Chaotic weekend

Italian football was thrown into disarray and more controversies last weekend when a fan was accidently killed by police officer while trying to quell a clash with some supporters at a highway rest stop. News of the shooting prompted violence on the terraces at the game between Atalanta and AC Milan, while later in the day, fans in Rome armed with batons and stones attacked one of the police units near Stadio Olimpico before raiding the Italian Olympic Commitee (CONI) headquarters.

This happened after 9 months of the incident where a policeman was killed after a violence broke out during the Sicilian derby between Catania and Palermo. Measures were taken as a result of this, with the formation of the L'Osservatorio nazionale sulle manifestazione sportive, an independent body to combat football violence. The clubs involved were punished and had to play their games in front of an empty stadium. Other than that, security measures were adapted by the Italian government with numerous stadium closed until they made improvements to ensure better security.

However, there are voices in Italy that suggested that the violence was borne out of frustration within the Italian society as a whole and should not be viewed solely as a football problem. The people are generally unhappy and they are coming to the stadiums to express their feelings. A small incident can easily provoke the people and something as small as rumors can escalate into a nationwide riot with massive property destruction and in some instances, death. For a better perspective on the matter, you can read it here.

In a way, it was not so much different with what happened in our country last weekend. A peaceful demonstration got out of hand, and forces were used and people got hurt. It wasn't as bad as what happened in Italy, maybe because we were more restrained and too afraid to ignite a bloodbath, or maybe we were just too polite. Nevertheless, from what I heard, almost 40,000 people showed up and created havoc in the middle of the city in the middle of the afternoon. Traffic was at a standstill, and businesses were interrupted. But they managed to achieved their goal, which was to pass a memorandum to the King.

What made all this unbearable was the involvement of certain politician figures who intended to use this rally as a stepping stone into the limelight. By pushing up and so-called supporting the people, this despicable politicians probably hope that they will get elected in the upcoming election, and therefore supposedly make a difference. But we all know, power-crazed politicians are all corrupted, and with more power, come more money, instead of responsibilities. It's disheartening to see how many innocence have fallen to their ruse, and blindly supporting their cause.

The rally was intended to secure a more transparent voting system, and to introduce some changes in the electoral processes. But certain quarters twisted it and tried to ignite racial disharmony, while creating tension among the people and the government. And the government was trying very hard to quench the event, wiping it aside as an annoyance instead of tackling it as a real problem. Even the mainstream media played down the event, and only certain aspects were reported.

We do not want the problem to escalate into a nationwide problem. We have always pride ourselves as being a peaceful nation, where everyone regardless of their race and religion co-exist and live tolerably with each other. Let's hope for a better future, but at the same time, let's not jeopardise what we have built and achieved all this while.