Let his death not be in vain. Lay him to rest with dignity.
I did not know Kugan or the many others who have died whilst in police custody. Speculation abounds as to their actual number. Yet, even one death in custody is one too many.
And there may well have been far too many because we, you and I, did not react as we should have with the very first death in custody.
In that sense, however remote it may seem, we are, to some extent, collectively culpable by our past indifference for the death of Kugan and the others.
There have been some unkind comments in this blog that insinuate that we should not ignore the possibility that his involvement in criminal activity got Kugan into the circumstance leading to his death in the first place.
If indeed he was involved in the activity that led to his initial remand, we should reflect on why, in a nation blessed with richness of natural resources that ought to have been equitably applied to its people, one of our sons had to resort to such activity to make it through each passing day?
For me, the answer points once again to our past indifference at the abject neglect of our own people.
And you and I can do nothing to atone for our wrong to Kugan and the others who have suffered the cruel fate, first at the hands of belligerant police, and then a hitherto apathetic society.
