Is India safe?

rangss

New Year's Eve...an Australian couple were at the receiving end of the New Year Eve revellers. The lady was man-handled and molested by a horde of men...

Samajwadi Party idiots (I choose to call them so) pelt stones on Indian and foreign tourists in Agra as a protest against the hanging of Saddam Hussein.

More and more news stories on foreign tourists found killed undermysterious circumstances.

Is India going to dogs. Is it safe to travel in India anymore?

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Jasmin

I've been wondering the same thing. As someone who would like to travel across India, the number one concern I have is the safety. Recent events and stories are somewhat worrisome....

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Darmabum

. . . the ones we chose to listen to . . . perhaps the only ones that get "Press" . . . (Meaning no disrepect and with only compassion for those who have been hurt, abused or have died in India): Shit does happen (Everywhere) . . . Magic Happens too . . . why isn't there more Magic on "Page 1"?

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bijapuri

Rangs- I can't believe you posted this troll- shame on you!

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PeakXV

Discussing bad things that happen in India is not at all a bad thing. I think IndiaMike should have more of that type of thing to make people aware of "hotspots", hostile parties or people. It makes us all smarter more savvy travellers. For instance, I had never heard of the Samajawadi Party. Am I afraid of them? No! Do I now want to learn more about their beliefs/cause? Yes

Ignorance is bliss - Knowledge may save your butt!

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

machadinha

I think it's mostly what the papers do, these stories are still few and far between I reckon. I also doubt if they've really been on the increase, maybe they just get more coverage. It works like that where I live.

That said, I was always amazed how safely you could get around India being obviously far better off than many people. Compared to e.g. South America this was really stunning.

Stories I hear seem to indicate there are some changes in this field beginning to show, my only real surprise is why it took so long.

Another thing is I hear more stories, not many, but enough, of especially young urban males getting cheeky not to say aggressive with tourists asking, What are you doing here at all, Did you just come to watch our poverty, and so on. This too seems like a natural development.

I think if anything it's to do with this globalization process that we all seem to be very fond of; and with the quick rise of an urbanized middle class and perhaps the accompanying "youth culture"; and with an apparently still lasting process of coming to grips with colonial history and defining one's place on the global stage and the insecurities this brings with it; and with so many generations of tourists flaunting their credit cards and video cameras about, and other such developments; and perhaps with the chickens finally coming home to roost.

So perhaps India is no longer, or will soon no longer be, the stuff of our tourist's or "traveller"'s innocent dreams that it probably never was to its inhabitants to begin with (with, of course, all due respect to Rangss and others).

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ddevadatta

Of course if a foreigner gets killed it is news; in any country. Be cautious, travel wisely, and hope for the best. India is still rather safe when you consider the shear numbers...

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batistuta

There have been a few cases of late where foreigners have been killed under strange circumstances.But to say that India may be going to the dogs or India not being safe anymore is pressing the panic button too soon.
This is a huge country and stray incidences of this nature are bound to happen(not in anyway condoning the violence).The incident against the aussie couple was quite shameful .

Peak,Samajavadi Pary is a pro minority party that would do anything to appease the muslim voters as they need muslim votes to win in thier main state UP(Uttar pradesh).So pelting stones against tourists and locals is thier way of sympathising with the minorities.

blue_lotus

I had a vacation in south India recently and had a great time. I felt quite safe there. But everyone was telling me the north is not so safe. Can anyone share their experience to the north? How unsafe is that?

ranjan154

India is such a big country with people of different thoughts and belief. Majority of them are guided/misguided by someone else mind, they dont have thier own opinions. May be its because of lack of knowledge or facts or simple because of vested political interest.

We in IM can do best to let travellers know what might happen in such events, Like Valentines day is approaching and there are chances of attacks on Gift shops and any such party by the extremists. So need to be more careful..

But these kind of incidence are not much in number, so india is still safe ..

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IndeGuru

These things can happen anywhere, antisocial elements can make any celebration an excuse to indulge in such incidents,unfortunate & uncalled for, but should not malign the whole country with one incident.

rangss

You may call it so, but this a serious question.

dreamer

Like Jasmin I have been wondering about the overall safety of traveling around India, especially as a woman alone. I DO feel safe, and always say so to worried friends and relatives when they ask me, but on may last trip I had a few experiences which made me feel uncomfortable.

I had several experiences in hotels where I didnt lock the door (in the daytime) and staff just came straight in to my room. I know this sounds stupid and I should have been more careful but sometimes you just come in, throw down your shopping and rush in to use your clean loo All doors work differently and some lock automatically and some don't. I complained to the management in both cases but it unnerved me.

Then I got in a car at a station and quickly realised he was not a proper taxi. Now that really did frighten me, any cabs in India are bad enough as the driving is not usually up to standard, but this guy was a lunatic. What scared me was that no-one knew where I was and he could have taken me anywhere as I didn't know the town.

I think the point is that India DOES feel safe and as with anything we can easily get lulled into a false sense of security. Just the same as you may forget to lock your car now and again but it is only when it gets stolen that you realise how stupid you were.

I think we should all be more careful when travelling. The world is not such an innocent and safe place as it once was and India is no exception. Unfortunately.

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BenV

It might have been a false sense of security, but India appears to us as very safe!

machadinha

This seems to be a persistent perception yes. I think some stuff that comes into play (generalizations alert as always, and always speaking as a foreigner of course) is that the north is generally more frantic, more industrialized, more densely populated; and perhaps that many Indians will be protective of you as a visitor to the point of being convinced that "bad" things will happen to you if you venture out at night, let alone cross-country by yourself -- an alien concept to many people in itself, who may not have had the opportunity to travel very far in their own country & who are generally used to having the comfort of friends and especially family around. And there are plenty of preconceptions flying about of course: Kashmiris are this, Punjabis are such, Telugus are etc. etc.

Travelling on my own (as far as that goes, it's hard not to hook up with people all the time ) I felt no less safe in the north than anywhere else; more pressurized at first by the general frenzy and pace of life there perhaps, but having taken a deep breath down south, I must say I loved the hustle and bustle returning up north. It's fun! Besides, contrary to some people's perceptions, the differences between north and south are subtle I think, they're not worlds apart.