how bad is it?

An editorial in Post Courier10th Jan drew attention to Police at roadblocks who had been confiscating driving licences for offences such as having a bald tyre or an out of date roadworthiness sticker. It commented on the role of police in "patrolling busy shopping centres to get rid of pick pocketers, layabouts and stalkers who made shopping a fearful experience".
People have warned me about the raskols - these are serious weapons carrying criminals who were even on campus until KUIMA security began here two years ago. Atul has been held up on campus in broad daylight on campus and at a pedestrian crossing in town.
At Rotary last night, Joe who used to be Military Attache to Indonesia understood the phenomenon in perspective: It took the West 800 years to move from lawlessness after the barbarian invasions to the beginnings of rule of law and democracy and you expect there can be a cultural change overnight here? Why 800 years for you and you expect us to achieve it in 50? Cultural change is a lot different from progress on the basis of educational assistance. I'm not sure how the corollaries hold up - after all there was Joe and his compatriots in as sophisticated setting as any you would imagine in the west so if they can do it, why is crime and breakdown and subsistence living so common?