Forward to the past!

Feb 07, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Back in the day – at least up to the late 1970s – old people suffered terribly at the hands of children of school age. The elderly would be shuffling slowly along the streets, some could hardly move quickly, and they would face a torrent of verbal and physical abuse from children.

The children would have no mercy on these poor old souls as they made their way along the streets. The old people would be pelted with rock and stones and tormented with verbal abuse.

No one ever did a sociological study as why, in those days, the children were so eager and so without sympathy in tormenting old and lame people. But this sort of cruelty against the elderly was rampant at that time. But then it disappeared.

In those days also, the West Coast Berbice Public Road was not as heavily trafficked as it is today. It was also not as well lit. In those days it was not unknown for drivers who struck down a pedestrian or even an animal to be taken out of their vehicles and given a sound trashing in certain villages. But vehicles were never vandalized. Some drivers upon being involved in an accident in certain areas would drive to the nearest police station and report the incident rather than stop at the scene, as required by law, and risk being beaten to a pulp.

Last Sunday, it was a shocking throwback to those days when a driver who allegedly collided with an electric bike, was beaten, robbed and had his car torched. It was a shocking development; one which it was assumed would have been left in the recesses of history.

That the car was set alight shows that there was more to the rage than simply concern over the accident. Further investigations will determine whether the torching of the vehicle was a hate-crime. But either way, this sort of conduct has no place in modern society.

A few days earlier, there was a shooting incident in Buxton during an operation carried out by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU). The team from CANU was chasing a vehicle suspected to be carrying narcotics and in the course of the pursuit shots were fired. Despite no one being hurt, it was reported that some residents became hostile to the lawmen and later blocked the main Public Road in protest at the actions of the lawmen.

But what was more difficult to understand is why was a truck which had nothing to do with the incident, was set upon and set alight. The driver was also reported roughed up and robbed.

There are videos on social media of parts of the violence at both Hopetown, West Coast Berbice and at Buxton, East Coast Demerara. These videos should be scoured by the police since it is possible to identify some of the persons who were involved in unlawful and violent actions in both of these incidents.

Following the incident at Hopetown, the police has come out and said that it is exercising zero-tolerance towards the blocking of roads. But the same approach needs to be adopted in relation to robbing, assaulting, and the committing of arson during such incidents.

Following an incident at Moon Repos last year, one Minister of the government promised that serious charges would be forthcoming. But this has not materialized and the failure to take action against those culpable can only lend license to similar incidents in the future.

Photograph-enhancing and face recognition technologies are now available to make easier the identification of the culprits. Action must be taken to hold accountable those responsible for the violence in the two recent incidents. Once the guilty have been identified, those responsible can also be sued for tort damages. No stone must be left unturned to bring the guilty to justice.

If the driver of the car involved in the incident at Hopetown was guilty of an offence, then he should too be prosecuted. Vigilante justice should be made an example by the authorities. And if the assault and arson constituted hate crimes, then the assailants should also face charges under the relevant laws.

However, the government has had a tendency to allow such incidents to slide, out of the fear of instigating further unrest. But history has taught us that unless there is effective and lawful deterrence, then such incidents have a way of repeating themselves.

History moves forward, not backwards. And there is no reason why Guyana should be going backwards.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Hopetown, Moon Repos, Peeping Tom, West Coast Berbice Public Road

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