu & Kashmir is discouraged because of the likelihood of terrorist incidents and violent public unrest. Over the last 20 years 70,000 people have been killed in Kashmir. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all travel to Manipur since violent extremist groups are very active there and sudden strikes called by the political party “Gorkha Janmutki Morcha” are common.

Crime And Police Misconduct

Besides the petty crime that’s prevalent in India, including theft of personal property on trains and buses, in airports and in major tourist areas, there’s also a high rate of assault, rape and murder. In the last three years the annual murder rate in over 12 Indian states has increased. In 2008, India earned the dubious distinction of the maximum number of murders in the world, three times more than its neighbour Pakistan and double the figures in the United States. There were 32,719 incidents of murder recorded in India, whereas there were 16,692 in the US and 9,631 in Pakistan, according to a report compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau.

The 2012 Delhi gang rape is an incident that not only shocked India, but the whole world, generating international coverage. It involved the rape and fatal assault of Jyoti Singh Pandey, a 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern in Munirka, South Delhi. The friend she was travelling with told AFP in an interview by phone – “The cruelty I saw should not be seen ever. I tried to fight against the men and begged them again and again to leave her. They hit me and dragged my friend to a seat near the driver’s cabin. The driver and the other men raped my friend and beat her in the worst possible ways in the most private parts of her body. I cannot tell you what I feel when I think of it. I shiver in pain. The attack was so brutal… even animals don’t behave like that.”

In February 2012, Suzette Jordan, a 38-year-old single mother of two girls, was gang-raped by five men in Calcutta. She was forced to move to a different part of the city. “Neighbours made it difficult for me to live in that area”, she says. “I was made to feel like I was the one responsible for the assault. I became a complete nervous wreck. Had it not been for my two daughters, I would have committed suicide”, she adds.

Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. 25,000 cases were reported in 2013. The annual rape rate has increased with nearly 12.5% of victims being minors.

However, what makes matters worse in India, is that criminals aren’t the only ones committing crimes. Despite state prohibitions against torture and misconduct by the police, torture is widespread in police custody, often resulting in deaths. The police often torture innocent people and victims until a “confession” is obtained in order to save influential and wealthy offenders.

Most of the police officers who were interviewed claimed they knew the boundaries of the law, but many believed that illegal detention and torture were necessary tactics of crime investigation and law enforcement. An inspector working near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh revealed:

“We are told, ‘Investigate within 24 hours’, but they don’t care how we do that. There is use of force because we are not equipped with scientific methods. A sense of panic sets in if we don’t arrive at a conclusion, we could be suspended or face punishment. We are bound to resolve the case, even if we must cover the facts in any way.”

Health

With 250 million living in poverty on the streets of India without any possible way of maintaining personal hygiene, parasitic infections and diseases continue to kill millions. Leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis, and trachoma are prevalent in rural areas and slums. Approximately 2.4 million people in India suffer from AIDS. Malaria is also a danger with India, Nigeria and Congo accounting for 40 percent of the world’s malaria cases. India has the highest incidence of TB in the world, according to the World Health Organization’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2013, with as many as 2.4 million people being infected each year. Dogs and bats create a high risk of rabies transmission in most of India and vaccinations are recommended for all prolonged stays. Public hospitals maintain repulsive hygiene standards.

Influenza is transmitted from November to April in North India, and from June to November in South India. All travellers are at risk and vaccines are recommended for all travellers during the flu season.

Warning

So if you’re thinking of visiting India, make sure you are properly prepared. That includes receiving all necessary vaccinations, staying away from states and districts that are notorious for terrorist attacks and major crimes, being on the lookout for demonstrations that could quickly become violent and exercising caution at all times when wandering the streets, especially at night. Women should be extra careful since they are more prone to being assaulted. When surveyed, 95% of women in New Delhi said they don’t feel safe in public. 63% said they are fearful when they go out after dark and more than 20% said they avoid going outside alone altogether. Serious sexual attacks involving Polish, German and Danish women travellers have already been reported in 2014.

Tigran Gabriel is an Armenian freelance writer based in London