Shifting through the Gambian diaspora media houses particularly the electronic newspapers in pursuit of the struggle’s strengths and weaknesses, reveals hair-splitting intolerance, dishonesty, subjectivity and rose tinted perception of the realities which engulfed us. Even the layman in political science cannot fail at a glance to note that the struggle against Jammeh has blossomed into three main branches:
Those who want to see the back of Jammeh by all means necessary, those who are prepared to sacrifice their lives to see Jammeh continue ruling the Gambia at any cost and those who opt to sit on the fence. It is not uncommon for one to be accosted with a blazing heat of intolerance on the main two arms of the struggles especially among those of us who can’t wait to see the back of Jammeh. Albeit the Gambia yawns for democratic change and the restoration of the rule of law, some of us are tackling this herculean task with dishonesty, subjectivity and intolerance of a diverged view from our own. Have we at any one point pause and look closely at our refection in a mirror to objectively appraise our strengths and weaknesses? Better still, do we perceive ourselves as been perfect and the enemy imperfect? What yardstick do we use to measure ourselves against others?
In life, for any meaningful and progressive change dressed in success to be achieved, one must be piloted by honesty, fairness, objectivity and sincere appreciation of one’s own shortfalls and the willingness to harness those inadequacies into potentials to cement the successes. In a nutshell, Fair and Balance should be the pillars on which any struggle for positive change must be erected on. To elasticate it further, the enemy must be deemed in an entirety and not on a one sided wave length. The positive contributions of the enemy, however insignificant, must be noted with honesty and objectivity while his or her failures and atrocities are vehemently condemned. To perceive the enemy in one’s own tailor-made spectacles leads to one’s failure in ousting him or her out of power. Needless to say Allah is with the righteous.
The reason why Jammeh is unlawfully incarcerating, killing and maiming Gambians is due to his intolerance to divergent opinions from his own. For him anyone who disagrees with his point of view is not only unpatriotic but an enemy to the state. Consequently, such a person undermines his seat of power. Since some of us are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that such an attitude of intolerance propels to infringing the rights of others and peddling fiction for facts we must endeavour not to be found wanton in what we accuse Jammeh of. Do we stop at any point to make a quick reality check on our attitude to others who express a different view? A closer look at some of us will reveal shocking similarities with Jammeh if not worse than him. Some of us think that they are anointed as pace setters who have to coin the rule for all to follow dogmatically. As a resulted they have the audacity to condemn others just for expressing their views. What sort of freedom fighter or liberator are you when you are more intolerant and subjective than the enemy? We do not want to replace Jammeh with another Jammeh incarnate. A genuine liberator is not one who is more akin to the charge than the accuse. In other words, he or she must excel beyond jumping the gun and drawing inconclusive conclusions about others. He or she must stride with an open mind taking every view on board and only discard those which after thorough examination find no use for them. Additionally, such a liberator does not expect his or her compatriots to be in tune with all his or her opinions. Suffice it to say such a liberator avails him or herself to be critiqued by his compatriots and also take into account how he or she is portrayed by the enemy. It is such a liberator who is genuine and on the route to success in his or her struggle for positive change.
To defeat an enemy, one does not necessarily have to equate his military might but understand his psyche. To those who truly know Jammeh understand that to fight him one does not need arms. Jammeh uses and enjoys a mind game. Therefore, to usher him to his doom, one has to employ the same mind game. Those of you who are still groping in the dark need to understand the capability of the mind especially in warfare and political struggle for change. That is precisely why Steve Biko understood at an early stage in his struggle to liberate his people that “the most sophisticated weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” I could not agree more with Mr Biko.
In conclusion, I am not afraid to stand alone in the struggle to defend every view I express and will continue to express. I have never at any time claim perfection in my life but I am also very mindful of passing judgement on others. Most often than not I share a different view here and there but I look at the subject matter and not the person. That is me and I do not intend to change that for anyone in the struggle: love me or hate me; my life is not in your hands.
Sulayman Jeng, UK