[OPINIONS]:::'Mama's' tears; her son's deeds

No. 49 Wednesday, February 03, 2010
[POSTED BY::: anonymous]
“Can a mother’s care cease towards the child she bears”? Recent happenings have caused this fact to be questioned.

   Mothers are loved and respected — for the most part — by men, whose hearts appear to be made of stone. These men kill with impunity and disdain, while the suffering of another man’s family, ironically including his mother, goes unnoticed.
   We pose this question in the hope that mothers will look at the role they play in nurturing boys who they no doubt love.
   However, how can a mother knowingly turn a blind eye to the evil deeds of her child even as he kills another woman’s son to bring money home to his mother? How can she willingly wash his blood stained clothes?
   In recent days, there have been visits to our offices by mothers weeping over the loss of their sons. Sons who have been killed by the police in alleged shootouts.
   Moreover, while we in no way agree with the ‘murder’ of anyone by the police as is being pointed to by these alleged eyewitnesses, we believe that tears shed openly for some of these cold-hearted murderers is hypocritical at least.

   A mother cries her heart out for justice in full knowledge of her son’s deeds and when his number is called and his life is taken in a like manner, the truth is nowhere to be found.
   Wives, mothers, girlfriends even sisters in some cases, offer care and protection for gunmen. That practice is wrong and should not continue. Yes, love the person and hate the deed but how many of us can really separate the two?

   It takes a strong woman to give over her son to the police if he is wanted — and who can blame them? However, the blatant disregard for another woman’s labour pain speaks volume of the so-called care for another woman’s child some people often talk about.
   The old adage it takes a village to raise a child mean nothing to some women, in fact their child is seldom given the wrong even when it stares them in the face.
   Mourning the loss of a deviant child is natural, but hollering for justice in the knowledge that that son was a known killer is smack of naivety and should not be condoned.
   We say, hiding the wrong does not make it right. Protecting a loved one from the law, while being a natural reaction does not make the action right either.