Playing smart with foolishness

Dear Editor:

My mother use to tell me, you must not play smart with foolishness! What wise words they have turned out to be as I have lived my life.

These part couple of week we have seen significant foolishness being played out in front of our very eyes and people playing smart with it. A man is supposedly fasting for an environmental concern, without the overt support of any other environmentalist or environmental body in the country. Or maybe a man is fasting on behalf of a minority of citizens, none of whom see it fit to fast at least one day with him. Or maybe a man is fasting because he has backed himself into a dangerous end game, trying to force the hand of a government with unmitigated stubbornness As it would now appear “vox paucioribus, vox dei”. We are trying to rewrite the popular Latin phrase to state that the voice of the minority is the voice of god.

I am totally confused as to what are Dr. Kublalsingh’s aims in this fast. Religious leaders are meaningless in this fight, they have no effect. The Prime Minister has exercised good sense and compassion in asking them to mediate and let good sense prevail, but to no avail. One man may end his life by his own hands in seconds by any available method, some take over 25 days and counting. We may feel sorry for the former for maybe a minute or two, however the latter is a hero. It is this same logic that may lead us to think suicide bombers are martyrs, however most people exercise good judgement and don’t.

What we now have is a man who thinks the law process and the courts are meaningless, and he could now employ terrorist methods to force a government hand’s. To compare him to Gandhi is to belittle the great man’s legacy, for his fight was altruistic and well defined. How is this different to what occurred July 1990? One man used force and guns, another is using lack of food and water, but it is to same end! They rule of law means nothing to them. Did he win in the courts and the government is going against the judgement? Not at all, so where is the injustice? Is his strike or demands “reasonable”? If there is no political angle to this, why strike outside the Prime Minister’s office? Why is he allowed to even set up camp there, is this not a security risk?

I am taking note and I am making a prediction, that Wayne Kublalsingh has unleashed a movement of lawlessness on this land. I will not be surprised to see in the future hunger strikes becoming a common feature in this country to force an outcome in your favour. Throw a tantrum to get your way if you must. Playing smart with foolishness I tell you.

Anil Roopnarine
via email