Give us a miracle

ANDREA BHARATT’S death must not be in vain. We demand the Government and the Opposition make good on their promises to serve the people.

Yes, we have made this call before. Yes, several of our colleagues in the media have made this call before. Yes, civil society has made this call before. Yes, families and loved ones, some in tears in front of coffins, have made this call before.

We have no choice. We say it again: Give us justice.

In the wake of the discovery of Ms Bharatt’s body on Thursday, a tiny ember of hope was sparked. Minister of National Security Stuart Young and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar – who have been at war with one another – finally found cause to agree.

“I am even more resolute in my fight against crime,” Mr Young said. “The only way we can take the fight to the criminal element is if we all work together against them.”

At the same time, Ms Persad-Bissessar said, “If ever there was a time for us to put aside our differences so we could protect our children and each other, it is now.”

This ember must become a flame. Like the candlelight at this week’s vigils – first for Ms Bharatt’s safe return, then in grief at her gruesome death – it must multiply and spread out in the dark.

The nation this week asked for a miracle, in the hope that Ms Bharatt, 22, might be reunited with her family.

Denied that, we now ask for a different miracle.

The Government and the Opposition must come together to bring about meaningful change. For a start, they must jointly address police and criminal justice reform, taxi regulation and the use of pepper spray.

This co-operation should not be limited to legislation. For the Government, it should mean being genuinely open to feedback and criticism on its policies and draft bills. For the Opposition, it should mean prioritising substance and not sensation in what is brought to the table.

It is useless to ask for those behind Ms Bharatt’s fate to be placed behind bars when the exercise of police power is so regularly, at times brazenly, suspect; when the criminal justice system buckles; and when the penal system founders.

The profound failure of a state in which $67 billion has been allocated to national security over the last decade is spelled out by the failure to deter Ms Bharatt’s killers and by the length of time it took to find her. She worked at a court.

The root causes of violence against women are at once exceedingly simple and exceedingly complex. But we could do without misogyny and victim-blaming on the political platform.

Give us light after all this.