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January 18, 2004
SUPERIORITY
(Gob) AND INFERIORITY (Gun) IN TRIBALISM
One
of my friends told me that I am wrong to talk about ‘Midgan problems
in Somalia” He said, “You can not eradicate the idea of
superiority (Gob) and inferiority (Gun) in Somalia, So you have to
come to realize that it is part of the Somali reality. If the role was
reversed, the Midgans would do to Ajji, what Ajji are doing now to
Midgans. So if you raise Midgans at top then there must be other
tribes who will fill the bottom” I said, “ My friend, it is
logical but can we have equality without superiority and inferiority,
without oppressing other tribes?” He replied, “ Azhar, Speaking
critically, in Somalia, there was a time when some people thought the
Hawiye tribe was not being treated well. When Hawiye got power for
about 10 years ago, they started killing each other and destroying all
Somali resources. We saw that Hawiye were even worse, Killings of the
innocent in large numbers of themselves something that was almost
unknown in Somalia before the civil war. I said, “ We have to
understand that Darod were used to fight previously and now each other
same way as Hawiye so we can not blame Hawiye why are they fighting
each other. Looking at reality, Why Darod is fighting in Kismayo, In
Bari and So on? Why are Rahanweyn fighting Each other? I
am not pro and con of any tribe in Somalia be it Hawiye or Darod,
Isaaq or Dir but I am suspicious whether Darod gave opportunity to
Hawiye to lead the country or Hawiye were given Lip-service of void
words? He said, “ I agree with you, so again, back to my point, even
If Darod became the leaders of Somalia or Hawiye, racism toward Jareer
and tribalism toward Midgan will always be there in Somalia I guess, I
am trying to convince you that, we should not spend our energy on the
Whys but how to live together, accepting that as our fate”
Unfortunately,
I cannot stop from debating and arguing on this point of tribalism can
eliminated in our mind then the usage will vanish because I have
vision that education and debating can reduce the tribalism so more we
speak about the attitudes of tribalist more we will understand the
reality of Somali tribalism. For my understanding, at root,
Tribalism is a form of collectivism: the belief that an individual's
identity is determined by his unchosen physiological characteristics
-- and not by his chosen values and actions. Racism and Tribalism are
indeed systemic in the all the society, but the roots of both run much
deeper than skin color or tribe name. The heart of the matter is that
no one likes anyone who is different. The real "-ism" that
society must overcome is the belief that, if you're not "one of
us" you must be inferior. Such as Midgan. The tribalism says, I'm
a Darod and you're a Hawiye, you’re not one of us so cannot become
leader and there fore, you must be inferior. To me, the racist says,
I'm white and you're black or I'm black and you're white. You’re not
one of us and must be inferior. All these attitudes fuel hate
and fear and violence in both the tribalist and the racist are
diseases. Tribalism can be defined as the belief that one tribe of
people are superior to another because of the tribe they are born into.
The virus of tribalism may exist in the hearts and minds of millions
around the world but when tribalism is acted upon, especially by a
group of people, things don't just become dangerous, they become
deadly. There are two notable examples from this century Such as
Tribalism in Somalia and Rwanda, which was a source of death, and
destruction in Africa; for example Rwanda (Central Africa)-1994 Over a
period of 100 days, beginning April 6, 1994, up to 800,000 members of
the Tutsi tribe were killed by another tribe, Hutus used clubs and
machetes to kill. As many as 10,000 were murdered each day, In Somalia
in 1991, death of famine and war created about one million death and
about four million Somali refugees in our world who were forced to
abandon their homes essentially because of tribalism wars. Why these
people were being killed because they were born wrong tribe or were
they standing wrong place at the wrong time? Why are they
killing each other? All these tribes want power and dignity.
They are searching for superiority while others are running from
inferiority. No one wants to be inferior but every one wants to be
superior and all of us cannot become superior without understanding
humanity. We are superior because we are better than Animal but Animal
can live peaceful and eat their grasses but why not Somalis?
Ali-Azhar,
BA.
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