Dear Editor,
There was a period a few centuries ago when offenders were tied to the stocks and crowds were allowed to throw insults, rotten vegetables and other offensive items on them, not knowing whether the victim was truly guilty or a mere impoverished victim of the whim of some vindictive low level minion of the crown, we too had the stocks in old Stabroek.
This reflection is relevant because the mobs of then were interpreted to be unintelligent, crablike in their disposition and incapable of moral reasoning. Does a literate society today mean that they are above that past society? We can compare. Tuesday September 25, 08 Kaieteur News on page 18 carried an article ‘Jankalar’ jailed for single bullet, it relates to a young man named Sherwin Pinder caught up in the hopelessness of living in today’s Guyana, outside of the shrunken ‘comfort zone’ that a few enjoy, of course he may have made some bad choices, but so do all of us. This young man’s crime was wearing a live bullet as a pendant, he was in front of the current chief magistrate, to quote the article; “Pinder further told the court that he was selling copper and also considered selling the bullet” unquote; this was after he said that he had no military training and was not aware that he was breaking the law, or that it was a bullet, the crucial point of analysis lies in the following condensed extract from the article “The magistrate explained to him the maximum and minimum sentences and fines, he responds `Meh worship don’t laugh meh; me ain’t understand wha yuh just tell meh; y’all don’t laugh,’ Pinder begged of the court which at that time was in an uproar.”
I am not at liberty to state whether Sherwin Pinder is one of the hundreds of drug addicts that roam, sleep and occupy our streets, parks, sea walls and remain invisible to this government; perhaps he is a victim of frustration and has lost his balance, or he may be slightly retarded, whatever his circumstances, did it not occur to the open court that this was a serious matter? That the mockery through laughter at the pathetic condition of this citizen is in itself judgment at your own inferior state of consciousness?
Then to weigh this situation, this magistrate still sentenced this young man to a year in prison, where does society benefit from this? To an overcrowded prison? For a petty act that could have deserved community service.
It’s up to the reader of this letter to evaluate, if the mentality of the mob centuries ago with all of the modern interpretations of their behaviour culture was not mentally reincarnated in that court September 2008.
Yours faithfully,
Barrington Braithwaite
