Hi Sister Jabou!
The scholarliness, maturity and humility displayed in your response
are some of the reasons I always look forward to reading your posts.
Thank you for engaging.
We do not have any disagreements with regard to speaking out about
human rights abuses and lack of respect for the rule of law. The issue
is how that speaking out is done, what is proposed and how what is
proposed is presented. While you might feel that you can speak for all
Gambians, others might disagree. There are many people who disagree
with what I identify as being problematic in Gambia and are opposed to
what I propose as solutions just as I disagree with what they present.
That is the beauty of the democracy we wish for Gambia. Disagreeing
with each other does not however mean that we cannot work together to
bring about meaningful change. It means that we have to listen to and
learn from each other. We can debate fiercely and present and guard our
points of view with vigour but we must understand that what we present
is true to us but might not be true to others. We therefore need to
convince each other. If we fail to convince each other, we just agree
to disagree. We might disagree on one topic but agree wholeheartedly on
another.
I have debated with you and read your debates online for more than a
decade and I know where you stand on many issues because you20have
always been steadfast in presenting and defending them. The issues I
raised regarding clamourous condemnation of people on the ground, the
urging of people to take to the streets, the issue of fence-sitting
etc. were not only limited to your response or to this current debate.
Halifa and PDOIS have been known for example, for writing open letters
and press releases and have been condemned for doing so as lately as
the witch-hunting issue. The issue of urging people to take to the
streets has been around for many years. Some time ago, I read some
writings on the issue of fence-sitting from the Gambia Post archives.
Sister Jabou, I shall never accuse you of blowing hot air because I
know better. I have known you as someone who fights for what she
believes in both in writing and otherwise. As you stated, we have been
on other venues where the thrust was not only debate but project
oriented. I sometimes read the archives of the L, Post and other sites
and see how many people have, over the years, come and gone with
extremely radical pronouncements and instigations for people to take to
the streets. These issues are not new and my opinions on them have been
expressed over the years and are therefore not new.
With regard to misunderstanding what you wrote, it is no problem. While
online communication offers great benefits, one of the main
disadvantages is the lack of personal touch. O ne might write something
that is misunderstood but would not have been so if it was a
conversation with the ability to see facial expressions etc. Then there
is the issue of the ?Angal辿? (English) per the broken French we speak.
It is not our language and for some of us in these parts of the world
where it is not the mother tongue, we can go on for weeks or even
months without speaking it.
We agree on your other points. The way we present our points may be
different but their essence is the same. Educating and presenting our
viewpoints to the average Gambian is very important. Not assuming that
they see things the way we do is vital. You have raised very important
questions that need to be studied and dealt with. Your statement ?I
have been debating these issues for a long time here on and have lately
come to the conclusion that we need to move from debate to actual
tangible, sensible, attainable solutions? is very true. I thank you for
engaging in this debate and hope that the points presented by you and
others have added light and facilitated retrospection and
introspection. In the desire for true democracy in Gambia, we are on
the same page. If you have any more questions on the issues I dealt
with, I will try to deal with them. Otherwise I would like to book a
seat on the fence by Pa Musa?s side for a while before continuing the
thread after having exh austed my fifteen minutes in the spotlight.
Maybe LJD can be of help (lol). Have a good day.
Buharry.
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