Hablie,

Your discourse on the issue of FGM given at Munnesota 3 days ago was most impressive. I
must admit that the psycho-physico effects of the practice were always my main concern.
And I am sure it's the same for a great number of people. To treat the subject from a
human rights point of view is indeed extremely important in the fight towards abolishing
this degrading practice.

I was happy that you pointed out that the issue is not a religious issue, as it seems to
be seen as by the Norwegians. You see, Noway is a christian country. Christianity is the
official religion, and the Ministry of Church and Education  is a ministry that has a
central position in the Norwegian government. Discrimination based on religion is
therefore not uncommon.The potent presence of Islam in their midst has always been seen
as a threat to them They , therefore, would go to any lengths to discredit Islam. Making
FGM a religious issue is one way of showing their anti-Islamic values.

Thanks again for the well-focussed angle in which the issue has been treated by you. We
have learnt a lot from it.

Alhaji

Abdoulaye Saine wrote:

> G-L Community:
>
> I have followed the debate over female circumcision/female genital
> mutilation with great interest and wanted to inject another dimension
> that is seldom or not explicitly made, i.e., "FMG/FC as a Human Rights
> Issue."
>
> Consequently, I would like to share with you the remarks I made at
> Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota, on Saturday, October 14, when men in
> this state honored Gambian Women, Gambian Women in Chicago and Women
> married to Gambian Men in the Twin-Cities. It was a very sumptuous and
> celebratory gala that deserves emulation.
>
> To the folks in the Twin-Cities, Minnesota, thank you for your
> hospitality and for the fifth banquet honoring Gambian Women.
>
> Regards,
>
> Abdoulaye
>
>   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                                            Name: The Role of Women in Development.doc
>    The Role of Women in Development.doc    Type: Winword File (application/msword)
>                                        Encoding: base64

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