The Independent Published Friday, October 5, 2001



"Naked women's protest is irreligious"


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Religious leaders from all denominations in the country have unreservedly
condemned the spectacle of starkly naked women who took to the streets of
Brikama to protest against the opposition last week. The religious leaders
said it was irreligious for the women to go beyond what is the normal and
the usual by exposing the most intimate parts of their bodies.

In an interview with The Independent Sheikh Gibril Kujabi said the incident
was profoundly reprehensible in the Islamic point of view, and remains
unbelievable in a predominantly Muslim populated country like the Gambia. He
believes that Muslims should vent their grievances in a more decent way.
Such actions he said must never be allowed to take hold in The Gambia.

The Imam of Kanifing mosque Baba Leigh described the naked women's protest
as against Islam and runs contrary to Gambian laws and standards behaviour.
He said being nude in the open is public indecency and misbehaviour. "The
people who did this should be arrested and taken to court" the Imam adding
that those who paraded themselves naked have incurred God's anger.

He called on other religious leaders to denounce it vehemently. He said
those who committed it could not call themselves Muslims. He called for
respect, humility and tolerance to govern the lives of Gambians hoping for
peace, prosperity and development. He also warned against divisive politics,
which results in chaos and instability. He said it is regrettable that the
protest by the women was linked with Gambian politics.

Alhagie Ceesay the Imam of the University of The Gambia also strongly
condemned the manner of the protest, saying it goes against Islamic Sharia
law. He said the government should not make an idle response to the incident
but should come down hard on the offenders. He advised those who took put in
the bizarre ritual to repent and redeem themselves in the eyes of God. He
said this provides an ugly precedent for young and impressionable people

. Demba Jallow of Bakoteh also called on the government to take tough
measures against the protesters to avoid such manner of protest in the
future.

For Abdoulie Ceesay a renowned Islamic scholar at Bakoteh it was
"anti-Islamic, anti-society and anti-cultural".

For his part Pastor Edwund Martins of the New Fellowship International
Church at Bakoteh it is vile and repugnant for a group of naked women to
ignore all religious and cultural restraints and expose their intimate
parts. Pastor Martins said the act was forgivable because they did it out of
ignorance. "If somebody is ignorant, the cure is to teach him" he said.





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