<B>By Pauline Etienne</B>

The peaceful march against violence due to take place last Saturday as well as the efforts to fight what seems to have become a scourge in Mauritius these days are all praiseworthy initiatives. The march had to be postponed because of bad weather but it will definitely take place. The will is there and I suppose this is the most important.

Fighting violence is certainly a good step towards a better society but we must be careful not to shift the emphasis of the problem. Violence is not the real problem; it is the result of something deeper. Apart from rare cases where violence is perpetrated for its own sake, it is generally linked to cases of theft. Because the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider, people feel more and more frustrated and think they have no other solution than to take what others have.

This is far from being an apology for all the people who have committed crimes. I suppose that the increase in violence can?t be due only to nastiness. People from underprivileged areas go to the richer parts of the town to find what they don?t have at home. The problem should thus be tackled at this level: give the same chances to all.

A simple example of how young people may feel rejected by society: it is 8 pm at the municipal pool. Like any other evening, people are queuing at the gate to pay for one hour of relaxation or exercise. Five minutes later, the pool area is full and a serene atmosphere seems to be reigning?

? Until the attention of all the swimmers is suddenly caught by a police raid within the pool area. Everyone is wondering about the cause of this rush ? as nothing seemed to announce it ? and looks for an explanation of why the police are approaching a group of boys. ?Maybe they didn?t pay the entrance fee? or ?they are making too much noise? were some comments we could hear. But obviously no one understands why these young men are being escorted to the exit.

Those curious about what had happened went to look for more explanations. They were told the boys were too noisy. When the people present protested that they were just having fun and didn?t seem to be disturbing anyone, the reply was that the teenagers were not properly dressed for swimming.

Even if swimming is a sport where discipline is needed ? especially at a municipal pool where excesses are easily reached ? everyone there insisted that this was not a reason to call the police. The man at the gate could think of no better excuse than that the boys didn?t pay their entrance fee.

It seems that an easier way of making those boys understand that there was a problem ? no matter what it was ? would simply have been to talk to them. As they were not in any way a threat to the public interest, I don?t see of what use the presence of the police was. People present couldn?t help hearing the boys? reactions such as ?Everywhere we go, it?s the same thing? There?s no room for us!? How can we prevent these people from going and getting into mischief elsewhere if they are confronted with such reactions when they?re simply having fun?

If we really want a fairer society, we should first see that there is room for everyone everywhere?