The misunderstood meaning of liberation
By Zechariah Manyok Biar
August 8, 2009 — Whenever I write an article that some people disagree with, I receive many e-mails. Some e-mails are very constructive comments as well as constructive criticisms that contribute to my knowledge. Some e-mails use logical fallacy to try to scare me off writing. Some people call me American who no longer has the rights to talk about Sudanese issues, even though my passport gives me hard time in Western airports. But one thing that I share with other writers is that we are told that people who never participated in the North-South civil war should learn how to be silent.
It was not common during the war to hear people who loved to talk about how brave they were after the attack on or from the enemy was over and they were far away from those who attacked the enemy together with them. Those who were real heroes could not talk about how wonderful they were in the attack.
It is not difficult to be a hero when what makes people heroes is no longer in existence.
I don’t know whether I participated in the liberation war or not, because that might not be very important to me this time. But I know some people who gave up school and joined the war voluntarily to fight for the liberation of marginalized people, which includes their relatives. Some of these people have not yet tasted any money in Juba that liberators enjoy even though they fought for the nation, but they are happy to have fought because they and the rest of marginalized Sudanese will have freedom to work in their free nation in the near future. Some of these people are now thirty-four years old but they are not yet married because they came back to school after peace in Sudan. That is not important to talk about either.
Let me call myself a “coward” who never fought during the war. Supposed we were “liberated” by some people, does that means that we have no voice in the issues of our nation? What is important, fighting for the nation or ruling the nation diligently? Is it not bad ruling of a nation that causes war?
It is my conviction that wives and children of those who gave their lives and limbs during the war for the liberation of this country of ours need to be happy. But are they now happy? If they are not happy, then what would make them happy? Is it not good ideas that would bring development to South Sudan to give these people opportunities? Are criticisms not part of big ideas in a democratic nation?
I have no doubt that those who try to silent people in the name of war participation are war heroes, but that is not what some of us want to hear. Maybe we know what heroism means. The reason for liberation wars is to have mass of free citizens who will have a voice on how they want their free country to be run. I don’t know the meaning of liberation that wants people to shut up because they never “participated” in the liberation war.
People who are interested in failure are the ones who use logical fallacy to block ideas that they are not comfortable with. But I think that is not the path South Sudan is willing to take. Otherwise, the liberation that some of us boast about will be meaningless. The time we are now in is a critical time for serious thinking, not a time for illogical arguments.
A good leader is the one who takes criticisms and uses them for his or her administrative advantage. Those who think that their participation in the war is their immunity from accountability will have to think twice, because not every one who participated in the war thinks like them. They will find themselves challenged by people who shared trenches with them during they war. For some people, liberation is a continuing process, not a one time event. What we need now is good leadership, not war participation.
Some of us reject some people’s ideas when they do not make sense. We also expect our ideas to be challenged if they do not make sense, but not because we had not participated in the war or because we are “naturalized” Americans. We also reject wrong leaders because of their records, not because they were outside Sudan during the war.
In conclusion, let us remind ourselves that the meaning of liberation is to have free people who have a voice on how they should be governed. Suppressing people’s voices in the name of war participation would be a reversed oppression. People’s ideas should be challenged for what they are, not what they participated in.
Zechariah Manyok Biar is a graduate student at Abilene Christian University, Texas, USA. He is pursuing a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry and a Master of Science in Social Work, specializing in Administration and Planning. He is a regular contributor to www.newsudanvision.com. For comments, contact him at email: [email protected]
Ambago
The misunderstood meaning of liberation
Dear brother Zackariah
Let me first stert by congratulating you for breaking ranks with timidity. All men are born free and they only become in bondage when they cease to defend their freedom which is a gift of creation.
Liberation wars are not one stop event as you rightly put it. But of course for some one who can only participate in the firearm stage of the struggle wrongly assumes that fighting battles of liberation ends once the sounds of the mortars go silent.
Our enemy is constantly changing and as such our methods of fighting also changes with each and every stage of the struggle.
Those who think that they have already finished with the struggle and would now want to sing songs about it, let them go on with the jubilations because that is how far their mental faculties can bring them to think.
But somebody like you shouldn’t really be bothered by those who live in their past, when they are terribly failing to address the today’s challenges.
When mortars go silent it is time for the pens to take over. You can never liberate yourself from hunger, disease, illiteracy, ignorance poverty and list goes …… just by shooting your way althrough. Keep on contributing ideas for the betterment of your nation.
Make your criticisms and make them sharp and to the point. The people up in the government do understand and they will consider it.
While those self proclaimed guards are in fact guarding their personal interests and are doomed to be what they are.
Remember that when the weeding day comes they shall be dealt with.
Nakedu Mura
The misunderstood meaning of liberation
i concur with you Bro,Zacheria,
the pride of ”participating in war” has gone far to the extent of causing or contributing to tribalism,unemployment,diaspora discrimination,and disunity within the SPLM OR SPLA.Asking questions like, ”where were you during the war?” does not only cause too much alienation but may cause one to side with the enemy once again because you are rejected by your own brothers!
those ‘liberators’ now want to occupay every Goss position regardless of qualification just because he ‘participated in war’
does the war only require that one be in the frontline so that your contribution counts? i think war can be fought in many dimensions,be it physically,electronically,gathering information that aids in intelligence decisions,guarding relations with allays,etc therefore,those who regards themselves as ‘the only liberators’ are wrong and should stop this sheer ignorance.
at the moment,we need a lot of work to liberate ourselves from tribalism,nepotism,corruption,and lack of unity and violence among communities.
these need new knowledge and unfamiliar methods to deal with rather than GUN!
Nakedu Mura.