Riots – time for some new choices?
Let's restore our pride in Britain
My pride in being British has taken a dive in the last few days and I’m sure I’m not alone with this thought. Riots in our cities – what the hell has been going on? How have we got here? I’ve tried to rationalise it in my mind but I’m struggling to even believe it’s true. I am not even going to attempt to answer these questions, because I know there are many opinions out there and many are better placed and qualified to offer answers and hopefully solutions.
It isn’t really clear what the purpose of the riots was. OK, so they started as a reaction to the shooting of a man in Tottenham. However, it’s clear that these riots went way beyond this reason. It seemed to turn into some kind of ‘free for all’ and the participants egged on by the excitement of the moment and the opportunity for anarchy lost all sight of basic human values (if indeed they had any to start with). They showed no respect or compassion for others, the property of others or even their own neighbourhoods.
Whether this outrageous behaviour has been caused by lack of family values, absence of fathers, unemployment, disenfranchised youths, government cuts, drugs or opportunism. I refuse to accept that the perpetrators claim to have done this because they have no choice. Everyone has a choice. Everyone can choose to do something positive for themselves. Or even they could have chosen NOT to do this. Regardless of any situation you always have a choice, once you realise this you’re on your way to achieve great things. Tariq Jahan the father of Haroon Jahan, viciously mown down and murdered in Birmingham has demonstrated this choice perfectly, whilst many would have chosen to react to their son’s untimely death with anger and threats, he has chosen to call for peace and calm. A wise choice and a very brave man.
