COUNTRYMAN – Stories about life, in and out of Guyana, from a Guyanese perspective

Aug 09, 2015 Countryman, Features / Columnists

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Stealth, savagery, vulnerability and ‘Murder most foul’

By Dennis Nichols

Few of us like to contemplate murder, or are enthused by it. I don’t and I am not, but here we go again. Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder Most Foul’ and Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ come to mind. Macbeth’s killing of Duncan, though far removed in terms of betrayal and political significance, bears a smidgen of similarity, in juxtaposition to the description, the video, and the predawn setting of the Emancipation Day murder of an old woman at Montrose on the East Coast of Demerara.

For one thing it brings to us graphically how the noxious combination of stealth and savagery work against unawareness and vulnerability, as in this case, the virtual no-contest between an old woman and her killer is played out. It forces us (again) to truly understand that a murder is much more than the story, the statistics, and the pictures which appear on a newspaper page or on a television screen.

In the video, with voyeuristic apprehension we see a human being moving around in the apparent security of her home, oblivious to the insidious threat a few feet away. Although we know that tragedy is imminent, we flinch when we ‘see’ the blow and ‘hear’ the soundless fall as she crumples to the floor. This is no play.

There is growing concern that as civilization progresses, humanity as a whole seems to be regressing in its propensity for violence and evil, and its response to it. Critics say we are becoming numb to senseless acts of violence. There are simply too many and too frequent – at the movie theatres, on the TV screen, on the internet, and in real life on the streets and in our homes. Then of course, access to guns and other lethal weapons is ridiculously easy in many countries.

Additionally, from what we are learning in the aftermath of this crime, it seems that like so many others before it, this isn’t as senseless as one might have first imagined. Yet the idea that a killer has only a payment motive to execute such a heinous act so impassively, strikes at the very core of what it means to be human; simply ‘you tell me where, when and how; I do it; you pay me; end of business.’ And if it was indeed a contract killing, let’s hope the police find the killer before his ‘employer’ does.

Every day, and everywhere, I sense the silent cry of ‘what’s happening in Guyana?’ Its echo reverberates across the globe, and you can substitute almost any other country for ours. But I live here, and barring some inexplicable event, I will die here. So in the interim, it makes sense for me to at least try and understand why my country is so blighted by crime, and why so many young men and women become both the perpetrators and victims of such unspeakable acts. Maybe I/we can start with the images and words that saturate young minds, and the laxity which accommodates them.

For example, there is a great deal of debate concerning the effect that violent movies, TV shows, and video games have on children. I am no expert, but I tend to side with those who say it is a much more deleterious than entertaining one. To those two references, add the disturbing images and lyrics of some music videos. How anyone can say that some of these have no real negative effects on children and young people is beyond me.

I know there are those ‘experts’ who feel that children under the normal authority and mentorship of responsible adults do not grow up to be delinquents, murderers and career criminals. But that is true only to a degree; in fact I would think that is so only to the extent that our children and youth do actually have parents and parent figures who give a damn about what they watch or are exposed to, and who lead by example. Many don’t, and if you live in Guyana or even in the mighty USA for example, you know just what I mean.

To support their conclusion, experts often cite the difference between the United States and countries like Japan, where children are exposed to similar movie and video-game violence. The US reportedly has the highest homicide rate in the world; in Japan it’s close to zero. They say it’s because of the country’s severe restrictions on firearms. True, but as far as I understand, parents and parental skills also play a much greater role generally in the lives of Japanese children than they do in America.

A few practical examples should suffice. To cement early bonding, according to an internet source, Japanese parents usually take their babies everywhere they go, using the traditional body sling. They teach their children from a very young age to be independent and self-reliant, and often allow kids to work out conflict situations for themselves. They teach them good manners and “sustained” discipline (shitsuke) by doing daily activities with them such as preparing food and having conversations while doing so. Children are expected to learn good behaviour by imitating how their parents act, rather than through correction or criticism.

Okay, Guyana isn’t Japan, but neither is it America. Don’t we have a choice as parents and caregivers to guide our charges with the kind of nurturing discipline as Japanese parents do, or are we now so Americanized and Westernized that the oriental model seems unnecessary or unreachable? Our politicians, parents, teachers, medical personnel and social institutions need to join forces and take a fresh look at this vital aspect of domestic and national life in order to effectively tackle crime.

In doing so, our movers, shakers and policy makers have much to deal with, and they will have to show a level of courage and commitment previously unheard of in this country – martyr-like determination and pit bull tenacity. They have to overcome the perception of ignorance and apathy that some people in Guyana and in the region, have of them. They can’t be like the guy (in the joke) who, when asked to define ignorance and apathy, replied ‘I don’t know, and I don’t care’.

Seriously though, can’t our police force, judicial system, social and medical services cooperate to analyze and explore the reasons for the crime upsurge we have experienced since the turn of the century? And after so doing can’t they devise commonsense strategies to stem the crime tide, at least in part? Of course they will have to tell us what part we the common citizens can play in this exercise. Some of us know already, but we need official sanction.

Maybe they need to sit down and have more extensive dialogue with people like Lennox Wayne, Sean Hinds, Mark Benschop, Freddie Kissoon, and some of the more astute ‘road men and women’ in our midst. Maybe import some Scotland Yard-type detectives and RCMP officers. We hold membership in INTERPOL too, don’t we? Maybe bring back capital punishment, although that is one I wouldn’t necessarily agree with. But if Carmen Ganesh were my sister or close relative, who knows? The ante has been upped. The effort must be commensurate.

It isn’t politically correct nowadays to label someone a victim. The word, it is said, connotes the kind of weakness and helplessness that is anathema to modern, independent humans. In the case of Carmen Ganesh however, and based on what is known of how she died, I can think of no more fitting word. She was in the end, in terroristic parlance, a soft target – a frail obstacle in the way of apparently heart-hardened greed, in an act defined by stealth and unprovoked savagery.

 

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