The recent elections and post-election riots in ڪينيا bring forward great sorrow and also give one pause. Is this another situation where Africans tear each other apart, one may ask? How is it that people who have lived next to one another can go after each other in what appears to be the wink of an eye?
As odd as it may sound, I found myself, in reading about the ڪينيا crisis, thinking about an episode from Rod Serling’s legendary TV series The Twilight Zone. The episode is called “The Monsters are due on ميپل اسٽريٽ”۽ ان ۾ هڪ پاڙي ۾ بجلي جي ناڪامي شامل آهي جيڪا ڪميونٽي کي ٻاهرئين دنيا کان ڪٽي ٿي ۽ مڪمل طور تي ناقابل بيان آهي. هڪ خاص گهر، بهرحال، طاقت حاصل ڪرڻ جاري رکڻ لڳي. انهيءَ گهر ۾ رهندڙ ڪٽنب گهڻو ڪجهه پاڻ وٽ رکيو آهي ۽ پنهنجن پاڙيسرين سان به ڳالهائڻ نه ڏنو آهي. شڪ اُڪري ٿو ته هي خاندان يا ته ڪنهن نه ڪنهن طرح بجلي جي ناڪامي سان ڳنڍيل آهي يا ڪجهه ڄاڻي ٿو جيڪو اهي نه ٻڌائي رهيا آهن. پاڙو آخرڪار تشدد ۾ ڀڃي ٿو. قسط جي آخر ۾، اهو ظاهر ٿئي ٿو ته اجنبي طاقت جي ناڪامي جي پويان هئا، جاچ ڪري رهيا آهن ته ڇا اهي انسانن کي پاڻ کي تباهه ڪرڻ لاء حاصل ڪري سگهن ٿا.
In periods of scarce and declining resources, people can fall prey to the worst side of humanity. Their deepest suspicions, fears and jealousies can arise, not to mention pent up feelings concerning injustice. Thus, in ڪينيا, after years of oppressive rule, a pro-democracy coalition, led by current President Mwai Kibaki, took power. This coalition included the active support of current opposition leader Raila Odinga. One major demand of a significant portion of this coalition was for a democratizing of resources, specifically, guaranteeing that all ethnic groups/tribes are treated fairly and equitably.
صدر ڪيباڪي جي انتظاميه غير ڪيڪيو قبيلن جي ميمبرن لاءِ هڪ وڏي مايوسي ثابت ٿي آهي جن شڪايت ڪئي آهي ته ڪيڪيو هن جي حڪمراني جا مکيه فائدو ڏيندڙ آهن. اهو ان حوالي سان هو ته اوڊنگا صدر ڪيباڪي کي چيلينج ڪندي هڪ اپوزيشن تحريڪ کي منظم ڪيو ۽ ان جي اڳواڻي ڪئي. چونڊن جي ڏينهن تائين، پولسٽرن اشارو ڪيو ته اوڊنگا ممڪن کان وڌيڪ چونڊون کٽي ويندا.
تنهن هوندي به، هن فتح نه ڪيو.
It was at that point that ڪينيا exploded. What is significant about the explosion, however, is not that there was anger at the alleged voter fraud that resulted in President Kibaki’s re-election (note: charges were made by international observers that the election process and results were questionable), but that the anger evolved into displays of ethnic violence rather than violence between pro-democracy vs. anti-democracy forces.
Vijay Prashad’s recent book, The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the ٽئين دنيا (New Press People’s History), helps to provide a framework in which to understand the situation. The independence movements in the colonial world largely resulted in the creation of nation-states that made a very incomplete break with their former colonial masters. Even in cases where they would use the word “socialism” to describe the path they were taking, there was rarely a radical redistribution of wealth and power within these new nation-states. In many cases, dominant ethnic groups from the colonial period continued to dominate, or in the alternative, massive resentment against formerly dominant ethnic groups (that were seen as collaborating with or in general benefiting from colonial rule) resulted in massive, genocidal or near genocidal violence (e.g., Rwanda). This situation was exacerbated in Africa and the وچ اوڀر where nation-state boundaries were largely the result of lines drawn by the former colonial rulers rather than by the people themselves.
