By Elias
Mhegera, Feb 2013
The death of a Catholic Priest Fr Evarist
Mushi has just been a catalyst for a serious discussion on religious bigotry in
Tanzania which was neglected for quite some time.
Opening a two days seminar discussing the
preservation of peace in Tanzania on 20 and 21 was the Resident Director of the
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Stefan Reith who called for religious leaders
from all sects to work on peace as a necessary prerequisite for development and
harmony.
“Tanzania has a big history of peace and
harmony, people of all religious have been living together without confronting
each other, the recent developments are worrisome, we should overcome emotions
when dealing with religious matters,” he said.
But during the main discussion accusing
fingers were directed towards the two Governments both the Union and the
Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar because religious rallies attacking other
faiths have been there for quite some time but no tangible action was taken.
The seminar that was convened by KAS in
collaboration with Inter-Religious Council for peace Tanzania (IRCPT), in the
name of Interfaith Dialogue in Tanzania proved to be a milestone in recent
times.
In question was the timing of commotions that
were unprecedented before with many analysts pointing external elements due to
the nature commotions and extent of damages that these tensions are causing to
this country.
Rev Mushi who passed away on February 17 is a
victim of negligence and unequivocal long term ill plans by criminals who are
camouflaging themselves as proponents of certain religious interests.
Condemnations from all over the country
including the USA, and European Union indicated that this killing has been
given due weight in many circles domestically and internationally as well.
Efforts by the KAS and IRCPT have been there
for long time but the tempo now has changed due to this event. For instance
this seminar went hand in hand with the launching of a book on Peace, Love and
Development being a reflection of a similar meeting that was convened last year
immediately after commotions in Mbagala which led to destruction of church
properties.
Ms Jacqueline Aisaa student at the Institute
of Financial Management (IFM) says that she has been hearing incitements for a
number of years but she never thought they could read to such catastrophic results.
“Whenever I pass along some corners in Dar I
hear people preaching and even rebuking other faiths but I do not take those
nasty incidents seriously, even if my religion is being attacked, but today I
can understand to what extent these unauthorized rallies are devastative,” she
confesses.
She was referring to the rallies which are
common in the Dar es Salaam city particularly in densely populated areas like
Mwenge, Buguruni, Ubungo, Mbagala, Manzese and other outskirts where the common
grievances of Muslims are aired every now and then.
The common cry of Muslims as frequently
addressed by their ‘activists’ spate from the education sector in that Muslims
are lagging behind because they are neglected or deliberately segregated.
Another claim is that the Islamic Kadhi courts are being objected in an attempt
to turn a deaf ear to this faith.
Moreover it is the claim that it is the
leaders from the Christian denominations which influence for the failure of the
Tanzania Government to join the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and
therefore this is a hindrance to their developments.
Frank Chuwa a representative of the youth of
the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), he says he has been hearing
devastative campaigns from ill motivated propaganda.
Campaigns that some churches own big portions
of land could cause natural hatred of people belonging to the condemned churches.
He warned that it was high time that these religious rallies are banned
indefinitely.
In one instance one cleric from the Christian
denominations admitted that there is a proliferation of new churches which some
lack a requisite background and therefore could be agents of some foreign
elements, today in Mbeya alone there are more than 200 of these denominations,”
he commented.
When this commentator finished his
contributions there were claps and banging of support from the Muslim clerics
who found this self confession from Christians was a good omen.
But it was Khamis Ali Mohamed from the GNRC-Africa
who warned that even in the Islamic faith there are preachers who have been
using house of worship as halls for political agenda he cited Uamsho in
Zanzibar as being an organization which was registered as a religious entity
but it has turned itself into a political movement.
This did not augur well with some clerics
from the Zanzibar isles who were not satisfied with these utterances and would
justifiably conclude that they are sympathetic to the Uamsho cause.
From the Ahmadiya Islamic wing was Abdulrahman
Ame who defended one Mohamed who had previously condemned the Uamsho group
“whoever defends Uamsho wants to demolish the whole Islamic faith, this is
inacceptable,” he concluded and in away revitalized the whole debate.
Photo
Fr. Evarist Mushi who was shot dead in
Zanzibar on February 2013
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