I wonder at what the common factors are that conspire to bring nine individuals to commit murder? Not nine members of a gang of robbers or killer but nine individuals who have chosen to serve their fellow man as the guardians of the law no less!
The Angulana Killings have been well documented so there is little need to go into the details, but I'd like to figure out what drove these men to take two lives.
The social economic backgrounds of the nine and their roots could not be a similar, for a typical Police Station consists of individuals drawn from various parts of the country. And while discipline and adherence to the chain of command is expected, surely as individuals, did it not strike anyone one of them that what they were doing was morally and legally wrong?!
How have we become so callous? Yes, a 30 yr war, two insurgencies must surely have taken its toll upon us, perhaps we can even allocate part of the blame to the influence of television and video games... but shouldn't we know better?
My own line of thinking is inclined towards the examples we are set, by parents, by teachers, by people we look up to, who are supposed to lead us in a just,fair, firm manner, but who in reality do so by stooping to the level of a gutter - who achieve their means by what ever course possible, be it right or wrong.
One has only to open one news paper or the other to find glaring examples of this - laws bent to accommodate personal agenda's, laws disregarded as politician storm Police Stations to free their henchmen, Policemen circumventing procedures, falsifying documents even as the general public protest outside, the list is endless.
Sadly our beautiful country seems to have become a the fiefdom of those in power and those that hold positions of power, a ripe fruit, lying there to be picked at of its sweetness by a few at the cost of the greater, who like lambs, easily swayed by empty word and promises galore
We are all responsible I think, as guilty as the bad, for we remain silent...
"30 yr war, two insurgencies must surely have taken its toll upon us"
ReplyDeleteI think these turbulent times cannot be easily forgotten Sig... I am not trying to justify the actions of these police officers in any way, but the soul of this country is destroyed in such a way that it's sadly nearly impossible to get back to 'the way it was' back in the 'good old days'...
@ Chavie: True, but surely, the 2500yrs of culture we speak of must have had some effect - or is it all just talk? All that has happened is no reason to ignore or even forget to recognize what is good and what is not, what is evil
ReplyDeleteTrue what you say, but I wonder over these years if our basic instincts have been shifted from 'fight or flight' to 'kill or get killed!'.. o__O
ReplyDeleteIn any case we're not a hopeless nation. and that 25 century old history is authentic, dry zone has plenty of proof.
So.. if it was media's fault that we've become what we're today, I think it's high time media should brainwash themselves to have more morally-enriched-brainwashing episodes than ever before. It's easy said than done.. I know.. but media obviously has the power and potential to revive us.. if used correctly and ethically.. is what I think.
@ Harumi: Interesting perspective, and yeah I see where you are coming from about the media.
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