Kabir, again you have called it in a way only you know how. Your postings
are always a source of inspiration for me. I still go back to your 'Good v.
Evil' posting now and again. You touched on a very vital issue that we tend
to overlook; i.e. people's belief in God and how that relates to the way we
should live our lives. You are right that come Day of Judgment, many will be
surprised. I however, will not be surprised by a lot of people. Kabir, let
us thank God for letting us see things the way we do.
As far as some of our countrymen and women are concerned, some of the
despicable actions they engaged in, need not even be ascribed to Devil
worshippers. In other words, even people that have never had the word 'God'
should not be engaging in some of the things our fellow 'Muslims and
'Christians' engage in.
I always shy away from talking about religion and people's beliefs. But I
think it would suffice for me to say that as religion and commonsense taught
us, the least someone can do in the face of INJUSTICE, is to SPEAK OUT
against it. To go behind people's back and pit them against their families
in order to stop them from speaking against injustice, is irreligious.
But Kabir, the main reason I decided to comment on your piece is to
highlight the importance of the role our families play in this struggle.
Fortunately or unfortunately, some of us have very good families back home.
People that we listen to and try to accommodate when possible. For instance,
it touched my heart when Saul Khan told us that his uncle spoke to him and
he listened. That is the way we are. Imagine how it would be like if Yaya
was from a family where he had honest and strong elders guiding him through
the right Path. At least he would not go on national TV and insult all our
parents. At least he would show some genuine compassion to the families of
Ebrima Barry and the children that were massacred on April 10 and 11, 2000.
But the operative phrase here is 'honest and strong elders'. We have some,
but we need more of these. We have to rid ourselves of this low expectation
syndrome. It is Not true that God put Yaya in power so that he can murder
our children. It is Not true that God put Yaya in power so that he can loot
the government coffers and render Gambian farmers destitute. What is more
likely, is that God put Yaya in power in order to test the rest of the
Gambian population. God might want to know who among us will easily mortgage
his or her soul to the Devil? Who among us will see injustice and not speak
out against it? Who among us will help Yaya draft draconian laws to
imprison, torture and murder innocent Gambians? Who among us will volunteer
to accompany Yaya to Hell? This can be dismissed as moralizing, but I have
no doubt in my mind that one day when it is all said and done, we will come
back to these people that mortgage their souls to the Devil and ask them to
swallow their garbage and they will.
They get signs everyday, but they are too blind to see the light. Blinded by
greed and callousness. Take someone like Pap Cheyassin Secka for instance.
Secka thinks he is a religious person. Many in our society think that he is
religious too. Judging from this man's action, you tell me whether you think
that this person is a good man. But the sad thing is that this man is so
blind that if Yaya were to recall him today, he will come back and be more
despicable at his job than he was earlier on. These people are incapable of
seeing the signs. They are a lost cause. Tell me, what do you do with a man
that spend the whole night committing adultery with a woman and then wake up
at the crack of dawn and rushes for his fajr prayers at the mosque? If this
isn't mocking God, what is? All these people know that what they are doing
is wrong. They can tell Good from Evil. They decided to be evil because that
is the easier thing to do in their myopic lifestyles.
Going back to our families, let us not underestimate the influence we also
have with our families. When these vermin try to undermine us with our
families, let us in a respectful way, convince our folks about what is the
right and godly thing to do. This is War between Good and Evil. Good will
always prevail, but we must not sit on our laurels. Let us help some of our
people get rid of this acute low expectation syndrome. Let us canvass them
and let them know that Gambia deserves better than Yaya and can do lot
better without Yaya. The murderer of our children should not be allowed to
lead us. The man that cut the hand that feeds our farmers should not be
allowed to lead us.
