The other side of political thuggery

It seems that Giovanni DeMartino time and time again takes the opportunity to blame every violent incident that occurred in our nation's chequered past squarely on the Labour Party's shoulders, no matter the incident (Those Żebbuġ Balustrades, December 30).

While I have no hesitation in condemning the multitude of incidents which were undoubtedly carried out by thugs who openly paraded themselves as belonging to the Labour party, and while refraining from going into the political violence in which Labour party supporters were the victims, and which had occurred before 1971 when a Nationalist government was in power, I would like to take this opportunity to share an experience I went through in the not-too-distant past.

In 2002, I had an eye-opening interview with two Nationalists who had been victims of violence during the turbulent 1980s period. One of them had witnessed his son almost being blinded by a punch thrown at him because he was boarding a van on its way to a Nationalist Party meeting.

The person in question, at the time of the interview, still had his 1987 election voting document, which he paraded before me with a mixture of pride and sorrow.

He claimed that well-known Labour thugs had besieged his home and stopped him from leaving his house on election day, thus preventing him from casting his vote in the process, as was his predetermined democratic right.

I also interviewed an ex-PN minister, who was knocked out by a vicious blow to the head although he did state that he had no recollection of who had thrown the punch.

During these interviews, apart from the evident violence and fear that these people had experienced, another recurring theme kept coming up.

These people both stated that, on that day, and on other days during which they had witnessed a number of incidents, when they went to report these facts to the police force of the day, they were either laughed at or totally ignored.

While in obvious visible emotional pain from these experiences, when asked what had happened to those members of the force who had totally ignored them, they both answered that these individuals had been promoted under a Nationalist government, and that this was something that hurt them as much as the incidents mentioned.

While I may try to fathom Mr DeMartino's pain, I strongly suggest to him and the rest of the Nationalist supporters who constantly bring up the past in their writings, that they seriously question what happened to these members of the force, and whether it is true that these individuals were later promoted under a Nationalist government.

Failure to do so would only mean that these incidents, incidents which, like those in the 1960s, are a collective scar on our nation's conscience, are only being used as cheap political propaganda intent on helping a party in government that is visibly undergoing a drop in popularity.

If that is indeed the case, then I am sorry to say that nothing could be more disrespectful towards Nationalist victims of violence.