Soul searching at forum over rise in number of Indian criminals
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — The police came in for both praise and condemnation at a recent MIC-organised forum on the shooting death of five Indian men between the ages 17 and 24 in Klang last week.
While some speakers slammed the police as trigger happy, other groups at the free-for-all forum between MIC Youth and Indian NGOs praised the police for getting rid of a menace.
Other NGO leaders took a middle ground, saying police must take tough action against criminals but emphasised the need to arrest and charge them in court as an example to other youths.
The forum, organised by MIC Youth leader T. Mohan, saw a lively, no-holds-barred debate on other issues including why Indian youths as young as 13 to 15 years take to crime and how to sever the nexus between the youths and crime.
Various solutions were offered, ranging from the serious to the hilarious.
The NGOs leaders concluded that more Indian youths were taking to crime than ever before and their ages were getting younger. Many said secondary schools were the new breeding ground for criminals.
While some blamed the Internet, others put the blame on violent Tamil movies, dysfunctional families, lack of parental supervision, an uncaring government, a brutal police force and the school system itself.
Mohan said that because of the wide differences in opinion over the issue the Youth wing will hold an extended workshop soon and allow more detailed presentation by experts.
“We will meet the Inspector-General of Police to present a memorandum on our findings and how the police should handle the situation,” he said.
Several grassroots NGO workers related numerous cases of Indian gangs virtually terrorising certain settlements by stealing, breaking into houses and committing all kind of atrocities.
“People in some settlements like longhouses and flats rejoice when one gang bites the bullet,” a NGO worker said. “Don’t think that everybody mourns their passing… there are many who also rejoice.”
Another related how Indian youths recently ransacked a house for valuables and when they found nothing, they stripped a teenage girl naked and threatened to take photographs of her to publish on the Internet.
Other participants related how after some youths snatched a bag and fled, they returned to chop off a hand of their victim because there was no money in the handbag.
There was hushed silence when different grassroots leaders related their various experiences.
These included narratives by former gangsters who had spend many years under detention in the Sungei Rengam Detention Centre in Johor where suspected criminals are held without charge.
They said the centre should be closed down and all suspects are either freed or charged.
“The centre is a university for criminals to meet, form gangs and plan robberies… it should be closed down,” said a former Gang 18 member who is now a successful businessman.
He also said corruption in the police was a reason for the rising violent crime rate.
“Police let criminals and gangs take shape and tax them for income and shoot them dead when convenient,” he said. “They should be better paid not get peanuts for a tough job.”
He said that if the police were motivated, received proper training and promotions and housing and better wages they would not tolerate crooks but move against them immediately.
“Now it is like an industry… they let them survive, get a cut and shoot them where necessary,” he said,
Other grassroots leaders passionately railed against alcohol as the main reason why Indian youths take to crime.
“Cheap samsu is so easily available and all day long they drink, get drunk and look for victims,” said another NGO leader. “They rob to drink and eventually end up as hardcore criminals.”
At the end of it Mohan summarised that the issue was indeed complex and there was not one cause but multiple reasons why Indian youths take to crime in a big way.
Whatever the case, he said, shooting them to death was not the answer to resolving the issue.
“Indian youths need jobs, skills and a meaningful career, and only this way can we resolve the problem,” he said. “Not just the police but all of us need to discard the idea that we can shoot our way to a solution.”
Mi
19/11/09
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — The police came in for both praise and condemnation at a recent MIC-organised forum on the shooting death of five Indian men between the ages 17 and 24 in Klang last week.
While some speakers slammed the police as trigger happy, other groups at the free-for-all forum between MIC Youth and Indian NGOs praised the police for getting rid of a menace.
Other NGO leaders took a middle ground, saying police must take tough action against criminals but emphasised the need to arrest and charge them in court as an example to other youths.
The forum, organised by MIC Youth leader T. Mohan, saw a lively, no-holds-barred debate on other issues including why Indian youths as young as 13 to 15 years take to crime and how to sever the nexus between the youths and crime.
Various solutions were offered, ranging from the serious to the hilarious.
The NGOs leaders concluded that more Indian youths were taking to crime than ever before and their ages were getting younger. Many said secondary schools were the new breeding ground for criminals.
While some blamed the Internet, others put the blame on violent Tamil movies, dysfunctional families, lack of parental supervision, an uncaring government, a brutal police force and the school system itself.
Mohan said that because of the wide differences in opinion over the issue the Youth wing will hold an extended workshop soon and allow more detailed presentation by experts.
“We will meet the Inspector-General of Police to present a memorandum on our findings and how the police should handle the situation,” he said.
Several grassroots NGO workers related numerous cases of Indian gangs virtually terrorising certain settlements by stealing, breaking into houses and committing all kind of atrocities.
“People in some settlements like longhouses and flats rejoice when one gang bites the bullet,” a NGO worker said. “Don’t think that everybody mourns their passing… there are many who also rejoice.”
Another related how Indian youths recently ransacked a house for valuables and when they found nothing, they stripped a teenage girl naked and threatened to take photographs of her to publish on the Internet.
Other participants related how after some youths snatched a bag and fled, they returned to chop off a hand of their victim because there was no money in the handbag.
There was hushed silence when different grassroots leaders related their various experiences.
These included narratives by former gangsters who had spend many years under detention in the Sungei Rengam Detention Centre in Johor where suspected criminals are held without charge.
They said the centre should be closed down and all suspects are either freed or charged.
“The centre is a university for criminals to meet, form gangs and plan robberies… it should be closed down,” said a former Gang 18 member who is now a successful businessman.
He also said corruption in the police was a reason for the rising violent crime rate.
“Police let criminals and gangs take shape and tax them for income and shoot them dead when convenient,” he said. “They should be better paid not get peanuts for a tough job.”
He said that if the police were motivated, received proper training and promotions and housing and better wages they would not tolerate crooks but move against them immediately.
“Now it is like an industry… they let them survive, get a cut and shoot them where necessary,” he said,
Other grassroots leaders passionately railed against alcohol as the main reason why Indian youths take to crime.
“Cheap samsu is so easily available and all day long they drink, get drunk and look for victims,” said another NGO leader. “They rob to drink and eventually end up as hardcore criminals.”
At the end of it Mohan summarised that the issue was indeed complex and there was not one cause but multiple reasons why Indian youths take to crime in a big way.
Whatever the case, he said, shooting them to death was not the answer to resolving the issue.
“Indian youths need jobs, skills and a meaningful career, and only this way can we resolve the problem,” he said. “Not just the police but all of us need to discard the idea that we can shoot our way to a solution.”
Mi
19/11/09
No comments:
Post a Comment