OPINION: Indian dairy owners have got to be one the most politically disenfranchised groups of people in country.
They're being robbed and beaten every week by mobs of young thugs and feel completely unprotected by the police. They are sitting ducks.
This week police released disgusting footage showing four guys, aged 15, 17, 18 and 20, holding a shop owner at knife-point and beating him on the head.
Cigarettes are their bounty - unintended consequences of Government tax hikes. Fewer young people are smoking, but more Indian dairy owners are being bashed.
Adding to that feeling of isolation is a feeling of frustration. Frustration that "in this soft country", as one dairy owner told me yesterday, "we can't arm ourselves and fight back".
Some would like guns.
Unless somebody does something, and soon, this will end badly. For whom exactly, depends on what action is taken.
There are a few options.
Option 1: Control
Restrict who can sell cigarettes. Only retailers with tight security can sell cigarettes.
Result: Dairies go out of business (it accounts for 60 percent of their business).
Option 2: Liberate
Reduce tax on cigarettes to just cover the cost on health system of people smoking.
Result: Smoking rates go up. Dairy robberies are reduced. Aggravated robbery statistics improve.
Option 3: Fight back
Allow shopkeepers to arm themselves with guns for self-defence.
Result: Mistakes could result in accidental death. Robbers arm themselves and robberies become more violent. Robberies by non-sophisticated criminals reduce, but those with access to firearms increase.
Option 4: Fight back (with one hand)
Allow shopkeepers to arm themselves with Tasers.
Result: Deters non-armed robbers. May incite more violent robberies or even encourage some thieves to arm themselves with guns.
The answer:
We can't put police on every corner. Harsher penalties don't deter these kid criminals. Guns are a step too far, but dairy owners should be allowed to carry Tasers for protection.
They should also be allowed to sell cigarettes (it's a free country), but they should be cheaper. Remove the portion of Government tax on smokes that goes over and above the users' cost to the health system.
These teenagers who want to smoke can buy a packet for as little as $15, or risk being stung by a Taser to steal them.
It's a quick, short-sighted response, but it would actually do something to help these disenfranchised shopkeepers.
They deserve some response from somebody.
Ryan Bridge is the host of Your Sunday on RadioLIVE.
