PDP condemns MSU students assault by soldiers

The People's Democratic Party has said it learnt with deep shock and sadness of the callous attack by rogue soldiers on defenseless MSU students.

In a statement Harare Provincial Spokesperson Nqobizitha Dumakude Khumalo said they hope the report is not true and lf it indeed is true then it is indeed very sad and unfortunate.

He said the image of a soldier as a rugged brute belongs to the paleolithic age.

"The policy of collective punishment is primitive and reminiscent of Adolph Hitler's holocaust mentality out of place in the Cyberspace age. We understand the soldiers were on a revenge mission after one them had been involved in a brouhaha with one of the students. Indeed soldiers should be respected but so should students," said Khumalo.

"That a soldier even out of uniform should be privileged  to respond to issues of a personal nature by involving army personnel is a microcosm of the general abuse of the army as a personal militia for certain individuals and institutions. lt reminds one of the Willow gate days when Mark Dube and Enos Nkala tried to use uniformed forces to thwart Investigations into their rotten deals."

He said they have had incidents of soldiers closing bars and beating up patrons in revenge for one of them having been assaulted over a mug of opaque beer or a cheap prostitute.

"On most cases the culprits would have long gone and it is only innocent drinkers who would be victimized. We remember the days when brutal police and soldiers would wage running battles with rioting students with the latter shouting, "grade sevens give way to intellectuals." We can say perhaps, "ah! those were the days," That was an unfortunate residue of the war and the average soldier was a primary school drop out. Not now when the average soldier is a holder of an O'level certificate with many now proud holders of university degrees who should sympathize more with students.  We do not expect such behavior from our chivalrous soldiers," he said.

"We therefore appeal to the responsible authorities to launch a thorough investigation into this diabolic action and take appropriate action. We love our dear soldiers and would not like a situation whereby a few thugs among them spoil the image of the entire force. Our service chiefs are on record as saying that our uniformed forces are known the world over for their professionalism. lt is unfortunate that in this scenario charity does not seem to begin at home. That professionalism should also be shown within our borders. Zanu(Pf) has always complained that the private media tarnish the image of the country."
 
Khumalo said MSU is an open facility and there could be foreign students among the students.

"The incident occurred in broad daylight and any foreign journalist or diplomat has access to the hospital where the children are treated. This action by rogue soldiers is a public relations disaster. The investigations into the incident should be open and thorough and not attempts to cover up or to issue Jonathan Moyo type denials replete with accusations of western sponsored conspiracies. The children involved belong to the nation and have parents of diverse political backgrounds. For anyone to defend this callous act would be to be misguided and myopic," he said.

"PDP, a value based organization says no to such an outrage. We call upon all progressive elements to say no with the loudest voices. We challenge churches to join us in chanting down this Babylonian act. We challenge parents of university students to condemn the act in the strongest of terms. Students throughout the country should also join the chorus for tomorrow it could be them.
Such Genghis Khan acts should not be allowed to continue.
Let us value our students."