This column is addressed to people who care about this country and its people indiscriminately. This column is addressed to people who are horrified and saddened whenever they hear of a ghastly crime. This column is addressed above all to the people who have the power to make a difference. And to those people, this column is saying, please think twice.

In his speech at the National Assembly, last Tuesday, Navin Ramgoolam recognizes that the problem of rising criminality is a worldwide one and has to do with the ?erosion of social values.? He further says that this problem ?can be solved with the collaboration of each and every Mauritian, both the state and the civil society playing their respective role.?

Then why aren?t we doing it, Mr Prime minister? Or rather, why aren?t we doing it the right way? We are kidding ourselves if we think the right way to tackle the problem of rising criminality is to send people to oblivion in Beau-Bassin. For 60 years, without any hope of seeing daylight again.

I can understand the pressure put on a Prime minister in the face of rising criminality and rising anger from the public. But that?s where he has to discriminate between the politically right decisions and the right decisions full stop. Look at Tony Blair and his crusade against the legal system in his country; no doubt stemming from popular pressure. But in nine years, Mr Blair?s government has passed more than 40 pieces of criminal justice legislation, repressive legislation. And nine years later, the situation is worse than ever. If ever we needed proof, then surely that?s proof enough that repression simply does not work in the face of the degradation of moral values and of the social fabric. The problem ? and its answer ? are elsewhere.

Mr Ramgoolam has the chance to be surrounded by a few well-intentioned, intelligent people. So I urge him to listen to persons like Rama Valayden, even if the forthcoming advice might not be so popular with the people and doesn?t win votes. I urge him to listen with an open mind and not to give in to what has plagued politicians since time immemorial: the fear of unpopularity and of being accused of the greatest sin a Prime minister could be accused of; the deterioration of law and order and an irresponsible attitude to the problem.

To try to understand a problem and deal with it accordingly is not irresponsible. Reacting the way the Prime minister has ? a primary reaction to all intents and purposes ? is what?s irresponsible. And the consequences of that decision will come back to haunt all of us.

Believing in giving a second chance to those who have failed us, trying to cure them instead of punishing them outright, is not an easy decision to make by all accounts and one can only do so if one is convinced by the rationale behind remission and the need to leave a door open to any person, however scary such a thought may be. And it?s a decision that a person can only take when he really cares. Not just about the victim, but also about the perpetrator of a crime, who at the end of the day is also a victim.

So, Mr Prime minister, this is an appeal; please think twice.