Dubai: The assault case in which an Emirati man beat an Indian driver over a minor traffic accident should be seen as an isolated incident that should not be used as a stereotype against each of the cultures represented, say members of the Emirati and Indian community.
The video, which went viral on YouTube, has gathered a great deal of public interest due to the fact that it occurred on the side of the road in broad daylight but nevertheless, residents representing both cultures agreed that all three parties were at fault, including the Indian man who uploaded the video online.
The chapter was finally closed as it was reported on Sunday that all charges against the Indian man who filmed the incident and uploaded it on YouTube have been dropped by the Emirati man’s family, and that the assault charge against the Emirati was also dropped by the mini bus driver.
“The UAE is a collage of cultures that are blended together, and that peacefully live with each other. You cannot judge a whole society by the actions of an individual… and I don’t think the video has tarnished the image of Emiratis. Everyone must stand up for their own actions,” said Nasif Kayed, general manager of Shaikh Mohammad Centre for Cultural Understanding.
“It is a pity because we are an imperfect species and all have our weaknesses, and his weakness is that he was unable to control his temper. Everyone has the option to do wrong or to do right, and in this case, he failed miserably in controlling his anger,” he explained.
Kayed explained that all parties were at fault, and that no one person should be blamed for the incident.
“The way the man burst out in anger was uncalled for, the other man should have stopped the fight instead of filming it, and the Indian man should have defended himself and tried to stop [the assault],” he said.
Senior members of the Indian and Emirati communities have praised the role of police and the government, who detained the assailant and the Indian man for recording the incident and defaming the suspect.
KV. Shamsudheen, director of Barjeel Geojit Securities, who has been living in the UAE for 43 years, pointed out that in all his years, he has never come across a violent incident between people of the two nationalities.
“Everybody involved was at fault but rules are rules that applied to everybody, whether they are a government official or not. Any individual can make a mistake on certain occasions, but this should not change people’s outlook on the UAE being one of the most peaceful countries in the world,” said Shamsudheen.
Bharatkumar Shah, chairman of Al Mustaneer Trading, who has lived in the country for more than 30 years, said: “Residents of Dubai must know that if any other influential government official was involved in this type of incident in any other part of the world, including India, nothing would have happened to that official. Nobody would have dared to touch him. I salute to the government of Dubai who took immediate action to detain the government official.”
