These are sad days in The Gambia. Clearly, the passing of the Indemnity Act Amendment bill into law means that whoever ordered the shooting of our children would never be brought to justice by this government. The new law also means that the security forces are empowered to shoot and kill anyone engaged in what, by the government's estimation, is considered an illegal activity. This of course, could mean any form of anti-government demonstration or protest. Apart from giving the security forces a licence to kill and making sure that those who ordered the April 10 killings will not be touched, this tragic miscarriage of justice tells us another thing: that the abhorrent 'paper tiger' parliaments of the Jawara era are still in vogue. Paper tiger parliaments mean that whatever bill comes from the ruling party is passed without condition, by the majority ruling party members; and whatever bill comes from the other parties is rejected out of hand by the majority party members. It does not matter whether the bill from the government party is thrash, vicious, obnoxious, unjust or outright illegal in the context of our national institutions. It is a classic demonstration of the shameful ethos of an Animal Farm scenario, 'Napoleon Is Always Right'. It does not matter also, whether the bill represents the best option for the preservation of national integrity or the achievement of transparency, such as the crude oil bill seeking to get to the bottom of the crude oil scandal in which President Jammeh remains implicated. It is the case of the other side is always wrong. Alas! What a shame! What a so-called revolution! We had thought that the Jammeh era would heal at least some of the more festering wounds eating away the soul of this nation during the dreary days of the Jawara era, such as the nauseating specter of paper tiger parliaments. But alas, the day. These wounds continue to fester and even grow worse and gangrenous. The Gambian clock seems to be ticking backwards rather than forwards and everyday, we are faced with the most blatant insults against our collective intelligence and conscience. Indeed, those of us who hoped that the Jammeh era was going to be an era of 'transparency, accountability and probity' as parroted by the president have suffered a rude awakening. Time and time again, this government demonstrates that all it cares about is its own survival as a government. Our gallant revolutionary president of 1994 has now developed a very sweet tooth for power and God save anyone - student or otherwise - who dares to preach caution or commonsense, or who dares to stand up for their rights. Those who would venture to raise an arm to demand justice would see the real meaning of the infamous Indemnity Act Amendment law. But, as we always say, mortal beings can escape mortal justice, but there is no escape from the Final Judgment. So, dear 'paper tiger' honourable members of our most honourable national assembly, swallow your pride, shut your eyes to the reality, pretend that injustice is justice and lies are the truth, and dance gaily to the tunes of your political boss. Also, prepare for the Day from which there is no escape, when you would have to render account of your actions. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------