Food for Fasting Muslims: Flattery or Good Intention
By Malith Alier, Juba
First of all I welcome myself back on panluelwel blog since I have been off the stage for about three weeks. The year twenty fourteen is such a bad year as ushered in by the December power struggle in the SPLM. It is not out of place to call it annus horribilis or horrible year. War, predicted famine, cholera, sanctions, defections, named them have dented our resolve to progress peacefully like China.
The UN predicts that this country is likely to experience famine in six months time right after the last year unfortunate events. For this reason, the very UN has intensified appeals for donations to counter the looming famine. This burden is the responsibility of all, beginning with South Sudanese themselves and not least their government.
However, the government has other ideas. The president today, donated food to the fasting South Sudanese Muslims to break their month long fast. The donation was announced by the presidential advisor on religious affairs, Fr. Mark Lotada.
However, He did not disclose why it was necessary for the president to donate food worth SSP 300,000 to the relatively affluent Muslim community in the country. The Muslims have investments in every sector in the country not to say the individual business each Muslim owns. They have large investments in property, schools, healthcare, agriculture, banking et cetera. Their per capita income is higher than anyone else, organisation or individual in South Sudan.
It is not the first time for the president to do something marvellous for the Islamic community.
Every year since CPA and every Ramadan, the president throws up breakfast for the community as it ends the fasting month. Despite the apparent glaring absurdity, the rest of the country turns a blind eye on the habit. It is not clear whether this is political or social endearment. Another thing which is not clear is whether the President’s contribution comes from his pocket or from public purse. This is what the religious advisor or the Bureau for Religious Affairs in the Office of the President should tell us.
Critically, South Sudanese ought to look at the interaction of the government and religion in the context of the Interim Constitution. The Interim Constitution states that the country is a secular state that bears no association with any religious tenets and dogmas. It therefore, shouldn’t condone and promote any religion particularly in the public affairs like important gatherings such as Independence Day celebration and other important public functions. This seems not to be the case.
More often than not, the two dominant religious leaders have been invited to grace government and public functions contrary to our conviction as enshrined in the constitution. This is one of the numerous violations of the constitution by the present government. Christianity and Islam are not the only two religions in the country. There are other religions that should be accorded the same treatment if it is acceptable to include religion in the functions of the state. The same government who was formed because of alleged discrimination should know better than this.
Some of the reason for the exclusion of religion in the government and public affairs stems from the old Sudan where religion (Islam) and the state are part and parcel of the other. The issue of religion was therefore, used to exclude others from government. There was a mantra that no non-Muslim should rule Muslims. This is the concept of an infidel who should be converted to Islam by all means. This is the basis why south Sudanese in their protracted struggle and after the CPA decided it was time to exclude religion in State affairs. Religion is a private matter between god and individual and should be treated as such. If religion is regarded as a tool for discrimination then it is wise to place it outside public affairs so that individuals exercise it in private with whatever they believe in.
The generosity of the President and the first family is unprecedented after the December fifteen crisis. Food has been donated to the SPLA wounded soldiers and even to the displaced people in camps. This is something that is commendable in all respect. However, a friend in need is a friend indeed. The Muslim community does not deserve the same treatment particularly if the funds donated come from the public coffers. At the time of crisis like this, generosity should be seen to target the deservedly needy and we have many of them in and outside the country.
The Islamic community in south Sudan is affluent and influential minority group that has a grip on the country’s wealth. It has a skewed economic advantage based on neo-colonial era after 1956 Sudan independence. It was the Islamic community that was solely exploiting the country through commerce and other means not available to the indigenous people of South Sudan. Their endeavour started with slave trade which later commuted to commodity trade in the later part of 19 century. This is simply to say that the Islamic community in the former Sudan and the Muslim minority group in present day South Sudan have long association with wealth and influence over other communities in the regions.
That influence many times is negatively antagonistic to the indigenous people of African descent. Enslavement, conquest, forced conversion, political hegemony and divide and rule are some of the negative aspects they brought along with them.
The Islamic terrorism which is menacing the world awaits South Sudan as the Muslims amass in the country. Somalia is in chaos, Kenya is under attack from Al Shabab, Uganda was bombed in 2012, CAR is in disarray. Therefore, there is no cause to entertain Islam which is associated with terrorism. The South Sudan Islamic community which is the darling of the president is indeed a hydra with so many heads that make it capable of striking without notice. The examples above confirm this fact.
Politics breeds strange bed fellows. The government should note that mediocre politics and softly approach has already landed the country in current abyss.
A complete separation of religion and state is the best way forward for South Sudan. This helps the state to avoid unintended consequences as was the case in the old Sudan and other Islamic countries.
Despite the fact that we have a constitution that separates religion and state, nobody has so far challenged the state for non-adherence to the constitution. The Constitution seems to have been taken for granted not only in reference to religion but also in many other respects. This must cease. Organisations or even individuals must come out to challenge the state in matters of the Constitution.
This is a democratic right enshrined in the same Constitution. A nation that does not honour its Constitution goes adrift and may land in chaos. This is not an outlandish proclamation, it has already happened to us twice in the old Sudan and now.
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