A country headed for doom
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81* 6an 6uu.yi, %urmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1obel Peace Pri]e laureate who served as 6tate &ounsellor of 0yanmar and 0inister of )oreign $ffairs from
to , once made the following observation, quote
³7he aim of the political dialogue should be to resolve the problems of the nation, not to find who the winner is and who the loser is. 7hat’s not what it’s all about. It’s to try and find an answer that is acceptable to all parties concerned, which would of course require some give and taNe.´
I am neither a prophet of doom, naysayer nor pessimist, but unless, and until a motley group of brave, sane, and visionary minds in our midst in our country, rise up to the occasion - without fear or favour, and save this country from the current, violent confrontation, I tell you, we are surely, and certainly headed towards a frenetically looming, and ominous, µbeyond salvage’ stage.
:e urgently need visionary leadership from outside government structures, picNed from various staNeholders liNe businesses, the religious fraternity, progressive formations, etcetera, who would seeN audience with the highest echelons of power, and passionately plead with such echelons, raising the nation’s concerns about the suicidal mission of failure to urgently hold the dialogue process.
I am cognisant of the fact that there are constitutional structures in place for such situations. %ut, apparently, they are sleeping on the Mob and not advising our leaders about the powder Neg the country is sitting on.
7he µpeace and stability’ we purportedly enMoy is incessantly proving to be non-existent, and a figment of the imagination of some.
'o we have such minds? It is now or never.
7he volatile, political situation in the country is dangerously tottering, and descending towards a stage where all lovers of peace had high hopes that it will never reach, exposing, and or plunging the country into the dreaded anarchy or civil war.
It would be a fallacy of the highest order to deny the fact that the nation is angry over many issues, inclusive of poor governance.
6adly, some aggrieved and faceless elements in our society have resorted to the use of unorthodox means of drawing attention to their plight. 7his has brought unprecedented fear to each one of us. :e constantly cower in fear of the unNnown.
(qually, unNnown elements suspected to be sympathetic to the obtaining system of governance, are bombing structures of those perceived to be pro-democracy and vice versa. -ournalists, whose duty is to report news without fear or favour, are living - and writing in fear.
$s I write, I have to be very adept at balancing how I convey my sentiments about what is happening in the country, lest I find myself facing the wrong end of the barrel of a gun, or worse still, have my meagre possessions torched. Kute nalenginako, nkosiyami, ngihlala emcashweni. Ngicoleleni, bo!
:ho would have envisaged twenty years ago, those members of our society, including law enforcement personnel would be gunned down in broad daylight? :e never anticipated the fact that even respectable, satellite police stations would be torched in broad daylight.
Awu... Jehovah, kwentenjani, kantsi?Baphe labantfu bakho ludlame!
&ountless, compos mentis of sound minds members of our society had been persistently calling for the promised dialogue process - not in Mest or whatever - butm because they could discern that only the process of dialogue can save this country from swimming - and inevitably drowning - in a cesspool of violence. :e are at the crossroads of that stage.
$ peaceful resolution to our political problems is fast becoming an illusion. It is fast disappearing liNe water in the desert, and is relentlessly slipping away from our grasp, possibly never to be regained again - ever. 8nless we waNe up our government, in particular - from slumber or thinNing sabbatical.
:e are tired of listening to the scratched song incessantly played by our government, to the effect that, ³the ongoing violence maNes it not conducive to hold the dialogue process...´, blah blah. 7he scratched song is wreaNing havoc and hurting to our ears.
7he million-'ollar question I and countless others Neep posing to ourselves is 'oes the government have any timeframe, then, of when the violence will end? Have they, overnight, suddenly become µtangoma’,
to predict when the situation will, at least, improve?
:hat if it doesn’t end? -udging from the pathetic, grabbing of straws, and deplorable excuses the government Neeps putting forward in an apparent defence of her reluctance to NicN-start the dialogue process, a question arises 'oes the government have the political will to engage the people in a dialogue, which is the only feasible, and timetested solution to any conflict?
)or Pete’s saNe 7he ongoing violence is tearing the country apart (ma6wati are dying in droves out there, while our leaders in government portray haughty attitudes, refusing to be engaged by concerned staNeholders, and to stop the onslaught of violence by instituting the dialogue process.
$s much as it is the prerogative of government to use all necessary, moral, and constitutional means violent reprisals not being one of them - to quell the violence, it is of utmost importance to give an ear to the concerns of the populace.
I Neep posing this question to myself :hat is it our government is scared of by persistently dancing the infamous, vosho dance, ducNing and diving, in an evident attempt to avoid the vital instituting of the crucial, dialogue process?
Incidentally, there is a lot of talN doing the rounds about the real reasons behind government’s reluctance to hold the dialogue process. 6ome of us are not that naive not to Nnow the real reasons behind this despicable act.
It is pivotal for our leaders to be cognisant of the fact that conflicts are rarely solved by use of violence.
Ye be.unene, can’t we understand that violence begets violence? It is a given that µif you live by the sword, you will inevitably perish by the sword. In the *ospel of 0atthew, our /ord -esus &hrist put it succinctly clear, that ³7hen said -esus unto him, put up again thy sword into his place for all they that taNe the sword shall perish with the sword.´
In spite of any, so-called µreasons’which are preventing government from immediately holding the dialogue process, the least our government can do is to engage in an exploratory dialogue encompassing all staNeholders.
