The Standard | Online Edition :: Crackdown on Somalis irrational
By Billow Kerrow
The aftermath of the demonstration by Muslims for Human Rights Forum has revealed our weakness as a nation where justice, freedom and human rights is merely skin-deep and may be whimsically sacrificed, not just by the Government but by all including the media, civic activists and the public.
The Government’s knee-jerk reaction was to characteristically deflect attention, blaming the violence on ‘extremist foreign elements and al Shabaab militia’ and indiscriminately rounding up hundreds of Somalis in various parts of the country, including Kenyan Somalis. Some media even implied that al Qaeda elements were involved; while others lamented that the police did not use adequate force to deal with the protestors, in spite of police bullets killing two protestors and leaving several others injured.
Some human rights activists equally concluded that national security was undermined and blamed the Government for failure to contain the demo. Members of the public too joined police in the frenzy, stoning the protestors, and looting shops in Jamia Mall. NCBDA was more outrageous, claiming that foreigners (read Somalis) planned to ‘destabilise businesses so that they can take over the city centre’.
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