Ladies and gentlemen, because I felt so strongly about this posting after
reading it the other day, I sought Kabir's permission to redact his earlier
posting and reproduce this one. I have read this more than five times since
Saul Khan referred me to it. In my humble opinion, this is all the
motivation one needs if one is vacillating about ones convictions. If one
was wavering about the vileness of Yaya, April 10 should have been a turning
point. The man is pure evil. Anyone associated with him and supporting him
is also evil in my book. Anyone who wants for this man the opportunity he
never gave to our kids, is evil in my book. I thank Kabir again for breaking
it down in plain English for everyone to understand. I urge people to share
this powerful message with their family and friends. This is what it all
boils down to: "GOOD Vs. Evil". You can go on the offense or you can stay on
the defense. What you cannot do is sit on the fence.
KB
___________________________A.K. Njie____________________________________
I sincerely hope that you will take the time to read this, for you
might learn a thing or two about the nature of the political
struggle we are engaged in.
After the brutal massacre of April 10th 2000, the political
evolution of the Gambia took a new and interesting turn. The Gambia
as we used to know it, ceased to exist when the security forces
opened fire on unarmed school children.
In response to something brother Yus wrote, I tried to draw
parallels with the 1976 massacre in Soweto in which Hector Petterson
was the first victim. The ANC used the poster depicting that
dramatic event in its long and hard campaign against the brutal
white regime. The anti-apartheid movement used the power of appeal
conveyed by that picture to show the world how brutal the apartheid
regime was. I used to have a copy.
When now and then, you find time to stand, relaxed, in front of one
of such pictures, and observe them closely, they seem to have a way
of conveying a message. They seem to have a way of directly posing
questions to you, the admirer. Asking YOU, talking to YOU!
Questioning your conscience! They have a way of reducing all
variables to only two: Good and Evil and seem to be asking you to
take a side; to choose! They seem to be asking you: "Tell me, where
do you stand?"
With all the force and brutality that the apartheid security forces
employed against the people, some Africans still played the role of
running dogs to the white regime. They spied for them, selling out
those brave students and young political activists in the political
youth movement against apartheid. When the good guys caught up with
such dogs, they used to put a car tire around their necks, pour
petrol on them, then set them on fire. They used to call it the
necklace. The use of the necklace was quite controversial, with the
most radical wing of the anti-apartheid movement supporting it.
Winne Mandela is on record as having advised the ANC youth "to use
the necklace" on the traitors of the cause for freedom.
They argued that these hyenas in sheep skin, who spied in on their
activities and then reported them back to Boers' machinery of
repression, deserved the same fate as the victims of their spying
activities. It was a "game" of life and death! The battle lines had
been drawn. It was Good against Evil. I PRAY to God, the Almighty,
that the situation at home does not deteriorate to the level. More
on prayer later.
One didn't even have to be part of the movement, just a whisper from
a spy was enough for one to either "go missing" or declared to have
"committed suicide" whiles under police custody. Fear, suspicion,
lies was the order of the day.. They had deliberately chosen the
side of evil for, nobody, even a blind man, could be blind to the
atrocities of apartheid.
When the government forces of repression massacred those defenceless
kids, it became a question of Good against Evil! It was a battle for
the truth against damned lies! Those students were demonstrating for
the truth. The truth about the murder of a fellow student, and the
truth about the rape of a fellow student. Justice for their fellow
students.
People are tired of Jammeh's lies and if they whispered before, they
shouted at the top of their voices on April 10th. You have read
from the same sources as me the slogans the student had written on
their banners and those they shouted before, and as the events
unfolded. Even as the events unfolded the battle cries changed, as
those zombies seemed to become more blood thirsty.
Remember this is a battle between Good and Evil. And who is a better
judge of what is good and what is evil than the Almighty God
Himself? Listen, and I'll tell you what God has to do with it:
At the funeral of the fallen hero, the late Omar Barrow, journalist
and Red Cross volunteer, when the Imam of Latrikunda (my own Imam
for many years) spoke to those present, he elevated the brother onto
a pedestal and called him a "Sahib", a martyr in the service of
MANKIND.
When we hear about such atrocities committed or being committed
against a God fearing people and they call for prayers in mosques
and in churches, remember that for the faithful, the ultimate
custodian of truth is precisely their object of warship, their God,
their faith. Gambians have faith in God. So when they gather to
mourn their dead and to "PRAY", what they are actually doing is
carrying out some form of mobilization of the soul and the spirit of
their existence and their beliefs. When they pray from the Book of
their faiths and ask God to protect them against evil, they already
know who represents that evil.
In any field of political struggle, when everybody else is silenced,
the true religious leaders assume the role of spokesmen for the
oppressed. It is in the Houses of God, after prayers, that true
religious leaders choose a very apt and relevant theme to their
struggle, and speak on behalf of good, of truth. Desmond Tutu, Rev.
Allan Boesak are two known examples from the anti-apartheid
struggle. Arch Bishop Huddleston is another.
Dr. Martin Luther King is actually Rev. King, a man of the church
who spread his message as a simple choice between Good and Evil.
People living in the U.S. would know about "Negro spirituals" and
their significance in the Black Churches' religious/political
mobilization against evil.
The church also played a leading role in toppling Ferdinand Marcus
by preaching Good against Evil, by marching, demonstrating with the
oppressed, they clearly showed on whose side God was. Just recently
in East Timor the church played the role of custodian of the truth
and helped liberate its people.
