On the day of the Eid-Ul-Fitr, in the speech President Jammeh gave to Muslim elders and Imams of Banjul, there was the usual assortment of misdirection ("Any Homosexuals marrying in this country will get sent straight to jail for a long time", in a country where homosexuals do not even come out of the closet, and gay marriage is not an issue at all), misplaced stewardship (he claimed there was only "one Islam", and he will do anything to uphold it), and attempts to sound world-wise and informed (about the war in Iraq: "this is Christians killing Muslims on the battlefields", and "How come all terrorists are Muslims?", and the very precious “if democracy was invented in Greece, why didn't they stay there with it?” ). But in between the reams of rhetoric was hidden an innocuous statement which, though it won some amount of public support (and applause from the people there present), I believe carries, if not checked, the greatest threat to religious freedom in this country. The statement was this: that the President had seen people, during a Muslim religious ceremony on TV, dancing and using drums whilst proclaiming the name of Allah. He promised swift punishment (in the form of jail time) for any repeat of this incident. Islam, he said, was not a religion of frivolous worship, and anyone who worshiped in such a manner did not deserve to be called a Muslim, and in fact should be punished for bringing something foreign into the faith. And, he said, he himself would be the one to effect this punishment.
There is, of course, the issue of having an elected President using the country's jails as his stick (and the country's treasury as his carrot), to carry out his own personal vendettas. At various times in the past, the President has threatened to send people straight to jail - and carried out the threat, on more than one occasion - for a wide range of perceived transgressions: from re-selling the rice he gives them as gifts at Ramadan, to supporting the Opposition whilst holding public office. And "straight to jail" means just that - no courts, no arrest warrant, no chance to defend one-self, just straight to the slammer and - if you're lucky - an Observer article the next day, or - if you're not - a Foroyaa article a month later with quotes from your family who have looked for you the country's police stations over.
So why did the President want to send people to jail this time, for something as harmless as dancing during a religious ritual? To understand the answer to this question, you must first know about the "Bai Faal".
The "Bai Faal" is a religious sect within a sect that has gained much popularity lately, especially with unemployed urban youth living in the Greater Banjul Area. They are divided into cells, each of which has a leader (a local "Serigne"), who all report back to Touba, to the high leader, the current "Serigne" of the Mouride brotherhood in Senegal (at the moment Serigne Salieu). If they have one rule which governs their behaviour it's this: that the Serigne's word is law, and even weightier than a divine command. If they have a second rule it is that they are excused from praying and fasting (both two central edicts of Muslim faith), as long as they dedicate their lives to the pleasure of the Serigne. This has led to many mainstream Muslims (who are the majority in the country) treating them with a certain amount of disdain and even downright contempt. It is the Bai Faal who go annually to the large farms (as large as Banjul, people say) of the Serigne in Senegal, to do heavy manual labour without pay. It is the Bai Faal who, on most weekends, keep some neighbourhoods awake drumming, dancing, and singing the venerated name of their Serigne (this, as you can imagine, has made them even more unpopular). It is the Bai Faal who sit at street corners and some say, smoking weed, drinking copious amounts of their special coffee brand (“cafe touba”), and trading tall stories about the time the Serigne tamed a lion with his bare hands, or prayed on the sea whilst in captivity on a ship. And it is the Bai Faal who raised the President's ire, leading to the threats of jail in the Presidential speech.
Most people were pleased when they heard this. It further re-affirmed their belief that the President had the best interests of the country and - even more importantly to the 90% Muslim population - the Faith at hand. There was much nodding of heads and 'hear hear's from the Muslim leaders present, which is not surprising, given that Bai Faal-hood has eaten into their congregations more than anything else in recent years. What they didn't see was what lies behind this 'harmless' pronouncement.
For, to his credit, the President understands in an uncanny way the importance of public support in whatever he is doing, the need for a large segment of the population to agree at a basic level with the soundness of all his decisions (or, at least, to make a show of agreement). Gone are the days when he ruled with a heavy military hand, dispensing commandments like onto Moses, to be obeyed or have oneself struck down by lightning dispensed from on high. Now he rules with a sly hand, like a mouse nibbling at the edges of a cake it believes leads to a trap, getting to the chocolate-filled centre slowly, slowly. First he starts with the Bai Faal, who no one cares about, and no one will make protests concerning. Then he climbs up the ladder, to the Imams, having them eat out of the palms of his hand, and through them making all the major religious decisions in the country (only the previous day before the Imam's visit, there was an announcement on the radio that the "President's Office" had declared the next day the day of the Eid, a decision and announcement which are usually made by the Supreme Islamic Council). This may not seem like a big deal, until you consider that Gambians are deeply religious, and have a deep-seated respect for their Imams and leaders. Whosoever controlleth the Faith controlleth the people.
Perhaps we are making too much of the speech. Perhaps it was just the President being the President - using the might of Government to swat at the flies which irritate him. I for one would be very happy if this were the case. But since the elections we have seen a shrewder President, one more calculating yet at the same time less merciful and more dispassionate, willing to dispense with friends and enemies alike to get a tighter rein on the country. And I fear that this may be yet one more of his calculations, one more avenue to control the masses through.
As with everything else concerning the current leadership, only time will tell.
Nyamatoo says …“When thy neighbor’s house burns, be mindful of your own”.
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