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Synthetic drugs in our temples of learning…

19 octobre 2018, 11:12

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Regrettable Facts – The Ugly Truth

One courageous rector of our institutions of learning has revealed that his school has not been spared this degrading practice of some of his students consuming synthetic drugs on school premises. I sympathise with him as we, too, have had the experience of our own grandchild falling suddenly sick at school and being taken to hospital. Fortunately, he came back – no more the same vigorous adolescent who used to be a good sportsman and hardworking in his studies.

We cannot say for sure whether he has learnt his lesson. But one thing parents should be aware of: no child is immune from temptation. I have been told by serious people that nobody knows what mixtures are concocted to form these deadly synthetic drugs. Unscrupulous people who are eager to make money by all means, except by hard work, abound in our towns and villages. Some vulnerable students, who wish to emulate their richer friends in the possession of a smart phone or the latest brand of watches, do not hesitate to allow themselves to be enlisted as dealers of harmful substances. They are hell breaks loose in schools. They are the messengers of doom to our kids.

Watch for any sudden change of behaviour

Many adults have become drug addicts and are ruining their health by the regular sniffing or smoking of all sorts of powder and herbs. I do not feel sorry for them and nobody should, because they are old enough to know better. But our hearts bleed when young and innocent children are taken down the road to damnation.

Parents should be on the lookout for any sudden change of behaviour in their children. More often than not, they have been trapped in the infernal world of drug addiction with its accompanying evils such as prostitution and pedophilia. We are talking about minorities that threaten to become the norms if parents relax their vigilance (…).

My grandchild I, who I mentioned earlier, was the pride of his teachers. But now he has become the shadow of himself. Beware parents! Many crooks and hardened criminals have been arrested by Customs or the Police for trying to import drugs into the country. ADSU has over the past eight months seized vast quantities of drugs at the airport or during their searches of traffickers’ homes. How many have passed through the net and through the VIP lounge? Don’t be scandalized! Remember the Amsterdam Boys. They were in possession of a diplomatic passport and on their return would have left the airport through the VIP lounge. Nothing should surprise us in Mauritius. These unscrupulous people have no gods except Mammon.

Our reputation with foreigners.

I remember once, while I was presenting a paper on the Indian diaspora in the Mascarenes at the Osmania University at Secunderabad, India, one academic stopped me saying: “Your country is well known for wallowing in black money”. I was taken aback but told him off by retorting that it was people from his own country that were indulging in that dirty practice and sullying the reputation of my country. Now, when you travel abroad, you hesitate, unlike in the past, to say that you are a Mauritian. Foreigners, having heard of the high profile scandals involving very important personalities, feel embarrassed for us and we have to keep a low profile during our stay in their midst. (...)

Why this mad craze for wealth overnight?

First, there is too much money in circulation-generated by all sorts of dirty activities. Some greedy people are tempted and want to grab some of the millions which are there for the taking. Many of them should have been in prison. Our nouveaux riches like to parade their wealth and want to be included in the list of the richest persons in Mauritius. (…) Religion teaches us to be content with our lot. But while we adopt such a passive attitude, we leave the field free for the dishonest who will not hesitate to take more than a reasonable share of the common good.

As far back as 1821, William Cobbett, in his introduction to Cottage Economy, stated: “There must be different degrees of wealth; some must have more than others and the richest must be a great deal richer than the least rich. But is it necessary to the very existence of a people, that nine out of ten should live wholly by the sweat of their brow…?” He goes on lamenting on the worst evils of poverty.

(…) Every week we hear of lucky people who have won millions at the Loto, others by drug dealing, still others by breaking into houses and robbing people or by corruption. Another easy way is by prowling near schools where there are hundreds of easy preys. The police should be on the lookout.