In the period beginning in roughly the late 1970s, the economic situation for much of the former colonial world, generally called the Global South, worsened. The massive Debt Crisis and the demands by international funders, e.g., the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, for what was called “structural adjustment” resulted in resources being shifted in the various nation-states of the global South to pay off debts and to gain much needed financial aid. Across the global South, this resulted in privatization, specifically the selling off of the infrastructure and resources of countries, piece by piece. Nation-states had fewer resources for healthcare, housing, education, and all-round economic development. They had to spend what funds they had following the dictates of the funders in -جنيوا, برسلز, لنڊن ۽ واشنگٽن.
۽ جڏهن ته اهو ٿيو، گهٽي تي سراسري شخص جي زندگي خراب ٿي وئي.
The Kikuyu, roughly 22% of ڪينيا’s population were not collaborators with colonialism, but they have been a very significant force in ڪينيا’s political life. Insofar as non-Kikuyus saw the Kibaki administration as favoring the Kikuyu, it fanned the flames of simmering resentment that pre-existed Kibaki. Thus, while Kenya has been relatively stable since independence and ethnic groups have co-existed, in the face of declining living standards and resources, and in the absence of visionary political leadership, many average people fell back into ethnic consciousness and, as a result, responded ethnically to the political crisis.
هي اسان کي واپس آڻيندو آهي “The Monsters are due on ميپل اسٽريٽ” جيتوڻيڪ پرسڪون دور ۾ به شڪ ۽ تعصب موجود آهن، خاص طور تي انهن سماجن ۾ جيڪي طبقن، قوميت ۽ جنس جي بنيادن تي ورهايل آهن. اهي جذبا ۽ عقيدا لازمي طور تي معمول جي دور ۾ سطح تي نه پهچندا آهن. جڏهن ته، دٻاءُ هيٺ، ڀوت اُڀري اچن ٿا، ته جيڪڏهن ان کي چيلينج نه ڪيو وڃي، ته اهي غير منطقي، مخالف سماجي تشدد جي طرف وڌي سگهن ٿا. هجوم جي ذهنيت پيدا ٿئي ٿي ۽ هڪ جلد ئي ان مطالبي سان منهن ڏئي ٿو: ”توهان يا ته اسان سان گڏ آهيو يا اسان جي خلاف. غير هٿياربند شهرين کي چرچ ڏانهن ڌڪڻ کان پوء چرچ کي ساڙڻ صرف اهو سڀ ڪجهه انتها تي وٺي رهيو آهي.
While the immediate political crisis between Kibaki and Odinga may be resolved in the not too distant future, the deeper crisis in ڪينيا has now been evidenced and this will take a very different effort. This is not about a Rodney King “Why Can’t We All Get Along?” scenario. Rather, it is about a combination of work at the grassroots level to organize and educate the population as to the nature of the challenges they face (and specifically who is the enemy and who is not), while at the same time, creating and advancing a vastly different national political leadership. Insofar as ڪينيا continues to dance to the music of the international funders, i.e., the former colonial and neo-colonial powers, it will be dancing a dance of death. The violence in ڪينيا speaks less about the Kenyan people and more about into what any people in the face of despair, brought on by the loss of control of their lives and their loss of hope, can devolve. The violence also speaks to why ڪينيا, along with the rest of the African continent, must with all deliberate speed, find a different path to development, since the path laid out by Washington, the IMF, et. al., is not a path into a garden but a path into a minefield.
بل فليچر، جونيئر. The Black Commentator جو ايگزيڪيوٽو ايڊيٽر آهي. هو انسٽيٽيوٽ فار پاليسي اسٽڊيز سان گڏ هڪ سينئر اسڪالر ۽ ٽرانس آفريڪا فورم جو اڳوڻو صدر پڻ آهي. مسٽر فليچر سان رابطو ڪرڻ لاءِ هتي ڪلڪ ڪريو.
ZNetwork صرف پنهنجي پڙهندڙن جي سخاوت جي ذريعي فنڊ آهي.
موڪليندڙ