I am not a non-entity. So I know Mr. colley was not referring to me. If there are others who know they are not non-entities, can you say thus so we can get to more important dialogue here.
>From: Jabou Joh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: THE BIGGER PICTURE/hint of arrogance?
>Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2001 22:30:53 EDT
>
>In a message dated 7/15/2001 3:52:55 PM Central Daylight Time,
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
>
> > "That is what we should be
> > focusing our attention on Mr. Chongan and not on
> > meaningless remarks made by meaningless creatures from
> > meaningless streets of Half-Die, Soldier-Town,
> >
>
>ebou colley. I have said here numerous times that you are to be commended for
>coming forward to relay the information you have on the atorcities committed
>by this regime, and that this is one of the authentic sources of evidence
>that the Gambian people have against this regime.
>
>I and many others on this forum recognize that to get information such as you
>are furnishing requires someone who was in the know such as yourself, and i
>hope others follow suit in this endeavour. To me, this is an indication of
>courage as I have said before, but it also indicates to me that you love and
>care for the Gambian people as a whole, not just some of them who happen to
>agree with your viewpoints.
>
>Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that your
>comments above anger me to no end. You see, you should not relegate people to
>"non-entities" just because they hold a differing view from yours. Or perhaps
>you know something that sets some Gambians above others that the rest of us
>do not know.
>
>This reeks of an arrogance that is more synonimous with Yaya Jammeh and his
>cohorts. These "non-entities" each and everyone of them, one by one, are the
>Gambian people. These non-entities form a nation that you say you love. it is
>not a nation of "intelligent people"whose opinion matters, and "non-entities"
>whose opinion is to be dismissed. That kind of attitude is what has given us
>the Yaya Jammehs of this World and those who support and think like them.
>Together, they translate into a nightmare for Gambia as well as Africa.
>You say that a soldier of your calibre speaking out is a revolutionary idea
>that will benefit Africa and is a marked departure from the actions of
>soldiers involved in coups etc on the continent. I agree and again, commend
>you.
>
>However, the accompanying arrogance that your above statement reveals is not
>consistent with this love, dedication and desire for truth that will uplift
>the people that you say you represent. Remember that the nations these
>soldiers serve is made up of individuals, most of whom are poor people from
>neighbourhoods similar to the ones you desvcribe with such disdain.
>
>I am from Half die, one of the "meaningless neighbourhoods" you mention.
>Perhaps my origins and those of other Gambians who come from similar
>neighbourhoods makes us non-entities whose opinions do not matter, and whom
>you can brush off with disdain.
>
>This makes me shudder and pray that we do not continue to have the likes of
>Yaya Jammeh emerge in our midst because it is people like that who have these
>kinds of opinions of the people, and that is why they are able to treat them
>with such disrespect and disdain, and heap all sorts of abuse on them since
>they do not see them as people.
>
>To me, I see absolutely nothing that differentiates any Gambin from the
>other. What is there that you can see that separates Gambians into a group
>that sees themselves as superior and a group of non-entities?
>
>I urge you to please remember that the justice we seek takes all opinions
>into consideration, and dismissing people as non-entities is not part of this.
>
>Without implying that yourself and Mr Chongan do not deserve assylum, I also
>want to point out that if investigations prior to granting asylum were as
>thorough and influential in granting asylum to political exiles as you think,
>then the likes of Mobutu Sese Seko, the Shah of Iran and others who have
>wrecked havoc with the lives of people in the countries they governed, or the
>economies they plundered, would never have found refuge in the West.
>
>On the contrary, more often than not, these rogues find refuge in the West
>all too easily and this is because the West simply does not concern itself
>much with those who kill and maim people in the so-called third World, and
>plunder our economies. These rogues deposit their loot into Western banks,
>and embellish their bottom lines, and that is all that matters to them.
>
>Again, i am dissappointed and sickened by your choice of words, and most
>especially because it came from you of all people.
>
>Jabou Joh
>
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