The forces of evil are at work. We should get to work too and not
underestimate the challenge. People should call their parents, brothers,
sisters, cousins, friends etc. and ask them to stand up against the evil and
injustice that goes on in our society. I call my own mother to try and
convince her to exercise her right to vote. I had meant to write this piece
about us contacting our families when I spoke to my mother and discovered to
my horror that left to her alone, she might not even vote for the
Opposition. She would stay at home come election day. I was horrified
because I took it for granted that people back home that know the suffering
do not need us to tell them what to do with Yaya. I counsel people in the
Diaspora to help the Opposition by canvassing their friends and families.
Contrary to the lies Yaya and his cohorts spread, we in the Diaspora are the
people that are sustaining the Gambian economy. Without the money we send to
our families, all our people will be in the streets begging for food. Take
for instance the number of Gambian pilgrims this year. The overwhelming
majority were sent by their families from the Diaspora. Those that were sent
from Yaya's ill-gotten gains, only the Lord can have mercy on them. Let us
engage our families and spread the Good word. Let us not leave it to the
shenanigans of Yaya and his cohorts to misinform our families. Gambians are
basically good and God-fearing people. We must not allow a few Devil
worshippers in our midst to lead all of us to Hell. Again, the least we can
do when faced with injustice, is to speak out against it.
Kabir, thanks again for your insights and do please keep in touch.
KB
PS: I had drafted this before I saw that brother George is back. We thank
God for your recovery. Welcome back. I hope you continue the great work you
are doing in the struggle. You have a stronger ally than these Devil
worshippers. So, fear nothing.
>From: Amadu Kabir Njie <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Whatever happened to Amadu Kabir Njie?
>Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 12:43:12 +0100
>
>Saul,
>
>Thanks for your concern. It's been indeed a while since I took part in
>discussions on the L and that is due to varied reasons. When I peeped the
>other day I saw your mail and Brother Omar's response to it. I'm fine
>indeed, enduring the winter that has refused to let so far; the zombies
>back
>home have not laid a hand on me.
>
>I have been mute lately mostly because I have lost connectivity at home,
>having access just at work where things have been rather hectic lately. My
>heart is with all of you worthy sons and daughters of our country though
>who
>have resolved never to rest until our once rather harmonious society has
>been restored to normalcy.
>
>As I intimated to you and our prolific and indefatigable Brother, KB, in
>our
>private exchanges sometime last year, there was a somewhat stormy period
>in
>my private life sometime ago but which has turned out to have been a
>blessing in disguise. I'll get back to the two of you in private for more
>on
>that issue. For now, however, I would like to take up an issue quite
>similar
>to one you raised here sometime ago.
>
>Some vermin (to borrow from KB), and permanent peeper on the L resident
>here
>in Oslo has been trying to sow seeds of discord between myself and my
>family
>back home because of my contributions on the L and other coined with other
>most pernicious of lies.
>
>This is a man to whom I had previously accorded some respect before I came
>to realise what a stinking hypocrite he really is. Never having acknowledge
>to me that he is an ardent supporter of the criminal regime back home,
>which
>I learnt later was the case, he always feigned total agreement with my
>position whenever the situation at home became a subject of discussion
>between the two of us. In restrospect, I feel I should have known better!
>
>For this is a hypocrite as any you've ever laid eyes on or heard about, and
>a "religious" one at that too! A so-called self-appointed "elder" with a
>propensity to stick his filthy nose in other people's business, always with
>the intention to taint and smear - that is in between his five daily
>prayers!
>
>And this is a man who went behind a trusting friend's back and literally
>"stole" his wife but is never tired of pretensious moralisation! As you may
>recall, I had taken up the issue of religious hypocrisy here before and I
>have had time to reflect further on the issue lately. I think the decay in
>the moral fabric in our society is something that all honest and
>God-fearing
>Gambians should be concerned about. For with such people all over the
>place,
>the battle for a just society will be an ever increasing uphill one; for
>any
>society is the sum of the individuals that constitute it.
>
>Some people just can't get the simple fact that being older than someone
>else, when stripped bare of all the the trappings that our society accords
>it, merely means being born before someone. Period! Being an elder or
>"religious leader", for that matter, comes with responsibilities and
>duties.
