Fired workers burn Indian executive to death

[Liberal_in_LA]

Fired workers burn Indian executive to death

Indian police detained two people after an angry mob of fired workers burned to death a senior executive of a steel factory, an official said Friday.

After learning they were laid off, about a dozen workers attacked a vehicle carrying Radhey Shyam Roy as he was leaving the factory in eastern Orissa state on Thursday, dousing the Jeep with gasoline and setting it on fire, said police Superintendent Ajay Kumar Sarangi.

Two other people in the vehicle were allowed to flee but Roy, 59, was trapped inside and later died of severe burns, Sarangi said



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/03/03/international/i231310S80.DTL#ixzz1FeprfJfm

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[cynatnite]

2. This is just horrific. Nothing will ever justify this. n/t

[Taverner]

14. We disagree

I understand where you're coming from. And thank dog there are people like you, to keep people like me from doing this kind of thing.

But I still disagree.

[cynatnite]

22. I think you're a rational person who would never do something like this...

This was a horrific act.

[Taverner]

26. *I* probably wouldn't

But the anger behind this - the anger alone, not the act itself, is more than justified

[eridani]

41. Nor would I. But then on the other hand, I find it hard to imagine being that desperate

People in the developed world have a long way to go to hit the bottom, near the very edge of survival.

[In Truth We Trust]

45. Strike, Boycott, Pickett, Inform, FIGHT for RIGHTS to Organize and be Free. Freedom vs Corp.Fascism

[VermeerLives]

31. Why do you disagree?

Justify your remarks.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[hlthe2b]

5. Horrific....

That desperation and powerlessness in the face of horrendous abuse can lead to this is not a surprise, however.

[blindpig]

6. Gee, that's too bad. n/t

[emilyg]

7. Horrible. No excuse.

[NoGOPZone]

8. That's taking "fight fire with fire" too literally. nt

[Carolina]

47. wow, well put

sadly true

[Horse with no Name]

9. Desperate people do desperate things

Taking away jobs, safety nets, etc is a direct assault on the survival of others.

I would never advocate this type of violence...nor will I lose any sleep over it.

[cynatnite]

10. This was not self-defense...

How is setting someone on fire justifiable?

[Horse with no Name]

12. Understanding why and advocating it are two different things

I don't advocate it. I'm not a violent person.

However, when you start taking away personal security...that IS an assault on someone.
People react differently when they are assaulted.
It is perhaps something that execs and CEO's, not unlike this unfortunate victim, should take into consideration before they fuck people's lives up.

But, as I said, I don't advocate it. I don't condone it. But, I will sleep like a baby tonight in spite of it.

[cynatnite]

13. This was not an assault that justified setting someone on fire...

This executive was not physically assaulting them. You are justifying what was done to him and there is none.

I know you're not a violent person. I've always thought very highly of you. This is probably one thing we'll diagree on, though.

[Horse with no Name]

18. I am NOT justifying it. I UNDERSTAND the desperation that can drive people to it

But, I will tell you. I have been physically assaulted and I have been financially assaulted.

The financial assault is more painful and long-lasting than the physical assault, if for no other reason than it adversely affects everyone in your family and sometimes never recover from.

IF these robber barons are intent upon destroying the livelihoods (ergo lives) of people--then they might take some of their ill gotten gains and hire personal security. Sometimes people don't react kindly to having their lives destroyed through no fault of their own.

We agree on the subject, nothing justifies it. But, that doesn't mean that this won't happen again and again and again in the future. Understanding WHY it happens is going to be the key.

[Buddyblazon]

36. I'm not justifying the actions of the attackers in this post...

I do, however, want to point out your statement:

"This executive was not physically assaulting someone."

While this may be true, an executive, or higher up in a corporation or industry doesn't have to physically assault someone. Why? Because they know they can do much worse to a worker than assault them. And if a complaint is taken to the authorities...they will always say, "This executive was not physically assaulting you.".

[Carolina]

48. Exactly... Bush didn't kill any Iraqis

directly, but he sure as hell has blood on his hands by ordering Shock & Awe. And if one day, an Iraqi victim of that unfounded war assaulted him, he would be justified

[Hannah Bell]

38. no, they never do. but they kill people regardless, that's the thing.

does the fact that their killing is indirect make it okay?

they live long rather comfortable lives for the most part & are looked up to as "successful".

but they are murderers nonetheless.

[The Nexus]

51. Look at it this way

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one. It maybe Star Trek, but it's something to think on.

