While writing this commentary my attention is repeatedly distracted by frequents bouts of clapping.  I am at University where the independent candidates for the upcoming general elections are taking part in a “discussion” which everyone knew, and most hoped, would turn into a farce.

The star target of the “fun” is il-kandidat ta’ l-Ajkla. It seems that it has become fashionable to make fun of the man. Worse still it has become acceptable to engage in such behaviour. One can say that this gentleman has brought all this on himself. Others will defend their attitude saying that the gentleman is providing some needed respite during a period where the electoral temperature has reached boiling point. Still others will say that there is nothing wrong with some “pure” fun.

Most probably the charade evolving on University Campus will make it to the evening TV news bulletins as happened in the case of the Zabbar meeting. The media have been feasting on this gentleman; him being invited to all sorts of programmes. The interviewers kept a straight and serious facial expression while prodding him and, at least, one of the others to pass from one stupidity to another. They did the interviews under the pretext of the respect for people’s right of free expression. But in actual fact the only reason while this gentleman was invited to different programmes was to make fun of him.

I beg to differ with those who try to defend such actions. I find this kind of behaviour unacceptable, not to say downright cruel. I think that none of the above pathetic attempts at justifying this behaviour manage to make it an acceptable or civil way of behaving.

It is true to say that the gentleman in question brought this upon himself. Does this justify making fun of people? Isn’t it very clear that he is a vulnerable person? Has the vulnerability of some persons become a justifiable cause of poking fun at people? Don’t these revellers know that these persons have a family whose members must be suffering a lot?

I am certain that had the same crowd of students gathered to tease cats or dogs all hell would have broken loose. In this hypocritical society of hours it is reprehensible to be cruel to a dog (and so it should be) but it is acceptable to be cruel to another human person. Making fun of someone is a mode of being cruel to that person (even if he is not conscious of the fact) and to his loved ones.

I don’t beg to differ from the majority opinion. I am proud to differ.