‘In extreme cases the expression of patriotism is fighting for the betterment of your homeland, be it your country, town or village.’
By Alicia Chamely
IT’S easy to condemn the actions of the residents of Barrackpore and Princes Town, to shake your head at their burning of tires and rowdy protests. To stueps and say, “What do they really hope to accomplish here? They are making more trouble for themselves.”
This is all easy to say because it makes many of us uneasy to try to feel the desperation of our fellow citizens. Because desperate is what they are. No one wakes up and randomly lights fire to tires in the road without being pushed to the brink and feeling continuously neglected by those elected to serve.
Short bit of background for those who may have been living under a rock this week, the residents of Barrackpore and Princes Town blocked the roads in several areas to protest the deterioration of their roadways, insufficient water supply and agricultural issues, which included money owned to farmers by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Despite pleading with authorities over the years, nothing of substance was done.
Maybe if you listened to the residents of the area and worked with some sort of urgency you would not have had to incur this “unnecessary” cost.
WASA’s big excuse continues to be the “aging infrastructure” which included pipes too small to carry the amount of water needed.
Bruh! Again maybe if you all addressed these issues sooner, the residents of Barrackpore and Princes Town would not have had to go all full on anarchy.
These people have been neglected; they are tired of having to suffer the incompetence of the MOWT and WASA. It’s insulting and shows a complete lack of empathy to try to turn the blame on the residents, who maybe didn’t do the right thing, but did what they did because they believed it was the only way they would be heard.
I also have an issue with the authorities calling the residents “unpatriotic.”
The definition of patriotic is having or expressing devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country or area of residence.
In extreme cases the expression of patriotism is fighting for the betterment of your homeland, be it your country, town or village. And that is what the residents of Barrackpore and Princes Town did.
Having exhausted all other options, in an act of patriotism, they took to the streets to get the attention they needed to ensure the betterment of their area in which they live.
While I do not condone acts of destruction and violence, personally I have never been in a situation where I have felt completely helpless. I have never been pushed that far. However if I was a farmer, whose livelihood was suffering because of lack of water and crumbling roadways, I may crack.
Push people far enough and they will snap, they will rage, they will burn.
So while it is easy to look at their actions and condemn them, I get it.
Patriotic Barrackpore Residents Protest
‘In extreme cases the expression of patriotism is fighting for the betterment of your homeland, be it your country, town or village.’
IT’S easy to condemn the actions of the residents of Barrackpore and Princes Town, to shake your head at their burning of tires and rowdy protests. To stueps and say, “What do they really hope to accomplish here? They are making more trouble for themselves.”
This is all easy to say because it makes many of us uneasy to try to feel the desperation of our fellow citizens. Because desperate is what they are. No one wakes up and randomly lights fire to tires in the road without being pushed to the brink and feeling continuously neglected by those elected to serve.
Short bit of background for those who may have been living under a rock this week, the residents of Barrackpore and Princes Town blocked the roads in several areas to protest the deterioration of their roadways, insufficient water supply and agricultural issues, which included money owned to farmers by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Despite pleading with authorities over the years, nothing of substance was done.
Add insult to injury, the Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT) pretty much said they don’t know what they are complaining about, their assessment shows the roads aren’t too bad and any damage done was the Water and Sewerage Authority’s Fault. Because you know, the idea of MOWT and WASA working together to ensure roads stay smooth never crosses anyone’s mind.
Then the eye rollers at the MOWT went on to cry about how much it will cost to repair all the “damage” done by these “unpatriotic” protesters.
Oh no MOWT! You’ll have to spend $375,000 to repair the damage.
Maybe if you listened to the residents of the area and worked with some sort of urgency you would not have had to incur this “unnecessary” cost.
WASA’s big excuse continues to be the “aging infrastructure” which included pipes too small to carry the amount of water needed.
Bruh! Again maybe if you all addressed these issues sooner, the residents of Barrackpore and Princes Town would not have had to go all full on anarchy.
These people have been neglected; they are tired of having to suffer the incompetence of the MOWT and WASA. It’s insulting and shows a complete lack of empathy to try to turn the blame on the residents, who maybe didn’t do the right thing, but did what they did because they believed it was the only way they would be heard.
I also have an issue with the authorities calling the residents “unpatriotic.”
The definition of patriotic is having or expressing devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country or area of residence.
In extreme cases the expression of patriotism is fighting for the betterment of your homeland, be it your country, town or village. And that is what the residents of Barrackpore and Princes Town did.
Having exhausted all other options, in an act of patriotism, they took to the streets to get the attention they needed to ensure the betterment of their area in which they live.
While I do not condone acts of destruction and violence, personally I have never been in a situation where I have felt completely helpless. I have never been pushed that far. However if I was a farmer, whose livelihood was suffering because of lack of water and crumbling roadways, I may crack.
Push people far enough and they will snap, they will rage, they will burn.
So while it is easy to look at their actions and condemn them, I get it.