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by Gada Mahfud
As the Libyan people emerge victorious from their eight-month ordeal, they look back with sadness at the death toll; the freedom Libyans thrive on today was achieved at a price. No Libyan will ever be the same.
Every Libyan family has lost some member or is missing a friend or relative. Though no formal figure has been released the death toll is estimated to be over fifty thousand. What is more shocking is that most of the dead, injured and missing are below the age of thirty.
It seems that Al Qathafi was not just happy with ruining the past, but also wanted his destruction to reach out into the future by killing our youth.
After being exposed to the seven-months long NATO bombing campaign and so much violence you’d think that this nation has taken all it can take when it comes to weapons. Instead, a dangerous reckless phenomena has emerged, celebratory gun-fire, with people celebrating the collapse of Al Qathafi’s regime by shooting deadly guns in the air, on occasions with deadly results and and injury.
Another source of huge concern is that the majority of those who are armed are civilians who have had no or little training in weaponry. They do not know how to handle these weapons properly and therefore are a danger to themselves and to others.
It is vital that these weapons are rounded up as soon as possible for the stability of the country and for the safety and wellbeing of the Libyan people.
Both the current the chairman of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, and the media have repeatedly tried to put an end to this phenomenon, but neither has been successful thus far.
In my opinion this macabre obsession with guns is due partly to the helplessness experienced by the Libyans, in the last few months, indeed throughout the four decades of Al Qathafi’s reign of terror, so this random gun-shooting in the air is a form of an expression.
It is a display of empowerment and also a misguided way for the people of expressing their absolute freedom after being stifled for so long. It is a sort of pinch me just to check I am not dreaming.
The bullets exploding in the air is the sound that confirms to these youths that the new-found freedom is not just a dream, that freedom is a reality.
Now that we have identified the problem we need to cure it because after losing so many lives we cannot afford to lose one more soul needlessly. Libyan lives have become very valuable after being worthless for so long.
Mustafa Abdul-Jalil could put his foot down I suppose, but he is such a wise and compassionate man that he is deliberately being patient because he knows that these youths have been through hell and their traumatic experiences are the cause of this problem. Many have often enough called for a halt to this dangerous 'game', because that's what it appears to be for some. But one will not be patient forever and frankly the Libyan citizens are getting fed up of it too.
It is most satisfying to learn that the new interim prime minister, Abdurrahim el-Keeb has made the disarming of these youths a priority.
Creative solutions are required for the disarmament and a return to safe neighbourhoods and the Libyan streets. It is only the law enforcement agencies whether they are the police or the Army should be armed, and not the people on the streets.
That being said, only the formation of a national armed force will reassure people of their safety. Most will be happy to turn in their weapon voluntarily once that is apparent to them.
Those who won’t part with their weapons so easily could be encouraged to do so by offering them gift -vouchers. It could be something as trivial as a 200 dinars worth of mobile phone credit, or six months worth of gas vouchers. If it were so, youths would be queuing up to give up their guns.
Of course it won’t hurt the cause if the government issued a zero tolerance policy to deal with anybody still carrying firearms after all these incentives are offered.
Celebratory gunfire is a serious issue. It needs to be dealt with and given immediate attention by the authorities. What good is freedom if one is not safe to enjoy it?
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| Name:
Chetan Pinto |
Date: 13/11/2011 11:55:30 |
Comment:
For 42 years Gaddafi was Libya. The Libyan identity was reduced to being a Naluti, Zintani, Misrati or someone from Benghazi etc. Now the same regionalism is becoming a hurdle for government formation in Libya. Personally, as an Indian, I don’t see too much of a difference between Mahmud Jibreel or Abdul Hakim Belhaj. Both are flexible. charismatic, can unify and heal a war-torn nation. The point of disagreement seems to be how much role religion should play in the affairs of the state. Remember, all great democracies, from the US, UK, Turkey or India advocate the separation of religion from the state. I feel it’s more important to focus on issues like employment, health and education than just religion. I’m mainly concerned with education, though. Right now Internet is free. People can take the opportunity to learn more. There are a lot of free courses, videos and lectures available online from the likes of MIT in all areas of science, arts and engineering.
I’ve also written about them on my blog here http://t.co/zSJmOD2D and http://t.co/s4nROb8R. Hope it will prove useful. |
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