The Sunday News
Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem; it merely creates new and more complicated ones.
Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible.
It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers,” says Martin Luther King Jr, an American activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1954 until his assassination in 1968.
His words still make meaning today, and all those who took part in violent and unsanctioned demonstrations last week better visit Martin Luther King’s wise counsel. The Government has said the violence was perpetrated by MDC Alliance and its partners in the civil society, which left a trail of destruction mostly in Harare and Bulawayo, where property and cars were destroyed, and several shops looted and many people left injured.
From the look of things, the whole thing was planned using social media, with faceless characters as well as opposition politicians and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions calling upon people not to turn up for work from Monday to Wednesday.
Minister of State for National Security Owen Ncube said Government was aware of meetings organised by the Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe from December 3 to 7 last year to foment disturbances in the country.
“These meetings were coordinated by Crisis Coalition and some identified foreign agents. There were other meetings such as the one held on 11th January 2019 in Belvedere, whose agenda was to plan for the disturbance of peace and render the country ungovernable. Pursuant to the nefarious agenda, the MDC Alliance activated its notorious terror groups which include the so-called Democratic Resistance Committees and the para-military Vanguard.
“The events …. have been characterised by a well-coordinated criminal behaviour, destructive and violent pattern which included the barricading of roads, harassment of innocent members of the public, burning of cars, disruption of children’s lessons in schools, forced closure of business entities, attempts to overrun police posts, destruction of property, unlawful possession and discharging of firearms in public, attacking tollgates and robbing them of cash as well as looting of shops.
In short, this was terrorism and total breakdown of rule of law and order which had nothing to do with the constitutional right of citizens to demonstrate peacefully as enshrined in Section 59 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.”
What happened last week was pure terrorism which has no place in any society. A police officer was stoned to death in Bulawayo, while 30 more cops were also attacked, and other deaths of ordinary citizens were recorded in Kadoma, Bulawayo and Chitungwiza. Cars were burnt, business premises destroyed, people harassed and beaten up, among other criminal acts.
The events where people were even moving around with their children looting groceries from shops should never be allowed to happen again.
Business should not be destroyed, peace loving people should not have their rights to movement and association infringed upon in that manner and more importantly, the rule of law should not be trampled upon. As President Mnangagwa has always peached, peace should be upheld all the time.
