Crime, not an accident of berth! Why China has been cracking down seat-robbing in its trains

With bullet trains promised for Indians in the not-so-near future, it may be germane to note that China has been cracking down on a crime in its own such trains that is already endemic in India’s not-so-speedy versions: seat robbing. Imbuing the often unconscious act of occupying a space reserved for someone else with the serious implications of ‘robbery’ is certainly a first, and indicative of the dim view that China takes of these transgressions. Indeed, this kind of ‘robbery’ is dealt with in the same manner as any other felony by the Chinese authorities now, with convictions and jail terms — and social media posts. And it cannot be denied that part of the ignominy of being named and shamed as a “seat robber” is definitely the giggles such perpetrators evoke when outed to their law-abiding and seat-abiding fellow citizens.

In most nations, the term would probably be used for obstreperous lager louts who rip out stadium seats and carry them away after a particularly boisterous football league final, not some irritatingly obstinate and voluble woman commuter with an inexplicable penchant for someone’s lawfully ticketed train berth, as was the most recent case in China. Besides, the desire to cling on to seats over which someone has no right is not uncommon, even in places other than bullet trains. And India is no exception.