The
opening sentence of the headline news item Train
mows down 28 pilgrims trapped on track in Bihar in The Hindu of August 20, 2013 contains the title phrase (including
the commas) of this post.
OK,
Bihar locates the place of accident on a zoom-out (Dhamara Ghat, mentioned in
the body of the dispatch, is the station). “Pilgrims” in the heading may convey
the message that the victims may not have been locals. Yes, 28 people were
mowed down by a train, and that is news which deserves the headline status,
though such railway accidents are repeated dispiritingly often.
But,
is the fact that out of the 28 victims 14 were women all that significant,
particularly, to appear in the opening line? I am not sure. Later on we read
that 10 men and four children also died, validating the headcount.
Yes,
women are vulnerable in our society and one has to hang his head in shame on
this, and I do. But, on rail tracks, when mowed by a “speeding train” (when the
station is not a scheduled stop for the train), when there is “no other road”, when
two stationary trains are occupying the other available (for the trains as well
as pedestrians) tracks, when the driver of the train has applied emergency
brakes, when 10 men and four children have also been “mowed down”, why single
out “women” in the opening line?
I
do not understand. Perhaps someone can educate me on this.
Raghuram
Ekambaram
