In the aftermath of the G20 Protests in London last week, it has emerged that and innocent bystander, Ian Tomlinson, died as a result of police brutality. In the lead up to the G20 Summit and the protests which were planned to coincide with the summit, there was worry and fear as to what the protesters were willing to do to get their point across. So what went horribly wrong in between?
Year after year the G20 protests around the world have come to represent several values which we hold dear to democracy and which we would like to be at the core of the discussions of the world's most powerful countries: freedom of speech, the right to assemble, redress of grievances, equality, the preservation of civil rights and liberties, the responsibility of safeguarding the lives of vulnerable groups and accountability of those countries involved to uphold and carry out all that they promise to achieve at any G20 summit. However, this year the G20 protests were way out of hand and I think that the protesters have a lot to answer for, including inciting hatred and aggressive behaviour.
The latter could possibly be due to the fact that the world is in the midst of an economic crisis, and therefore any opportunity to express one's anger at institutions deemed to be part of the problem or just to vent one's fear of the unknown, is taken up more than ever before and expressed through whatever means their human nature allows. This is wrong. There are things which no institution, no human mind, no policy and no twenty countries can even begin to fathom, and thus to fix anytime soon. It's sad that these same protesters who want to show that they know better, do not have the intellect to understand this point. And as a result, they may have just watered down the effectiveness of such protests. Why? I'll leave that to you to decide.
All this however, does not excuse the behaviour of the police who assaulted Ian Tomlinson and left him in a condition which led to his death. In other countries such behaviour by the police is described in two simple words which equal a cold and uncomfortable term: police brutality. It may not be as bad as during the Civil Rights Movement in the States, or the Apartheid regime in South Africa, or the current situation in Zimbabwe, simply because this police brutality was not caused by race or ethnicity. But it is just as bad because it came as a result of division - possibly class division - and also as a result of those in uniforms forgetting that momentary and fleeting anger or reflexes are not part of their job description.
So between the protesters and the police, the two groups both have something to answer for. And unfortunately, the powers that be - the G20 - have taken nothing positive away from this experience of protest. Apart from the fact that they are sometimes right about the masses and the small mob mentality which can sometimes boil into a large mistake and wrong way of thinking which leads to senseless actions.
My sympathy goes out to Iam Tomlinson and my condolences to his family.
The latter could possibly be due to the fact that the world is in the midst of an economic crisis, and therefore any opportunity to express one's anger at institutions deemed to be part of the problem or just to vent one's fear of the unknown, is taken up more than ever before and expressed through whatever means their human nature allows. This is wrong. There are things which no institution, no human mind, no policy and no twenty countries can even begin to fathom, and thus to fix anytime soon. It's sad that these same protesters who want to show that they know better, do not have the intellect to understand this point. And as a result, they may have just watered down the effectiveness of such protests. Why? I'll leave that to you to decide.
All this however, does not excuse the behaviour of the police who assaulted Ian Tomlinson and left him in a condition which led to his death. In other countries such behaviour by the police is described in two simple words which equal a cold and uncomfortable term: police brutality. It may not be as bad as during the Civil Rights Movement in the States, or the Apartheid regime in South Africa, or the current situation in Zimbabwe, simply because this police brutality was not caused by race or ethnicity. But it is just as bad because it came as a result of division - possibly class division - and also as a result of those in uniforms forgetting that momentary and fleeting anger or reflexes are not part of their job description.
So between the protesters and the police, the two groups both have something to answer for. And unfortunately, the powers that be - the G20 - have taken nothing positive away from this experience of protest. Apart from the fact that they are sometimes right about the masses and the small mob mentality which can sometimes boil into a large mistake and wrong way of thinking which leads to senseless actions.
My sympathy goes out to Iam Tomlinson and my condolences to his family.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to comment on any post you would like to. Please also note, however, that no abusive, profane, explicit, swearing or personally demeaning comments will be allowed. Thank you.