SPEAK OUT ON VIOLENCe with DORIS KASOTE
SOME people are able to control their anger and frustrations while others are not.  Those who are not able to control their anger may resort to being violent. In such cases, you find that those who exhibit violent behaviour more often than not end up acting in a manner that they later regret.  They regret their actions because the result is that they end up languishing in jail.
It is disheartening that year in, year out, the problem of violence, regardless of how much it is condemned, has continued to hit the headlines. The problem does not seem to be going away.
I have always stated that it is important for the citizenry to embrace one another, starting from the home set up, community, right to national level regardless of divergent views.
After all, having divergent views is normal but it is the level of tolerance that needs to be exercised without having to resort to being violent.
Each person is their own individual with different beliefs and views.  It is important that we accommodate each other’s opinions and not impose what we may believe in on others.
Even in a home, man and wife are but two individuals and are bound to disagree on one issue or the other.  Just because the two have a disagreement does not mean the weaker one should be victimised and physically abused.
It is normal to disagree on several issues but what is important is to give and take.  Even friends who are as close as white on rice do not agree on everything, but for them to sustain their friendship, it is about give and take.
If we all resorted to violent behaviour every time we disagreed on something, I truly think there would be chaos in the nation.
I shudder when I read some of the reasons that a couple fight over. Sometimes it is merely over nshima where a woman was beaten to a pulp just because she did not leave food that the husband desired to eat when he returned home from a late night outing.
This is not withstanding that in some instances, the man did not even leave money for his wife to buy food for the family but he expects to find food on the table when he returns from his drinking spree.
As for some women, they also resort to violence when they disagree with their spouses probably over money, if he is having an extramarital affair or any other disagreement that may push them to believing their actions of inflicting pain on the other are justified.
Outside the homes, we do meet people who push you to the limit and can be extremely annoying but to lift a finger against them is not justifiable. Such occurrences only end up causing more harm than good to the person who was offended.
The long arm of the law is not idle and for sure it will stretch its arm to ensure that the perpetrators of violence are dealt with sternly.
Yes, sometimes cases before the courts may take longer than expected, but eventually, and undoubtly by then as the perpetrator of violence you would have gotten back to your senses.  Despite being remorseful for your actions, you would have been thrown behind bars to teach you a lesson that violence does not pay.
Zambia is known to be a peaceful nation; this is known not only in the region but across.  Let’s not spoil it by not being tolerant of each other’s views.  It starts with you and me.
Until next week;
Let’s keep in touch:
dkasote@daily-mail.co.zm