Protest Action, the Police and Criminals

Oct 28, 2012 Letters

Dear Editor,
Recently many persons including men, women and children have been robbed, beaten, and generally demoralized on their way home. There is no justification for these barbarous acts. It must be condemned by all. Think of the hurt, loss and disillusion that those persons experienced.  Think of the mindset that those children involved will grow up with. This is a national disgrace that has been happening for many years now. Guyana is no war zone.

So how do these situations continue to happen? So far and I may be wrong, there was only one religious group condemning these heinous acts. Where are all the religious groups and the NGOs that are supposed to promote decent, civil society? This situation must be divorced from politics, isolated, and prevented by those in authority.  It is a sickness in our society. It must be nationally condemned by all good and respectable persons.
Of primary importance is the nurturing of those that were humiliated. What programs are in place for conciliation? Are those persons that were   beaten and robbed just to be forgotten and left to live with the sting of humiliation forever? This can do nothing else than breed ill-will and resentment for others. What recourse is there for these persons, especially the children, with disoriented minds? There needs to be a healing process. There must be the satisfaction of knowing that steps are taken to prevent such shameful acts in the future.
But the reality here is different. It seems that we are faced with a situation that equals to or surpasses the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. The authorities seem at a loss to figure out how to prevent this atrocity. Maybe the authorities do not care enough about the  victims to seek a resolution.

There may be persons who take evil delight in the robbing, beating and humiliation of others for their own selfish purposes but those persons are the few. I believe in the goodness of human nature. I believe we all want these acts to stop. Guyana is a beautiful place with a reputation of having gracious, friendly people.
The facts are simple and there for all to see. During protest action of which is expected in any democratic country such as ours, criminals infiltrate the crowd. This benefit no one as the protest action is disrupted and become discredited and citizens suffer at the hands of criminals. Innocent citizens are violated and criminals move one step further into destroying their own lives and disgracing their families.

The distressing thing is why, after so many instances of this happening, over so many years, there is no solution to this scenario. Why are there no countrywide community meetings to discuss this problem? Many persons have been affected over the years and live with the bitterness of being desecrated .Are these persons of no significance?
Any legitimate protest action will dissociate itself from criminals. In order for the protest action to be effective it must confirm with the established standards of the rule of law.

This is no ‘cowboy’ country although criminals would like to make it so. The police can and should be asked by those ‘voicing their rights’ to assist in ensuring the deterrence of criminals. I am sure that the police will be glad to cooperate and assist. Even if the protest is against the police themselves why are innocent school children, pregnant women and other citizens, beaten, robbed and prevented from going about their daily business until late into the night. This is ruthless lawlessness that has been allowed to go on for some mysterious reason.

This is no time to be quibbling over whom or what caused this situation to happen or who organized it. If it was organized at all we all know who did it – persons with evil intent. The criminals do not care about politics or protest action, this is clearly just plain hooliganism. People continue to be hurt and traumatized. What we want to know is what steps are taken to prevent this abominable situation from happening again when we have another protest action.
B.Shivdas