MArtin Luther King befriending his brother Luis Farakhan a new era in u.s.a UNITED STATES OF AFRICA? I have a DReam?you right? Your call >From: saul khan <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: A challenge to those advocating violent change in The Gambia >Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 04:58:18 GMT > >Dampha, > >I concur with you totally. This whole "challenge" stuff is very Buharry, >and absolute cobblers (to borrow from the great Hamjatta.) I'm surprise he >hasn't gone into his rainbow family background this time. Any time someone >takes on an ugly Gambian reality, this man has to put on this ridiculous >patriotism show. Somehow, some of us are people with "agendas" who are >bent >on tearing the Gambia apart, and him and his likes are the true patriots >who >are keeping us together. Nothing could be further from the truth! None of >us >asking the opposition to stand up and fight back are any less patriotic >than >Buharry and co. But, if people like him are the best the Gambia has to rely >on, then God help that nation, because this guy has a problem dealing with >ugly reality. No one on this list "advocating violence" has ever committed >any such thing. It's the govt. in power back home that is doing so. And >just >for the record, unless I've missed something, no one has said anything >about >the UDP forming a "vigilante" group. What I said is for the UDP to train >some of their cadres as a security contingent, and that these people will >keep vigilance anywhere their party leaders/members congregate. I was >thinking along the lines of the Nation of Islam. Louis Farrakhan is alive >today not because thousands of assassins don't attempt to kill him every >year, but because of the dedication of his UNARMED security contingent who >keep vigilance at ALL times and ALL places where Farrakhan goes. There have >actually been cases where the Fruit Of Islam (the NOI security) have >confronted and disarmed potential assassins! So, there is a real-life >example of what I'm exhorting the UDP people to do here. There is a world >of difference between that and forming a "vigilante" group. If I meant to >say the UDP should form a vigilante group, or even an army, I'll say >exactly >that, because unlike people like Buharry who use semantics, I say exactly >what I mean, irrespective of how unpopular that opinion may be. But, >somehow >it's "irresponsible" to tell these law-abiding gentlemen to defend their >god-given rights. What does the Great Buharry suggest instead? Rely on >"pressure" because it's bearing fruits! > >The reality on the ground however is different. The senior echelon of both >the army and police are openly antagonistic to the UDP people. Gambians >don't come any gentler than Ousainou Darbo, Amadu Sanneh, or Yaya Jallow >among others. Imagine these gentlemen turning in to the police a group of >thugs who had just made a serious attempt on their lives, but instead of >the >criminals being booked, the victims are the ones dumped in jail. What a >travesty of justice! So, who will protect these people when the police >clearly have no intention of doing so? Why should they obey any law that is >criminal in the first place? Because as far as I am concern, ANY law that >treats equals unequally renders itself null and void. To drive home my >point, if a law allows Musa Njie, private citizen, and APRC supporter to >carry a pistol, but the same law bans Yusu Jobe, private citizen, and NRP >supporter to do the same, am saying Yusu Jobe and people like him have no >obligation -moral or otherwise- to obey that law. For any type of law, >statute or ordinance to have legitimacy, it has to treat all subjects >equally. If it doesn't do that, then any responsible citizen would be >foolhardy to obey such a law. What we have in The Gambia is a big joke, >cause the jailers are the real criminals. If one cannot count on the >regular >law-enforcement officials to protect one, then one has a god-given right to >do what one must to save one's life. That is my advice to all the >opposition >groups. > >And talking about not wanting a war, this Buharry better wake up and smell >the coffee, because we may not be Liberia, or Sierra-Leone, but there is an >un-declared war going on in The Gambia. When a cabinet minister is >butchered in cold blood, and the govt. refuses to launch an independent >inquiry, a war is on; when people who have served in the public service for >over thirty years are fired on the spot for no reason, a war is on; when >it's govt. policy to fire anyone who is "suspected" of being an opposition >sympathizer, a war is on; when people who have never had a problem feeding >their families for decades are all of a sudden forced by circumstances to >beg for a living because of govt. policy, a war is on; when otherwise very >decent and religious people are forced to turn a blind eye on their >daughters' prostitution because their entire family relies on such illicit >income to survive, a war is on; when totally unqualified/incompetent people >are promoted to senior positions over more qualified candidates because of >their creed, or where they hail from, a war is on; when a woman gets beaten >in public for merely TRYING to pass through the "wrong" gate, and nothing >comes out of it, a war is on; when a Head of State dishes out public money >to whoever he likes as a "personal gift," a war is on; when very decent >gentlemen are thrown in jail when punks are allowed to walk in and >taunt/insult them, a war is on; and just to make it short, when a Head of >State orders the mowing down of little kids for standing up and saying >"enough to all the madness going on in our country," a war is on! So, you >better wake up Buharry. Every single value that we cherish as Gambians is >being destroyed by these savages. And it's "irresponsible" telling Gambians >to say "enough is enough." Why don't you Buharry tell us how you hope to >keep the peace in a country that has so much obvious injustice. I'd love to >hear you explain how one can sustain any type of peace based on blatant >lies >like we have in Gambia. So, you tell us Mr. Cool-headed, No-Agenda, No. 1 >patriot, Responsible man. You tell us. > >The Apartheid army was stronger than the army of the rest of Africa >combined, but that did not stop Mandela and his people from taking it on. >Just because I'm dog-tired after a hectic weekend, I'll cut this here, but >this whole challenge shows how naïve, and idealistic this Buharry guy is. >And he's clearly seeing himself in others by assuming that if a real war >breaks out, most/all of us will be in Europe/America while our >parents/people's hands are being chopped off. I hope Buharry will stick to >speaking for himself next time. He Buharry will stay, but not all of us >will. It just goes to show how non-monolithic we are as Gambians, because >this Buharry types might as well come from a totally different planet as >far >as I'm concern. > >Saul. > > > >>Buharry, are you really serious when you ask us to come to Gambia_L > >________________________________________________________________________ >Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------