An elderly Gujarati man, Mr. Sureshbhai Patel, was left partially paralysed due to an unfair assault by an Alabama cop on 6th Feb. This unfortunate incident happened during Mr. Patel's morning walk in the neighbourhood as he could neither understand nor respond to the cop's instructions due to his lack of English! He just arrived in the US a day before to care of his son's 17 month old child.
Although the police officer who assaulted Mr. Patel is currently under arrest pending FBI probe, that's not going to make 57 years old Mr. Patel healthy as he was. Would Mr. Patel have understood what the officer asked him and have responded to the cop's instructions, this calamity wouldn't have happened at first place!
No doubt the cop who conducted the assault needs to be punished. However the point here is that before we question the neighbour who reported an unfamiliar man walking outside or the cop who assaulted him, I want to blame slightly his son and daughter-in-law as well. They should have made sure that they taught Mr.Patel basic English skills. I don't expect him to be fluent in English but just basic skills to communicate and explain who he is and why is he there in the US for, etc.
Devang Bhatt,
Goodmayes, London
