Abominable theft

THE article “Stolen temple lamps, statues returned” (POST, February 21-25) is a sad reflection that people can commit abominable acts of this nature. It is a shame and a disgrace.

“The un-thieving gain heaven. Thieves lose both body and soul.” (The Holy Kural)

This holds true as moral degeneration sees the total breakdown in society. Clearly we are no longer a God-fearing society and this has become more apparent in this incident.

It shows that we have no moral compass if we resort to stealing from religious institutions.

There is something rotten in our country. While the thieves’ actions are unacceptable, another key factor are those unscrupulous scrap dealers, who need to be shut down if they are found with stolen property. They should never be given a licence to trade.

This incident should also be an eye-opener to temple organisations, in particular, to not only improve their security but to also recognise that they have a role to play in reaching out to the community.

They need to start to deal with issues beyond prayer as this theft is fuelling a substance abuse habit.

Engaging with the community will assist the cause tremendously.

For the scrapyard dealer to claim he was unaware that the brass items were Hindu prayer items, is absurd.

It is sad that the temple has not charged the owner. This encourages other scrapyards to buy stolen goods.

This is a matter of utmost urgency and needs the attention of all police station commanders.

The solution is to catch all the culprits, including the scrapyard owners, and make an example of them in order to deter others. DHAYALAN MOODLEY Mobeni Heights