by Deepa BHOOKHUN

What a horrible week we have just been through! A week where decorum was thrown to the dogs, where egos battled with pride, where fuel was added to fire, where, in the end, there were no winners, only losers.

Everything, it is said, happens for a reason. Voices were raised, threats were made; all the points have now been forcefully made. Everything that needed to be said, has been said - even things that didn?t need to be said were voiced out.

So be it. Let it now be the end of the matter. Just give it a rest, just give us a break.

I read somewhere that civilisation is defined by what we forbid more than what we permit. It makes sense; if everyone just did what they felt like doing, there would be utter chaos.

Last week, everybody said and did what they wanted. Without a thought for decorum, for manners or for decency. The president of the JEC is rude to government, the prime minister is insulting in return and the minister for Commerce becomes a show case for bad manners, to name but a few. Everybody else, witnessing this nasty display of impropriety, gives in to gut reactions.

And you know how disgusting gut reactions can be. If you don?t, here?s a hint; the voice of Hindu (VOH) feels it has to react because its members are interpreting the acrimony between the JEC and government as a fight between the whites of French descent and the "hindus"- which is exactly what some people would like others to think but we know the truth is much more complex than that.

So the VOH gets involved and issues warnings to the JEC president. But the VOH is not alone in giving in to such base reactions even though they, at least, had the courage of their stupidity. Others, supporting the "other side", were as racist and xenophobic as the VOH, if only privately.

This is what de Navacelle and friends and Ramgoolam and friends have achieved by their childish behaviour; a horrible atmosphere where suspicion coloured everything, where followers are not tuned to the real reasons of the fight and blindly engaged in adding fuel to fire.

But bitter outbursts like those always have a positive and therapeutic side; one can start anew now that those deep-seated feelings of resentment - on both sides - have been let out.

So let?s start all over again now that everybody knows where everybody else stands. But let it be known that the rest of us, powerless witnesses of this vulgar display, are not interested in this kind of tug of war.

We want a country that works, that is making progress. We want a government that can live up to its promises and that can do the job. We want a private sector that can work with the government that has been elected to do the job. They might want to start by looking up the word "gentlemen" in the dictionary