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Reject divisive schemes with a very big NO
2005-06-12 07:30:45
By Editor
Given a tradition stretching back to the days of the uhuru struggle, the people of what is romantically known as the land of Kilimanjaro regard themselves, identify themselves and refer to one another as, first and foremost, Tanzanians.
It is a tradition that has been beneficial on both the domestic and international fronts.
For when a given community uses a collective nationalistic label and co-exists within the framework of that label, it cultivates and enhances brotherhood and sisterhood , and therefore, broadly, a family fraternity.
Granted, a Tanzanian is not a Tanzanian per se. He or she is, in addition, a black person, has a brown hue, subscribes to a particular religion and has a specific ethnic background.
Some Tanzanians have double or triple combinations, such as someone being a half-caste (a European father and black African mother) and being torn between two religions to which their parents belong, separately.
These, though, are additional factors to one`s Tanzanianness and are both inevitable and acceptable. For being a national alone does not make someone wholesome.
Ideally, however, nationhood counts more because it embraces all the 30 million plus Tanzanians and reflects a strong force and a powerful singular form of identity.
That‘s why thinking, acting, behaving and deriving pleasure as well as taking pride from being a Tanzanian is fundamental.
Invariably, the source of tension, conflicts, violence and war that have and are rocking countries in the neighbourhood and beyond the seas is the drift from nationhood to the other identities that revolve around race, religion and tribe.
When murmurs are sounded over why the next president should not belong to a particular religion; when dissenting voices are heard over the prospect of a non-Black person becoming head of state; and when some members of a particular geographical zone press for a chance to have one of their number at the leadership helm, trouble begins.
Such sentiments are emotionally and socially poisonous, because if they evolve into powerful propaganda tools, they threaten (or actually do) tear down national cohesion.
Witness the senseless slaughter in Rwanda in 1994, and less gruesome but nonetheless frightening violence and senseless deaths elsewhere in Africa and beyond, over this very fact!
It would be most unfortunate and tragic if, after co-existing cohesively and solidly as a nation for over four decades, Tanzanians loosened their nationalistic strings and started orchestrating songs of religious, racial and tribal belonging.
That eventuality is far-fetched because by and large, Tanzanians are cohesive.
But there are elements that seek to disrupt the cohesion by whipping up negative, divisive sentiments.
Well-intentioned Tanzanians should be on their full guard and refuse to be swayed by the evil schemers. We must remain one, as we have always been .
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