#corentyne

It is not every day that you open the local newspapers and read about an entire police station being transferred from a community because of incompetence, insensitivity and as alleged in this recent case, complicity in crime. But earlier this week it happened.

As reported in the press, frustrated citizens in Corentyne protested on Sunday and called for an end to the escalating crime in their community and a change in police operations. They criticised police indifference to crime, while implicating some ranks in the criminality that led them to leave their homes and take to the streets to give voice to their frustrations.

And, not surprisingly, Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee publicly declared the very next day that he was aware of the issues and had even acted in the interest of the aggrieved citizens–prior to the unrest on Sunday he had ordered Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell to effect a “total change of guard” at the Number 51 Village Police Station, in the light of escalating robberies in Corentyne villages.

The question many asked, and reasonably so, was this: What about crimes and police inaction in other areas and when can we expect a similar call from the minister for a total change of guard? It is not likely to happen is it?

Do you know what is predictable about our politics? That right there—the administration’s scurrying to Corentyne to reassure citizens that matters are being addressed and things are being done. At the same time, communities across this country are overwhelmed by crime and violence and some of us are lucky to have a meeting with the minister to air concerns.

Even more troubling was this statement from the Police Commissioner, who also seemed to be in some sort of a flurry to appear responsive. A Stabroek News report quoted him as saying, “…When I hear about robberies in certain areas, it makes me uncomfortable… I have to answer a lot of questions.” He said too: “As long as I have to answer a lot of questions, my commander also has to answer a lot of questions from me.”

Do you know what is sad about our politics? That right there—the Police Commissioner’s very public admission that keeping residents secured in “certain” communities is important to the people who “ask him a lot of questions.”

The Corentyne unrest was about people holding government and law enforcement to account for their role as the lead authority and protector of our rights and property. The problems they face are widespread across the country but rather than use this struggle to communicate zero tolerance against crime and violence in our communities, some in our leadership including the Minister and the Commissioner decided to taint it by not only acting in a partisan manner but boldly telling us about it.

It is these divisive actions that strip people of the will to engage government; especially young people active in our democracy. For many years the threat of people taking to the streets has hung like a dark shadow over our society because of the unruliness and related violence of past demonstrations. Consequently, protesting has been saddled with negative connotations and mere mention of the word seems to shake up a few people, particularly in our business community. This should not be so.

Every citizen in our democracy has a right to freedom of assembly and speech, which is what protesting is. We take to the streets in protest when we are aggrieved, when our fundamental rights are being trampled upon, when justice eludes us, when corruption affects us, and so on. The problem arises when we assemble and allow violence to alter the nature of our struggles and to give a destructive meaning to the word protest.

The residents of Corentyne had a right to demand more secure communities and to press for changes in policing. The problem came when the Minister and the Commissioner boldly came out and said what many people were thinking—that the administration was going to rush to make things right at Corentyne while unrest in other communities is quickly criminalised.

Take Linden, for example. During the unrest of July 2012, the administration took a combative approach towards frustrated citizens rather than simply engaging them. Regrettably, three persons lost their lives, others were wounded and tremendous losses were suffered. Indeed, the unrest was not always peaceful but people were angry and hurt and government was largely unresponsive.

The community of Agricola also erupted in October 2012 after 17-year-old Shaquille Grant was killed by police and later criminalised. Residents were crying out for justice and they complained about the violent police treatment usually meted out to youths in the community. While that unrest was also marred by reports of robberies and violence, the administration was again, unresponsive.

No one is sitting around waiting to draw comparisons but during the early hours of the unrest in Corentyne many citizens on social media platforms raised questions about how the administration was going to respond given that Corentyne is, to put it simply, a strong party support base. “Everything on a platter by midnight for Corentyne residents,” was how one individual analysed the situation. “These are crucial votes watch as they rush to appease and please,” said another and a string of other observations were made in this same vein.

These feelings are not ethnically- and/or politically-motivated as some would like us to believe. These feelings are real and are the result of a political system which has for years taught us to think in terms of a majority and a minority—a party-driven system that organises along constituent and ethnic lines; in other words, a system that fosters divisions and injustices.

The challenge for the current administration has been to treat all members of our society as equal citizens and to promote a politics which is inclusive rather than exclusionary. This administration is not short on democracy lessons (though it currently appears averse to deepening it given its posture on the United States LEAD project). It understands quite well that a well-functioning democracy requires that all citizens be treated fairly.

But as we begin the first day of a new month this year, people are internalising the Corentyne unrest and everything that happened after, statements and all. They are questioning what kind of a democracy we have here and they are allowing apathy to flourish.