When true religious leaders begin to speak, all the faithful begin
to listen,. When I say religious leaders I do not mean the likes of
Imam Fatty either. On Friday, I went to the mosque here in Oslo to
pray and mourn with the rest of the people. Afterwards, when I
showed round our petition and asked for signatures, people obliged.
I collected forty signatures. To those who can't read, I made it a
short simple message, stressing Good against Evil!
Have you ever bothered to ask yourself why so many people of the
church have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? The answer is
simple. They have been fighting for the truth, for justice for God's
children, among the weakest of the weak; for Good against Evil! The
mosque and the church are houses of meditation and reflection. The
houses of soul searching and conscience probing.
Whose side are you on? Good or evil? The battle lines have been
drawn. Why would you want to hang out with murderers? Whose side are
you on? If you are on the side of the Gambian masses you cannot
dismiss God's role in our struggle against evil. Those who called
for prayers are more politically sophisticated than you may think.
When they pray for God to protect them from evil, they at the same
time know that "God is not going to come down from the sky, take
away every evil and make everybody high". For them the house of
worship is the house of mobilization against evil. Do you need
someone to spell it out for you?
Some people have long since pinned their notices on the corridors of
Gambia-L, virtually telling anybody who has a beef with the
criminals back home to "PLEASE" not leave them out. They've done
their "homework", they will never offer Jammeh any carrots. They
KNOW the fool wouldn't take it.
Talking of carrots; What's the rush? If you have been doing your
homework, you wouldn't have failed to know that in Sierra Leon, the
debate is still raging as to whether it is morally right to forgive
those animals who amputated the limbs of innocent children. Those in
favour of amnesty argue that it is a pre-condition for lasting peace
in that country. The sceptics maintain that this would be tantamount
to telling everybody, loud and clear, that you can confiscate our
freedom anytime, you can amass enough weapons and mobilize some
zombies to massacre innocent people.
Don't be confused by the case of South Africa. That was different
because there is no danger of a repeat of the apartheid atrocities.
So there they can afford to forgive for the purpose of peace and
national reconciliation and self-healing. But even there, they first
had to admit to their crimes.
Jammeh is the embodiment of Evil and if you know the history of Sgt.
Samuel Doe, you will save me the trouble of having to psychoanalyze
him for you. Suffice to say that Jammeh's mentality has it that he
is sitting on a whole bar of chocolate and much more than that which
some are offering him. If you offer him a bite of the chocolate as
an exit ticket, his answer to you will be "Come and get it".
Jammeh had been a MOJA "wannabe", listening in to conversations by
members of the movement, some of whom used to visit Salomon Tamba,
then a MOJA militant himself. Jammeh was a resident with the Tamba
family. If you hear the kind of garbage this man used to propound,
you wouldn't understand how in God's name he managed to take us for
a ride this long.
If you want to study Jammeh, I am in possession of many hours of
video tape of him talking nonsense upon nonsense. Whenever I listen
to the guy a chill runs down my spine! He's a total lunatic living
in his own coco-world of some great African King, in the standing of
Musa Molloh, Samuri Touray, Mansa Musa, etc. and on top of that he
is surrounded by a bunch of nonentities who are constantly jockeying
to be in his good books, that is if he has any.
Jammeh ordered the murder of these children and came "home" shedding
crocodile tears, after Tombong and others have advised him that the
people are very angry and any contrary move would be
counter-productive. What does he do? He tried to high-jack our
grief. He tried to recruit the Almighty to his side. The people of
the Gambia are more politically sophisticated than you think. They
know an evil man when they see one.
If you want to remove Jammeh it cannot be done with "nylon boy
politics" alone. When the battle lines are drawn, different camps go
for different strategies.
What do you know about 'carrot and stick'? You carry the carrot and
I carry the stick. Do I have to spell it out for you? 'Carrot and
stick' is not only used in its "diplomatic" connotation.
During the Civil Rights struggle, Brother Malcolm X carried the
stick, whiles Rev. King carried the carrot. When Malcolm talked in
the 'no-compromise' tone of revenge, he scared the whites so that
they rallied behind King, a man of the church, to them, a
"civilized" man. They joined the call for more rights for Africans
"so that they don't rally behind the extremist 'Black Muslim'". What
they didn't know was that Malcolm could never hurt anybody. Malcolm
was a Muslim, King a Christian. They were both on the side of Good,
against Evil!!! Take this example and find similar examples and
study them to understand them. It's so simple.
To some Jammeh supporters, I say: God is not on your side. Give up
evil. Join the ranks of the downtrodden. Take a trip and stay abroad
and join the forces of good. Where is the rasterman in you? Don't
you now and then, hum unconsciously, in unison with brother Bob:
"'...cause we are confident, in the victory of good over evil." Or
is this just a 'rat race' for some of you? Come on! We will welcome
you into our fold, forgive you, before you have blood on your hands!
BTW, Rastafarianism too was/is a quest for the truth by brethrens
caught in captivity in Babylon, yearning to fly away home to Zion,
one fine day. In their quest for the truth they made a re-write of
the Bible, professing to be the stolen ones, waiting to return to
their Promised Land. They too have room for Jah, The Most High in
their search of the truth!
Amadu Kabir Njie.
PS: To all of you, good, God-fearing people, who recognise evil and
the essence of truth, I apologize from the bottom of my heart for
any language that may have offended you. I felt I had to say it as I
see it..
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
