Independence day had barely been celebrated when an army Major, apparently, tried to take the word ‘Independent’ too far. Not content with security forces guarding the Central Bank, the Major tried to force his way through, leading to a needless shootout.
This is the story, according to the Police, which maintains that there was no evidence of an attempted break-in. The new currency has been kept at Bank since midweek. Immediate public speculation was that this was an attempted robbery.
Needless shoot-outs, triggered by one individual’s reported refusal to obey orders would, in essence, threaten the new country’s peace and jubilation, and scare off potential investors. The law and order sector the world over has the right to shoot in self-defence. One would like to assume that the Major was armed and that it was under this principle that the Major was shot at.
Unfortunately, even if the shootout was in self-defence, few among the public would be inclined to believe that. The Police has of late come under, often justified, criticism, for always bringing a gun to a fist fight.
Such actions raise the possibility of innocent people getting shot and hurt.
Hence, a decision to shoot should always be a last resort – and only if a suspect draws a weapon. But people, too, need not tempt the law and peace keepers: they have a right to shoot if they suspect that one may shoot at them. If we both can keep our end of this bargain, gunshots, unless absolutely necessary to keep order and to prevent criminals, would increasingly become something of the past.
