by Deepa BHOOKHUN

You may or may not have read the police communiqué published in Tuesday?s paper; it says that permission was not granted to hold a public gathering in front of the National Assembly and that, according to section 139 (1) of the Criminal Code, "any person who takes part in an unlawful assembly shall commit an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding Rs 10,000 and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years".

On the morning of the 10th, in spite of the warning, some 300 people gathered in front of Government House. Illegally but who cares? It seems one can do as one pleases in this country, regardless of what the laws say. But, anyhow, I digress.

All the while, the police looked on. Some, bored by the waiting, started unpacking their sandwiches and eating their lunch. Most of them gossiped while some naïve ones were on the alert waiting for the go-ahead to do their job.

Go-ahead that would never come. Interpreting the inaction of the police as a sign of weakness - that it clearly was - demonstrators abused them verbally and physically. If you don?t believe me, please check yesterday?s issue of ?l?express? in which we published a picture of a policeman standing by stoically as Mr Raffick Gulfee abuses him.

In this country where the rule of law is supposed to be supreme, the police is unable to break up an illegal demonstration because the matter is deemed to be too sensitive. In this country where the rule of law is supposed to be supreme, it is the layperson - as dimwitted as you will get - who will dictate to the police what they can or cannot do. In this country where the rule of law is supposedly supreme, not one MP has gathered the guts to speak out, to come out of Government House and ask those irresponsible zealots to get lost.

Come on, we are no fools. Everybody knows that the issue is a sensitive one; but we either want to send the right signals or we don?t. The Government either wants people to respect the law or they don?t. The police are either in a position to protect this country or they?re not.

How are the police ever going to live down the fact that they were rendered gutless and open to derision because someone somewhere was afraid to give the necessary orders to ensure that the law is respected?

This is the biggest joke of all. And you know what else? Nobody?s laughing. Save some religious zealots and their outlawed friends who did not hesitate for one minute to issue an ultimatum to the Prime Minister. Can you blame them? The message they got was that they could do as they please.

Oh and, by the way, despite the grand warning of the Commissioner of Police, nobody was arrested and no one will be taken to court for breach of the Criminal Code.

But hey who cares?