Kanteh wrote;

"GASSA, The ills and mistakes of yester years are nothing but lessons
for the wise inheritors of today and tommorrow BUT will never suffice as
justifications for the ills, mistakes and flagrant abuses of the the
present nor the future.

No yoke of oppression withstands the test of time for someday those who
thrive from injustice must succumb to the aspirations of the oppressed for
FREEDDOM".

Kanteh,

I totally agree with what you've writen above. Any body who disagrees with
what you've writen must be out of his/her mind. I have also never advocated
for us to ignore the mistakes of yesteryears for if we do, we would be doing
so at our own peril. In fact I am very fond of quoting T.S Eliot, who wrote
in Burn't Norton that "Time present and time past are both perhaps present
in time future, and time future contained in time pastuse the. If all time
is eternally present all time is unredeemable". I have also, on many
occasions admitted most of the wrongs of this regime while very few of you
have ever given them credit for anything which is very dishonest. I also
hate the unrelenting perpetuation of some of the lies about what prevails
here that some people want us to believe as the gospel truth.

Secondly, contrary to some people's perception, I have never grouped all
those in the diaspora as being ignorant of what prevails here nor have I
ever labelled all of you as people who lost their previleges as a result of
the overthrow of the PPP regime. What I have said before and still maintain
is that while there are many sensible people amongst you whose opposition to
this government is based on principles and the love of the country and
people, there are also some among you who are very myopic bigots whose only
motivation in opposing this government is hate, ignorance and lost
previleges.

As to what my reaction would have been had my own child been among the
victims of April 10 and 11, 2001, I would have been horrified and very angry
like any normal human being. However as time passes by I can find it in my
heart to forgive whoever was responsible and leave everything to God, The
almighty. I have also been on record here as saying that the demonstrations
that led to the tragic event was unjustified as the griviences of the
students were being addressed at the highest level then. I never blamed the
victims but instead put some of the blame squarely at the feet of the media
particularly the Daily Observer. I have also admitted here that the security
forces used totally unproportionate force in dealing with the situation. I
also quoted in one of my earlier post when I justified my support of the
APRC despite everything that has happened and quoted part of a letter writen
by one gentleman called Lamin Ceesay, I believe, titled "Let's think and not
feel it" a few days before that tragic event. In that letter, he admonished
The Daily Observer for sensationalising the late Ebrima Barry's case and
warned of the dangers in doing so. The then Editor of the paper, Sheriff
Bojang Sr. was also gracious enough to admit that the way the paper had been
reporting the incident was not very professional and apologised. For this I
also commended him.

You see Mr. Kanteh, I strongly believe that no Gambian blood should shed
under any circumstances particularly by another Gambian. That is why I have
always advocated for respectful dialogue between all of us in order to find
solutions to our numerous problems. Every Gambian of sound mind knows most
of our problems; but what we don't agree on most of the time is how to
prioritise or solve them. I challenge any six of you people to list what you
consider as our top six priorities and I can bet my bottom Dalasi that the
lists will not be identical. This is because our perceptions and priorities
are not the same.

Have a good day, Gassa.


_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>

To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>