2013-09-18 Letter from a Tanzanian inmate in a Hong
Kong prison
Our Struggle – “Strategy for Change”
The
Tanzanian inequality and injustice revolution has been a revolution for change
– to “get in” rather than to “overthrow”.
The
nonviolence strategy has been to dramatize the evils of our system in such a
way that pressure is brought to bear against those evils by the forces of
goodwill in the community and change is produced. So far, we have had the new constitution
backing most of the demands for change.
Now we are approaching the areas where the voice of the constitution is
not clear. We have left the realm of
constitutional rights and we are entering the area of human rights. The constitution assured the right to vote,
but there is no such assurance of the right to adequate housing, or the right
to an adequate income, or the right to an adequate education and/or the right
to an adequate health care. Achievement
of these goals will be a lot more difficult and require much more discipline,
understanding, organization and sacrifice.
Grassroots
must put the nation on the move against the enemies of the people, corruption,
drug trafficking, poverty, slums ignorance and diseases. When grassroots
marched, so did the nation. The power of the nonviolent march is indeed a
mystery. It is always surprising that a
few thousand grassroots marching can produce a reaction across the nation. When marches are carefully organized around
well-defined issues, they produce the power of “an idea whose time has
come”. Marching feet announce that time
has come for a given idea. When the idea
is a sound one, the cause a just one, and the demonstration a righteous one,
change will be forthcoming.
Now, let
me say briefly that we must reaffirm our commitment to nonviolence. When one tries to pin down an advocate of
violence as to what acts would be effective, the answers are blatantly
illogical. Sometimes they talk of
overthrowing the evil government and talk about guerrilla warfare. They fail to see that no internal revolution
has ever succeeded in over throwing a government by violence unless the
government had already lost the allegiance and effective control of its armed
forces. Anyone in his right mind knows
that this will not happen in Tanzania.
In a
violent injustice and inequality situation, the power structure has the local
police – the field force, and the army to call on. Furthermore, few if any
violent revolutions have been successful unless the violent minority had the
sympathy and support of the nonresistant majority. Castro may have had only a few Cubans
actually fighting with him up in the hills, but he could never have overthrown
the Batista regime unless he had the sympathy of the vast majority of Cuban
people.
It is
perfectly clear that a violent revolution on the part of Tanzanian grassroots
would find no sympathy and support from the middle and working class population
and very little or not at all from the upper class.
This is no
time for romantic illusions and empty philosophical debates about change. This is a time for action. What is needed is strategy for change, a
tactical program that will bring the grassroots into the mainstream of
Tanzanian life as quickly as possible.
So far
this can only achieved at the ballot boxes.
Without recognizing this we will end up with solutions that don’t solve,
answers that don’t answer and explanations that don’t explain.
We must
stand by nonviolence. We must keep on
marching on the ballot boxes. I’m still
convinced that it is the most potent weapon available to the grassroots “poor”
in their struggle for justice in this country.
And the
other thing is I am concerned about is a better world. I am concerned about justice. I am concerned about brotherhood and
familyhood. I am concerned about truth.
And
because one is concerned about these, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a
murderer but you cannot murder murder.
Through violence you may murder a drug baron but you cannot murder drug
trafficking; through violence you murder a corrupted public servant but you
cannot murder corruption. Through
violence you may murder a liar but you cannot establish truth. Darkness cannot put our darkness only light
can do that.
And I say
to you, we should stick to love. For I know that love is ultimately the only
answer to mankind’s problems. I am not
talking about emotional bash when I talk about love. I’m talking about a strong, demanding
love. Because I’ve seen too much
hate. I have seen too much hate on the
faces of the poor. I’ve seen hate on the
faces of too many oppressed grassroots, and I say to myself that hate is too
great burden to bear. I have decided to
love. If you are seeking the highest good,
I think you can find it through love.
And the
beautiful thing is that we’re moving against wrong when we do it, because John
(Bible) was right, God is love. He who
hates does not know God, but he who loves has the key that unlocks the door to
the meaning of ultimate reality. The
movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole
Tanzanian society. There are thirty plus
million poor people in Tanzania today, and one day we must ask the question
“Why are there thirty plus million poor people in Tanzania?”
And when
you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic
system, about a broader distribution of wealth.
When you ask that question, you begin to question the socialistic
economy. And I’m simply saying that more
and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged
beggars in life’s market place. But one
day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs
restructuring.
It means
that questions must be raised. You see,
my brothers/sisters, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question,
“Who owns the natural resources, ie; Oil, Gas?”
You begin to ask question “Who owns the gold and Tanzanian mining
companies?” You begin to ask question
“Who owns the diamond mines?” You begin
to ask the question, “Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a nation
that is surrounded by water (Indian Ocean-East, Lake Victoria-North, Lake
Tanganyika-West, Lake Nyasa-South-West).
You begin to ask the question, “Why there is no permanent power supply
in a nation with all this water, and other natural resources, wind, coal,
uranium, natural gas, (Did you say “RICHMOND” – yes, but still the nation
suffered from power supply). These are
questions that must be asked.
Now, don’t
think that you have me in a “bind” today.
I’m not talking about Communism.
Communism
forgets that life is individual.
Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood
is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism
but in a higher synthesis. It is found
in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both.
“Tanzania,
you must be born again” – In other words, “Your whole structure must be
changed.” The nation which is rich in
natural resources – but her people are still living under the poverty line, the
government and leaders who will exploit the grassroots economically, will have
to have foreign accounts and foreign investments. All these problems are tied together. What I’m saying today is that we must stand
up and say “My beloved nation, you must be born again!”
So, I
conclude by saying again that we’ve a task and let us go out with a “divine
dissatisfaction”, let us be dissatisfied until Tanzania will no longer have a
blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds. Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls
that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort and the inner city of
poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of
justice. Let us be dissatisfied until
the slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family is living
in a decent sanitary home. Let us be
dissatisfied until every family can have access to health care, clean water,
food (three meals a day) and send their children to school. Let us be dissatisfied until power shortage
is not a problem. Let us be satisfied
until we’ve good roads, hospitals, schools.
Yes, let
us be dissatisfied, very dissatisfied until every constituency sends to the
parliament a “MP” who will act justly, who will love tenderly and who will walk
humbly with God. Let us be dissatisfied
until we’ve got rid of all bad leaders, until we’ve a real change in our
political and economical system. Let us
be dissatisfied. And men will recognize
that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the
earth. Let us be dissatisfied until that
day when nobody will shout “Middle Class Power” – when nobody will shout
“Grassroots Power” – but everybody will talk about God’s power and people’s
power, (human power). Let us be
dissatisfied until we’ve new leaders, new government. Let us be dissatisfied
until 2015 Election. Let us march on the ballot boxes and voice our
dissatisfaction and with this strong determination I believe we will overcome.
I must
confess, my friends, the road ahead will not be smooth. There’ll be those moments when the buoyancy
of hope will transformed into the fatigue of despair. But difficult and painful as it is, we must
walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future for a New
Tanzania
TZA,
HK-Prisoner, Mckenga
http://v2catholic.com/background/Drugs/Tanzania/2013/2013-09-18inmate.htm
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