My good friend JDAM,
I I commend you for this sincere and amicus of our other friend Kabir. I do
have high regard for both your opinions and those of Karim and Dr. Jaiteh. As
I was reading through the notes, one thing struck me; that is that the four
honourable coleagues are not as far apart in conviction as it might seem to
the untrained eye. It is degree of convictions and erstwhile impertinence that
threatens to widen the presumptive divide. Allow me to explain using your
notes. For in a note to Dr. Jaiteh, you remind him of the topic of discourse and
I am confident you meant no sleight of that because you had veered from that
topic if only to yield more global comprehension. Atfaddal:
"Kabir: Yours is a critically educative and interesting perspective." JDAM.
I join you in appreciation of Kabir's informative and interesting
perspective and you must have comfort that Dr. Jaiteh and Karim do infact appreciate
Kabir's disposition si bien to varying degrees. I think Karim's reaction was a
bit unwarranted because our friend Kabir expressed his opinions attached to
the article about Gordon Brown's position vis-a-vis Mugabe. Even if he
disagrees with Kabir's position Karim could have handled it differently, afterall,
Kabir did not misrepresent facts. He merely forwards his opinions which by the
way I happen to agree with in the culprit article. I think Gordon Brown's
position is indefensible and ill-advised. That is not to say he is not right in
his position or that he is not entitled to boycot the culprit summit. I
agree with his decision in as much as the people of Great Britain are concerned.
We must understand that Gordon Brown has as much responsibility for British
Zimbabweans as Mugabe has responsibility for Rhodesian Zimbabweans. By the
way, Mugabe or Gordon brown obviously do not speak for me or all Gambians and
British respectively. No matter allegories to such. I think Gordon Brown was
disingenuous and he wasted enormous political capital on the disdainful Mugabe.
" I continue to celebrate Mugabe's role in the fight against, and defeat of,
white minority rule in Zimbabwe. He is the last of the great southern
African liberators, that generation of fighters who made it to the very top in
their various countries. Some of the others included Mandela of South Africa,
Machel of Mozambique, Nujuma of South West Africa (Namibia), terrorists one and
all, according to Thatcher and a succession of American presidents." JDAM.
I join you in requiem of good riddance and the acknowledgement of
disingenuity. Perhaps ignorance is to blame or a paucity of ethical considerations. You
and I have the good fortune to endeavour more adroite considerations. I am
sure Kabir, Dr. Jaiteh, and Karim join us too on that score.
"In a book on Africa's fifty years of independence, I read about Mugabe
going to his mother and saying his goodbyes, telling her that he resolved to join
the fighters in Mozambique, and that although he was not sure about
surviving, he refused to live under white minority rule in Rhodesia." JDAM.
This is touching. I am sure Gallantry abound. If you read about Thatcher's
life or Jimmy Carter's life, or for that matter Yahya's life, I am confident
you will come across gallantry of equal or overwhelming proportion. How about
Mandela's life story. It probably dwarfs the rest in magnanimity and
gallantry. The devil is the detail of gallantries. I share your nirvana. Now we must
train on the evidently missing bliss.
"Unless we vainly search for purity in our political leaders, the man
deserves celebration for helping end the tyranny of the minority in his homeland!"
JDAM.
I think it is well within reason to celebrate Mugabe's achievements and he
deserves high commendation for his selfless disposition when he sacrificed for
the liberation of Rhodesia along with many equally gallant Zimbabweans. As
luck and consideration would have it, he was accorded the privilege of the
Presidency in Bulawayo. Celebration nonetheless. I don't imagine vanity in the
quest of purity in other is valuable.
"The alternative was Bishop Musorewa and his ilk!" JDAM.
I wonder why you believe Musorewa and his ilk are or were the alternatives.
I wonder who were Musorewa's ilk? Lamin, you must err on precision when human
characters and their ware are concerned. Such blanket disdain is unlike you.
"Although currently of the view that he overstayed his useful years," JDAM.
This is where the quintet comes together in perspective. Gentlemen all.
Afflicted with erstwhile extreme convictions.
"I do not understand this to constitute any disagreement with your
perspective." JDAM.
I agree within the limits of Gordon Brown's disingenuity. Dr. Jaiteh and
Karim also recognize Kabir's perspective am sure in that regard..
"Even here, the dilemma must be whether any successor of Mugabe could muster
the requisite clout in credibly resolving the land dispute that is
interwoven with municipal white brutality of epic proportions." JDAM.
I acknowledge and share your anxieties Lamin. You will however agree with me
that sooner or later, we must embark on the search for such a successor
unless you have resigned Zimbabwe's fate to Mugabe's fate.
"For the educated Zimbabwe watcher, the critical question is whether any
credibility should be accorded the leaders of key anti-Mugabe countries like the
USA, the UK, and Australia." JDAM.
The educated Zimbabwe watcher must therefore train on the non-key anti
Mugabe Zimbabwean citizens.