[Taverner]

17. In some ways it is self defense

Taking away one's livelihood in a place like India, where the result is something we in the US cannot even comprehend - is tantamount to a slow, painful death sentence

[cynatnite]

19. No it is not...

You can justify setting someone on fire as much as you'd like. It will never make it right. NEVER.

[Taverner]

20. Ok agree to disagree then

BTW...have you ever been to India or a third world country? Granted, the US almost counts as one these days...

[cynatnite]

24. This kind of poverty exists in our country... check out the Crow Indian Reservation...

Not only that, I went to Mexico. I've seen babies crawling in dirt because there was no place else for them to be. I had starving children begging me for food. It was a sobering experience.

[Taverner]

25. I am sure. Very sobering indeed.

And its hard to wear the white hat when your kids haven't eaten in weeks...

[diane in sf]

28. It doesn't justify it, but we have 50K excess deaths a year because people can't afford medical care

when you take away peoples' livelihood you kill some of them. People say they would have killed Hitler and saved 6M Jews if they could have. If burning up one executive saved a bunch of lives by causing a change in the upper classes approach to laying people off would that be justified? I personally would never want to kill anyone or witness someone being killed. But the top executives of health insurance companies are killing thousands of people every year by denying them health coverage to increase the bottom lines of the companies they work for. Is this right? I don't think it is any more moral than burning someone up.

[Horse with no Name]

35. Excellent point. n/t

[northernlights]

29. nobody justified it. nobody said it is right.

Recognizing or understanding the motivation behind an action is not in any way, shape or form synonymous with justifying that action.

Nobody said it is right. It simply is what it is.

Actions have consequences. The action of damaging or destroying somebody's life brings with it the potential consequence that the victim will strike back, possibly visciously.

Maybe that's why executives are so highly compensated. Because they destroy many people's lives and in doing so take on risk that one or another will get revenge. :shrug:

[Occulus]

42. A brief reading of US labor history says this may well have been both justifiable and defensible.

I don't know the specifics of their situation, but even the most cold and objective reading of US labor history will prove that sometimes violence is indeed an option.

[ZombieHorde]

33. How should someone determine right and wrong? nt

[malaise]

32. Ditto

You can't not care about others and expect others to 'lose sleep'.

[annabanana]

11. Thank goodness we have Unions to make sure the workers get

a fair shake.

[Poboy]

15. R'd

[Romulox]

16. This would be a *hilarious* plot line for NBC's delightful sit-com, "Outsourced". nt

[Taverner]

21. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!

:evilgrin:

[Horse with no Name]

23. Well done!

:blush:

[somone]

27. There is a lesson here

[GeorgeGist]

30. He fired first.

[Crabby Appleton]

34. K&R

[GaYellowDawg]

37. Now, that is REAL class warfare.

"Burn the rich" is class warfare. "Tax the rich" is not. Drive people into desperate situations, and you may reap the whirlwind. That kind of mob action isn't something I'd ever endorse, but I sure wouldn't mind some of that fear entering, say, the Koch brothers' minds.

[bengalherder]

39. As the great Dino De Laurentis once said:

"Nobody cry when Jaws die."

There are certain local owners of toilet paper manufacturies that- while I would not do it it nor advocate it- if they had a certain similar fate befall them, I'd not lose and ounce of sleep.

[Citizen Worker]

40. Hmmmm, makes one wonder.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

43. They should all spend at least a decade in jail, and anyone who equivocates about condemning them

or tries to even partially blame the victim should be utterly ashamed of themselves.

"I was fired" is not even a partial justification or excuse for deliberate, cold-blooded, horrific murder.

[lonestarnot]

44. EeE gads. That is horrific.

[liberalla]

46. Incidents of industrial violence are common in India

from the link:

"Incidents of industrial violence are common in India, where workers often target executives in cases of wage disputes and job losses.

In 2008, scores of dismissed employees of an Italian manufacturing company, Graziano Transmissioni India, used iron rods and wooden sticks to beat to death the company's local chief executive officer on the outskirts of New Delhi."

Wow. I'd hate to be an executive in India. I wonder if they get hazard pay.

[elocs]

49. kick n/t

[Leopolds Ghost]

50. As a Christian & an anti-corporatist, I find this immoral. Gandhi proved nonviolent resistance works

"Many that live deserve death. Can you give it to them?" -- Not Gandhi

Gandhi also said that armed resistance is preferable to no resistance,
but not against unarmed oppressors. Just think if they'd staged a plant
lockout instead.

[The Nexus]

52. Until he was shot

just sayin

[Leopolds Ghost]

53. Martyrdom works too, I guess. Consider the case of John Lennon vs. Ringo Starr