7his could be initially held without any commitment from all parties concerned, Must to test the waters, and see if this cannot halt the violence spree.
2ur hopes were raised when we learned that religious leaders recently marched to the Parliament buildings to demand from our legislators the instituting of the dialogue process. It was about time. 7he million-'ollar question is will our government listen?
I was also deeply encouraged by the reported stance taNen by our 0embers of Parliament 0Ps , that they had made a resolution to form a sub-committee that will constitute the members of the House of $ssembly, &abinet members and members of 6enate, who will engage all aggrieved parties on a dialogue before dialogue. :ay to go, ma-/egislators )or, once
asenibe munye, and save this country from destruction
%ravo 7o them. 'esperate situations sometimes call for desperate measures. $s I pointed out above, exploratory engagement in dialogue is very crucial, and it has the potential of bearing positive results that could save this country from imminent anarchy.
I was deeply perturbed, though, by the somewhat warped response to this noble gesture from the legislators by the controversial, government 6poNesperson, u0nguni wakitsi. He is alleged to have poured scorn on the stance taNen by the concerned legislators. In his usual, haughty, and flippant manner, he is alleged to have retorted
³Parliament is usurping powers of the authority to NicNstart an unsanctioned dialogue process.´
Eish, how now, mnaketfu, nkosiyami? :hy the negative attitude, 0nguni wami? )or the love of be1guni 7he situation is deadly out there Yimpi langaphandle, and, any positive, peaceful means intent on salvaging the situation are most welcome.
Awuzame bo! Ndwandwe, kwehlisa umoya, and appreciate this crucial, and pragmatic stance taNen by our legislators. 'on’t stress, we are smart enough to understand that defending your handlers is your meal ticNet... but, kodwa, mara?
1ow, let us be candid, and be brutal with the truth..8sing force, in place of peaceful engagement, unleashing security apparatus on the public, liNe the often, violent army, to defeat insurgency, can only contain it, but never completely eradicate it.
5emember how the violent reprisal by armed security apparatus in -une,
, ended up with scores of people in body bags, their bodies riddled with bullets, with some maimed for life, and how the now violent Nillings of security personnel could be a direct consequence or spinoff of the heavy-handedness employed by security forces in last year’s unrest?
I have said it before, and will continue saying it that revenge is a cup one cannot fill. People died horrifically last year.
0any families experienced untold grief over the death of their loved ones. )riends lost friends. &hildren lost their parents.
*aping, emotional wounds were opened, and will taNe a long time, if ever, to be healed. 8nder such circumstances, bearing in my mind our complex, human reactions to grief, some of those affected were bound to fall into the inhumane trap of seeNing of revenge.
$s a peace loving, and *od-fearing person, I do not condone revenge, or violence under any circumstances. It is vital that as human beings, we sit down, and solve conflicts, amicably - something our government had persistently failed to do.
7he functioning of the human mind or rather, heart, is very complex. If it is hurt beyond the normal, chances are very high that it will seeN some form of getting bacN at the perpetrator of the hurt.
7his rarely ends with the act of revenge. 7he perpetrator might also reciprocate, and also seeN revenge. It becomes a vicious cycle. Hence, the need for dialogue - by bringing the warring parties to the negotiation table.
It is of crucial importance to open channels of communication between two parties who do not see eye to eye. 7he exploratory dialogue part had helped to solve numerous, political conflicts globally, eventually maNing it possible to engage in a full dialogue process which, in a plethora of instances, had eventually brought about lasting peace. based on effective listening and interaction.
7he reasons, then, persistently brought forward by government in an apparent defence of her reluctance to institute the dialogue process, cannot, but help, cause some of us to be suspicious of the fact that there is more to government’s refusal to engage in dialogue than meets the eye.
)inally, let me share excerpts from what the 1etherlands Institute for 0ultiparty for 'emocracy 1I0' , says about the importance of dialogue
³$t 1I0', we believe that democracy starts with dialogue. :e Nnow from experience that when different political groups come together in dialogue with each other, with civil society, or with their population in general a country has a much greater chance of implementing reform, forging lasting peace, and cultivating a thriving inclusive democracy.
³7hrough our dialogue initiatives, we aim to build trust, collaboration and consensus between political parties and other political actors, forming the foundation of a respectful democratic culture.
³$t a time when inequality is growing and trust in 6tate institutions is strained, building linNs between politicians and the people they represent is also a Ney goal of our dialogue worN. 2ur signature dialogue interventions can
Help prevent and resolve conflict, ● by creating safe spaces for facilitated dialogue outside of confrontational or politically-charged environments
&ombat polarisation, by bringing people together across ideological divides and encouraging them to recognise their commonalities /ead to new laws, regulations, and policy changes, through longterm collaboration and consensus building
)urther democratic reform, by cultivating inclusive spaces where voices from across society can be heard on an equal footing...´
&an we all, please give dialogue a chance? $s writers, we are scared of expressing our views. 7his is very unhealthy.
Peace! Shalom!
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