[In light of their own defacto domestic policies on race relations and equal
opportunity, the answer has got to be negative. As their most testing
assignment must be their individual and collective abilities to navigate the global
scene, Africa's future leaders must open their eyes to the realities of
international politics and its intersection with domestic race relations in
so-called "key democracies"]. JDAM.
You have veered away from topic here and you seem to discredit the opinion
of citizens of other countries. I understand your angst but oftentimes, we can
blur our purpose and personal shortcomings by dwelling on the obvious and or
the shortcomings of others. I have learned that there is more merit in
comparative values than comparative non-value.
"On Zimbabwe, I do not think Africans should take lectures from the
Anglo-Saxon tripartite of the USA, the UK, and Australia. This is not to say I do not
wonder at the fantastic magic of the "rule of law" in these countries
regarding matters touching on the white majority." JDAM.
I agree Lamin, and I add that on any matter for any country, no one must
take lectures from another in the affairs of your administration. Be the
lecturers anglo-saxons, caucasians, or negroes.
"We are simply incidental beneficiaries of the protection of the law, and
even here the system routinely malfunctions with tragic consequences as in the
case of the "Jena Six". And in the area of mainstream economic opportunity,
the non-Caucasian is generally excluded." JDAM.
You veer away from the topic here again. That is not to say that the new
topic is irrelevant. A new topic nonetheless. I am confident these inadvertent
diversions afflicted Malanding.
[In a 2006 speech I gave on comparative "Rule of Law" to a Gambian group in
the UK, please refer to the excerpt below:
"For a dramatic demonstration of the rule of law in recent times, I suggest
we foray into a systemic challenge to, and vindication of, the concept in the
United States, that trail blazer jurisdiction of the all-encompassing
principle of the sanctity of the human person. For the discernible student of
modern international affairs - and we have many in this immediate audience and
beyond - the United States stands for carnage and abuse. I accept the partial
validity of any such observation, and for good measure, I readily concede that
like our host nation, the United States stands legitimately accused of
pervasive institutional racism against its non-Caucasian peoples. I am willing, at
some future date, to discuss the institutional racism clearly prevalent in
the United States, and the United Kingdom, in particular, and western liberal
democracies, in general, but for present purposes, I am happy to confine my
excitement to dilating on the critical significance of the rule
of law in public life."] JDAM.
I have always regarded you as intelligent, circumspect in the main, and
potentially amalgamating. I commend you for sharing your views with your fellow
citizens. I do disagree with your assertion that the US stands for carnage and
abuse in international affairs. I agree there is institutional racism in the
US and that is sometimes extended to international policy and we the
non-caucasians are well aware of it as we make strides to change that order. I will
share with you that there is institutional bias in most African and indeed
global administrations. You are probably not aware of institutional bias in
India, the Sudan, Algeria, France, Senegal, Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea Bissau,
Uganda, Angola, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden, Malaysia, and Myanmar. The
bias manifests in various cultural inclinations. It would be the height of
vanity to consider that the Arab nations view blacks as good for nothing other
than slavery. The question though is whether that gives Mugabe License to
maim and murder his fellow citizens when they challenge his rule, even when they
are aided and abetted by the west? You must remember that Mugabe has his own
aiders and abettors, the majority of whom are not African, not that that
makes a significant difference. We must therefore train on justice and fair-play
across the board without regard to race, gender, creed, or social status.
I think what I sense is that even though you want to train on commoner good,
there is this nagging sensation that your fellow citizen does not know how
much you know about cause and effect and you find it difficult to leave them
behind in the information arena. You will take comfort in the recognition that
when you train on commoner good, you embark on massive education by proxy.
"I urge you to relentlessly continue your crusade for Pan African
consciousness in that political Gambia must be educated about its salvation not
residing in the British gathering of the Commonwealth of Nations, or the global
gathering at the imperialist instrumentality of the United Nations, not to
mention the Arab gathering at the Islamic Conference." JDAM.
I'm sure by now you have noticed what I share with you. Pan African
consciousness, whether that is what Kabir is trained on or not, is not education
about anyone's salvation. You have intimated yourself that there are plenty of
dictators, despots, nincompoops in Africa itself but that your disdain is with
Western disingenuities. Why, pray tell, would you wish to substitute one
nincompoop with another???
"I agree that we must unshackle our minds, and thank you for your
perspective!" JDAM.
Lamin and my coleagues, Let us rise above insignificant and onerous
considerations in national enterprise. Look at the far side of vengeful admonition on
foolhardy pursuits and train on commoner life and its fortunes. Admonish we
must where appropriate. But we must resist the temptations of replacing evil
with evil. The worth of a man is not measured by the joules in reaction but
by les mots adequats, measured innoculation, and considrations. Otherwise the
human race will have been extinct prior to our arrival here.
Haroun Al Khairawan. MQDT Darbo
************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
|