>One is expected to abide by all times by the truth, tell the truth, come
>rain or storm.
>
>I believe only a shameless "elder" or "religious leader" would butch in the
>face of a mere mortal. If such people can go to bed at night and get some
>sound sleep in the face of what is going on in our society today, then we
>are faced with a very bleak future indeed.
>
>These were the same people who removed our petition letter from the April
>massacre from the notice board of the Mosque but who went to town with:
>"Have you seen Clinton's letter?" and gladly distributed it and even kept
>copies for themselves. They never stopped to think that it was the
>dedication of brothers and sisters in the US who did exactly what we others
>were trying to do here that gave birth to "Clinton's letter". For them the
>word CONSCIENCE does not belong to their reactioanry vocabulary!
>
>
>Growing up, there was no end to the stories I heard told about my
>gradfather, a midget man and a Quranic teacher who never hesitated to tell
>a
>giant a piece of his mind whenever the need arose. I guess I grew up with
>the believe that one cannot be a genuine "elder" or "religious leader" and
>not do like the Prophets before us who were vocal in condemning all forms
>of
>injustice perpetrated against their followers.
>
>A true believer in God cannot be mute in the face of gross injustice
>perpetrated against a defenceless people. But it seems to me that Muslim
>"religious leaders" have abandoned that aspect of believe to Church
>leaders,
>for these are those whose voices have been heard loud and clear lately
>above all in Africa and elsewhere where butchers have high-jacked power
>and
>unleashed terror on their own people. I have NO respect at all for "elders"
>and "religious leaders" who crunch or whisper in such situations for they
>don't deserve it! Not to talk of those who not only fail to make their
>voices heard in such situations, but on the contrary "work hard" to
>discourage or counter those youger people of conscience who would not keep
>quiet under such circumstances, especially when they resort to lies and
>rumour-mongering spice to their filth.
>
>I am not sure if such behaviour is due to guilty conscience, cowardice or
>merely ignorance. What I do know is that The Day of Judgement will be one
>full of interesting surprises! For if one believes that performing the five
>daily prayers is the only thing that will endear one to God and not what
>transpires in between, then we have "a nigger that's out of mind" as
>Brother
>Malcolm used to say.
>
>Any way, that said, I have explained my position to my folks back home that
>speaking my mind on matters that affect my country, especially under the
>current circumstances is an intrinsic part of my believe in God and that I
>am not about to give it up. I have never comtemplated seeking political
>office and do not intend so in the future but I believe that does not
>absolve me either from my civic and moral duties towards the country.
>
>We cannot continue bequeth to the yet unborn duties that we should be
>taking
>care of now. I would consider myself an accomplished man when during old
>age, I can look back and say that I have contributed my little quota to God
>and the country whose citizen my offspring and their offspring will be. I
>have explained what I think and feel of filth and and politically numb and
>cowardly hypocrites like the one I mentioned above and advised them not to
>listen to the garbage he churns.
>
>My message to my folks was: if this man (I really believe he should take to
>wearing "becho", no offence to the sisters) comes back with more lies, they
>should either tell him to go mind his own business or not tell me about it.
>For if I should get one more
>hint of his shameless manouverings there will be a very nasty showdown
>between us. I guess then when this creature, with his behaviour which to me
>is no less than homosexual, will know the real me. For if he believes that
>he can churn filth, I'm well prepared to demonstrate to him that he's not
>even good at such lowly enterprise either. I better quit talking such
>vermin
>before I puke on my keyboard for the mere thought of them gives me nausea!
>
>Meanwhile, until I am up and about again with constant access to the net, I
>am with you all in this noble and worthy and Godly quest, especially those
>of you who constantly call a spade by its proper name. May he continue to
>bless you!
>
>Regards,
>
>Kabir.
>
>PS: Ndey, I've received your mail. We'll see what we can do from this end.
>
>
>"saul khan" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > Have the Jammeh people kidnapped Mr. A.K. Njie or what? Anybody seen the
> > brother?
> >
>
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