Ajit Road area: A nightmare for women, girls

Gurdeep Singh Mann

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 29

Firing incidents, indecent gestures, lewd comments and rash driving have become a common sight on Ajit Road. It is due to the commercialisation of the educational institutes with the presence of a large number of teenagers.

The road connecting some residential areas with the GT road was widened on the orders of the then Deputy Commissioner in 2006 in order to facilitate commuters in the area. Some residents had even shifted their boundary walls to pave the way for the widening of the road at that time.

“It was called Ajit Street—named after Sahibzada Ajit Singh — before being converted into a road. It is now marred with indecency, physical threats and bullying by the unwanted elements,” said Sewa Ram, a sanitary shop owner.

An area resident said chaos prevailed in the area after an incident of firing reported on Tuesday, which left three persons injured, including a policeman.

Earlier in December 2012, two school students were injured in firing between two groups.

Heated arguments go hand in hand with assaults and getting attacked by hired goons has also become a common sight on this road, an area resident added.

He pointed out the incident in which the owner of an IELTS center was attacked by hired goons on behalf of a student, who was shown the door for indecent suggestions in the classroom.

Aditya, a shopkeeper said, the “on road meetings” of young boys and girls have become unbearable and filing a complaint to the police about it, is like hammering own toe.

“The police are actually not willing to intervene in the matter keeping in view of a large number of the coaching centers and bullying by students. Young boys, most of them are outsiders, follow girls’ students by stalking them on the entire stretch of nearly one-and-half kilometers,” said Balkaran Brar.

He said, “The unwanted and anti-social elements feel that it is their right to frustrate people by indulging into criminal activities and the police strongly believe that it is not their duty to stop them.”

“Now the sale of drugs has gripped the area and their presence is an open secret but despite being aware of drug addicts and sellers, the police remain mute spectators. The police only impound the wrongly parked vehicles to collect money,” said a senior citizen and an engineer Baldev Singh.

United stand required over the issue

A quote by Swam Vivekananda aptly fits even today in view of innumerable problems on Ajit Road, Swami Vivekananda said, “World is suffering not because of the violence by bad people but because of the silence of good people.” If all residents of the area, shopkeepers will stand against the anti-social elements then the police can be forced to take firm action against them.”

Chalking out a concrete plan

Unity of all area residents against the acts of shame and violence is the need of an hour and we are chalking out a concrete plan to bring all upset, harassed and frustrated area residents at one platform against the police, District Administration and the hooligans. The aim of this exercise will be to force them to stop the anti-social elements to do unwanted things, which have maligned the name and image of this road.”

Moral values don’t seem enough

60 students take coaching at my coaching center where hardly a day passes without teaching moral values, bonhomie and respect to all, but even then this seems not enough. I am doing what is within my ambit. Despite that a bicycle was stolen from inside the parking lot of the center and a minor was caught in CCTV. But my conscious doesn’t allow me to complain as the mastermind of this illegal act is a mighty drug seller.”

Serious issues need to be addressed

Though road rage, firing, heated arguments, fighting over space on road and eve teasing are indeed big problems but besides, encroachments on roads, too, have played a major role in creating traffic bottlenecks and serious quarrels every day. I will ask authorities to issue orders to every shopkeeper and showroom owner to remove encroachments on this road and I would be more happy to do this first.”