Contrary to the waspishly ridiculous view Jainaba Bah, Sarjo Jallow's wife,
wished to peddle here last week for obvious reasons, no decent Gambian should
stay mute on the plight of Dumo Sarho's more than one-year illegal
incarceration. Again, contrary to her callous suggestion, we mustn't let
Dumo's plight be the plight of his family and friends alone. What has
tragically befallen Dumo is a sharp reflection of how Jammeh and his gang of
philistines have managed in the space of seven years to reduce the Gambia
into a tragic wreckage of lawlessness, mass abject poverty and decadence in
national standards - be it social, economic or political. Suffice to say that
Dumo has come to epitomise the extent to which Jammeh has helped wrought
lawlessness, brutality and criminality on the Gambia and the Gambian peoples
since 1994. To the extent that this is true, we must never let ourselves be
blackmailed and or intimidated - by vested interests posing as paper tigers -
into giving up on this courageous and remarkable Brother who has suffered so
much, simply because he dared to have a conscience and not prepared to soil
his integrity by joining the APRC.

That Dumo is illegally incarcerated is not in doubt. But the intellectual
rationalisers of evil are now working overtime - and understandably so - to
discredit or relativise the Brother's plight. Fancy now Dumo's plight is now
being argued prevaricatingly as if it is a one-off and not such a big deal
after, because - yes that's right - Jawara also illegally incarcerated the
likes of Sarjo Jallow. Come to think of it, who in particular has Jawara ever
illegally incarcerated for more than a year without due process or arraigning
them before a judge or magistrate to determine the validity or lack thereof
of the charges against them? Even if it were the case that such a thing did
actually happen with the PPP [by the way i'm not convinced it is the case]
how could any sane and rational person use that historical precedent or lack
thereof to rationalise the continued illegal incarceration of someone as
innocent as Dumo? Since when did two wrongs start making a right? One would
have thought that those who claimed being victimised in the past would be in
a strong moral position - as was certainly the case with Mandela - to always
stand up against any other form of victimisation.

Another specious argument being paraded is that just because an individual in
the past did hold or profess to hold progressive views and in instances acted
upon them, it suffices for us to overlook their current moral corruption and
excuse their help in the strengthening the hand of the devil, that continues
to make life miserable for ordinary folks. The inanity behind this argument
is so obvious and foolish that one doesn't have to grace it with a
counter-argument. To bludgeon this inane argument to death, i shall give an
example. Now, to most professional philosophers in the western world, the
most profound and important western philosopher of the 20th century is
without doubt the German philosopher, Martin Heidegger. Yet, virtually all
the polls that are carried out on this topic sees Heidegger being surpassed
for the trophy, and his arch rival Ludwig Wittgenstein notching the top spot.
What could have put paid Heidegger's chances of beating of the over-rated
Wittgenstein? As it happened, Heidegger together with Carl Schmitt were the
intellectual rationalisers of Nazism, i.e., Nazi apologists - sui generis.
This, many continue to point out, is the primary reason why Heidegger's work
and achievements remain besmirched and put paid to his chances as western
philosophy's most important philosopher of the 20th century. Similarly, just
as Heidegger's Nazi association was telling in how posterity perceived and
interpreted him, Sarjo Jallow's association and defense of the APRC, and with
all it stood for, will definitely put paid to whatever chances he ever had in
posterity looking kindly on him. Nothwithstanding his "Wonjo" factory!

As posited earlier on, Dumo's plight can never be that of his family and
friends alone. Today this Brother has become the very symbol of how
lawlessness, brutality and criminality has taken over the mores of our great
country, the Gambia. To let this Brother suffer in silent and with his family
and friends alone, would be to endorse what has tragically befallen him. All
Opposition leaders should and must always champion his case wherever they get
the chance to talk to an audience about how Jammeh has reduced the Gambia to
a tragic wreckage. For at the end of the day, when all is said and done, what
has tragically befallen Dumo could happen to any Gambian as long as we have
this criminal regime at the helm of our affairs. Today, it is Dumo. Tomorrow,
it could be any of us.

Hamjatta Kanteh

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