The devil within

 

Subject: The devil within

As another terrorist attack takes place in New Zealand one has to start to question the cloak and dagger approach to terrorism in democratic law abiding societies. This guy a Siri Lankan was known to the police and the phrase "a person of interest" was used.

When does 'a person of interest' to the police become 'a person of interest' to the general public, usually only after a heinous crime has been committed. Isn't it our right to know who is a person of interest so we can collectively have an interest in them to protect ourselves.

In the 1800s' the small town market place held in its stocks people who were 'people of interest' or people who had been convicted of crime, they were held in the market place so people could see who they were and, if they had a mind to, pelt them with rotten fruit. This public shaming is now a days thought too harsh, it inflicts on their civil liberties and only when the blast riddled carcasses are strewn across the pavement do we wake up and announce our fears.

The face of a 'politically correct' chief constable strikes fear in my heart as they use the media savvy phrases "we will learn from this event" it's a smoke screen to prevent us knowing how bad the situation is. Afraid to set community against community they teeter on the path of deceit to the point where they loose all respect.

And speaking of communities where were the communities who spoke out against these nascent terrorist, no man is an island and people close would know something. Where are the voices in those communities, in the mosque and in the neighbourhood to warn the jahid ideologue that they were known to their brothers and sisters and they must stop. This undercurrent of them and us only fosters taking sides but in this case extremism should play no part in the lives of people living here, or in New Zealand.

Perhaps the law of anonymity should be changed and 'people of interests' made known to us all so we know the devil within.