Conteh,

This report is indeed disturbing but not surprising. The inhumane actions of
our present government are now legend throughout the World, and the main
concern of every Gambian is to do our part to bring sanity back to our
precious homeland.
I am also quite earger to see how things will unfold with the By-elections
today. Thanks Mr Sillah for the updates.

I have been silent on the current exchanges lately, partly due to being busy
with work and family, but also because I have expressed my views on these
subjects before and in all cases, if one just lets common sense prevail,
there is not much to debate about.

On FGM, in the past I had taken the position that outsiders should not try to
change our culture, because i saw it a a movement spearheaded by Western
women. However, when I saw that my sisters who are subject to it are speaking
out and telling a horrible tale, and that there were people actually
mobilizing for e.g in the villages in Senegal, to fight against the pratice,
I began to see this whole thing from a different light.
I did not have first hand knowledge of FGM. However I have read up on this
subject, and now see the terrible thing that it is, and the results it leaves
on those who are subject to it. As a Wollof child growing up among the
Mandinkas, both in Jangjangbureh and Gunjur, I had come to actually
romanticize this practice, and I think it was due to the fact that all my
mandinka friends used to make me and my sisters feel like we were missing out
on something great. The secrecy sourrounding the whole affair, how all our
friends used to go off to the bush and we could not, the colourful ceremonies
afterwards, all contributed to this feeling of missing out on something. Not
to mention the fact that they used to also call us "solimah" which we
resented.

Now, I cannot possibly see how anyone can condone such an inhumane and
unneccessary act on our fellow women. What is the purpose of this exercise? I
do believe in my childhood days i used to hear that it was done to curb
sexual desire.
Does it have a basis in Islam, absolutely not, and anyone who tells you so
should show you a passage in the Qur'an or hadith  where this is recommended
as something to be done to women. Those two sources are our only references
in Islam, and it is not there. The Arabs, like many societies , practiced FGM
long before the advent of Islam.

Can  we really, as a civilized society, as a group of people who appreciate
and value freedom and who strive for it, afford to do all that and still
condone the slicing and dicing of our womenfolk and their subjection to a
harmful and senseless practice whose usefulness no one can tell you? We know
that women have suffered untold pain giving birth because of FGM, and some
people describe horrible defacement of women due to this practice. These are
documented. Is the usefulness of this practice documented anywhere and what
is it?

How do we reconcile these two controversial positions of saying we strive for
freedom and all that it entails for both men and women, and still carry on
this practice? We cannot possibly do it and still make sense.

I think it was Amie Bojang Sissoho who alluded to something I have also
always maintined. This is that culture is an ongoing process, and every
generation has to examine it, retain those aspects that are useful and
discard that which is useless and does not make sense anymore.This is how
progress in the human condition is attained.
The Chinese do not bind women's feet anymore to make them dainty because the
idea was that women with big feet are not desirable. My mother's people the
"narr" of Mauritania do not put silver anklets weighing over 5 lbs on the
feet of young girls anymore so they will learn to take small dainty steps
because this is what makes a woman desirable ( My mom actually had her pair
in the bottom of a chest for years, and used to show it to us) And there are
many other silly practices that societies throughout the World have done away
with.

Why have societies done away with these senseless acts? Because they demean
women and treat them as chattels, pieces of furniture that one has to mold to
elicit desire, or in most cases, just to feed one's ego . These societies
have started to discard  those aspects of their culture that do not serve any
useful and sensible purpose.

Ylva hernlund, and Tejan, congrats on the book, and as you rightly said Ylva,
an academic work should present the views of both sides if it is to be taken
seriously. I am looking forward to reading the book before commenting.

On the controversy regarding PDOIS' failure to attend the meeting in the U.K,
I have also said before, and will repeat again, that the goal of this meeting
was much more important than who sent an invitation and how it was sent. Even
if PDOIS thought that this invitation came from a British MP, it mentioned
the involvement of Gambians, and it mentioned the fact that the discussion
was to center around the present political atrocities in our country. That in
itself is enough if one cares about Gambia and Gambians without any
qualifications.

 Do they not share the same sentiment that these atrocities shoud be exposed
and hands joined to end them no matter who was organizing this meeting? Does
PDOIS think that if they were to come into power, that they do not need to be
a part of the international community, or would they close Gambia from the
outside World like Moa Tse Tung did in China so they can just single-handedly
solve all our problems and attend to all our affairs without outside
involvement and cooperation with the rest of humanity elsewhere in the World?
This is a rather arrogant and unrealistic stance in my view, and i am
begining to feel that PDOIS is not interested in any coalition really, and
that was the main reason  for their absence.I don't think there was any
response from them regarding the formation of a colaition either.

If I was the leader of a political party in The Gambia, or just an ordinary
Gambian who could attend this meeting,  and such a discussion was going to
take place, and because it would be a forum that will indeed expose the
improper goings on by a regime that even the most daft of Gambians can
clearly see is not in the best interest of our country and our people,  I
would make it my business to attend even if i did not get an invitation. Why?
Because I care about Gambia and Gambians, and because if that is the case, it
is time to set aside all the reasons not to, and join hands to get this
barbaric regime off our backs. Period. No other reason or justification
required.

Another reason I have been silent is the endless bickering that goes no here
these days. For heavens sake, that sort of atmosphere stifles one's trend of
thought, and most people are afraid to comment on anything or give their
opinion because you never know when someone will pounce on you, "gejjah" you,
salt you and hang you out to dry. That is not a pleasant atmosphere to be in,
and I hope we all realize that.

Conteh, again, the proposed forum here in the U.S is a great idea, and if i
can help in any way please let me know.

Jabou Joh

In a message dated 3/30/2001 8:29:54 PM Central Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:


> Sister Jabou:
>
> This report is disturbing.  I hope come Saturday
> the devil will wake up Sunday morning feeling
> humiliated by the strong vote of confidence for
> the UDP in Central and Kiang East Constituencies.
> I just cannot fathom any Gambian supporting a
> dictatorship that continues to deny them the
> right to political decency.
>
> I appreciate your silence on the latest
> controversial debate, but I must admit it has
> been quite lonely without your sisterly advise.
>
> Going back to political talk, our strategy in
> holding a Unity Conference will provide Gambians
> in the US to show their support for the opposition.
> At this critical time in our struggle, we cannot
> afford to be discontented because of our selfish
> gains.  Whether one supports UDP, NRP or PDOIS,
> our initiative is to provide a political ground
> in which the opposition can speak in one
> understanding language.
>
> Can you believe that the moron donated a vehicle
> and D300,000 to the National Youth organization.
> Where did he get $30,000 from?  Is this man just
> withdrawing money from our treasury without any
> chain of command?  What is the responsibility
> of the Governor of Central Bank?  Why can't the
> legislation indict moron Jammeh on bribery,
> corruption and misuse of government funds?  I just
> cannot believe that a man who overthrew a legal
> government with less that $2 in his pocket can
> afford to live such a life-style.  I thought
> they said Sir Dawda was corrupt?
>
> Naphiyo,
>
> Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh
>
> ------Original Message------
> From: Jabou Joh <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: March 31, 2001 12:37:16 AM GMT
> Subject: Fwd: "Coup Plotters" Languish in Jail
>

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