Calcutta Citizen

I am a graduate student at UC San Diego and I am from Calcutta, India. I would like to draw your attention to the reporting “A Calcutta Murderer Slinks From Depths Of Depravity” by Mark Fineman (Oct. 9).

At the end of the second paragraph Fineman has reported, “Calcutta is being stalked and spooked by a serial murderer, barbaric even by local standards.” As a citizen of Calcutta I find this remark not only an ignorant one, but also insulting because it clearly implies that the local standards of Calcutta are already barbaric.

Born and raised in Calcutta, I know the demerits of the city better than any one else and I also know that it is a shame for us that people still sleep on the streets, but having beggars and poor people doesn’t prove at all that the standards of a city are barbaric.

I would like to know by what standards has Fineman judged Calcutta, especially if the issue involves crime, because he himself is the citizen of a country which is known in the world for having the highest crime rate. Fineman should have known that in spite of the large population, Calcutta is the least crime-infested city in India. It is far behind any city in America as far as crime goes. The barbaric drive-by shootings by gangs which are so common in this country are alien to the citizens of Calcutta. Women in Calcutta are absolutely safe on the streets compared to the women in Los Angeles or New York and the murder rate doesn’t affect the normal flow of life in the city.

SUNANDA KR. SANYAL, La Jolla