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Intolerance: A Recipe for Conflicts and Affliction
Monday, 11 July 2011 16:24
By Ebou GayeIntolerance can be defined as inability or lack of willingness or readiness to accept ideas, ideologies or ways of behaviour of others or refusal to co-habit, co-operate, interact or deal with people or members of a group one conceives to be different from oneself or different from the members of one’s group.
Experience has taught that intolerance engenders conflicts and is most dangerous where it is connected with religious, racial/tribal/ethnic and political sentiments, each of which can influence the others.
What obtains in northern Nigeria is a glaring example of religious intolerance. There, Muslims and Christians there are always at daggers drawn, killing each other and vandalizing churches, mosques and other valuable properties. This is not in the interest of either of the contending parties, as both suffer casualties and material losses besides having their daily businesses hampered or interrupted, which would not have been the case if they co-habited in peace.
Religious intolerance can be interpreted as ignorance of the teachings of the religious scriptures- particularly the Muslim and Christian scriptures- or blatant, flagrant disregard for such teachings. Allah the Almighty has stated in the Glorious Quran that there is no compulsion in religion. According to the Quran, those who call people to God should do it with wisdom and fair exhortation- not with violence. The Holy Bible enjoins us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. This injunction concurs with the saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that he who believes in Allah and the last day would not harm his neighbour. The venerable Prophet (peace be upon him) signed peace pacts with Christians and Jews in Medina and lived with them in perfect peace. Thus, people of different faiths who live together can enjoy veritable, durable peace if they understand and follow the teachings of religion.
The Rwandan genocide involving the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes, in which an estimated number of 800,000 people were massacred in 100 days, serves as a pertinent example of racial/tribal/ethnic intolerance. Added to this deplorable holocaust is the displacement of a large number of people who suffered miserably, coupled with a very great loss of properties. The clashes between the Hutus and the Tutsis in neighbouring Burundi and the Hemas and the Lendus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), former Zaire, also exemplify racial/tribal/ethnic intolerance.
Again, it can rightly be stated that having knowledge of the teachings of religion and practising such teachings could help prevent or avoid a tragedy of this nature and magnitude. The Holy Quran reads in this regard: “Oh you who believe, We have created you from a single pair of male and female and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know each other. Verily, the most honoured among you is the one who fears God the most. God is Knowledgeable and well Experienced.”
It can be seen from the above citation that no one can rightly claim superiority over others on the basis of race, tribe or ethnicity, and such a claim can be interpreted as challenging God’s wisdom and intelligence. Logically and scientifically speaking, such a claim is preposterous and untenable, for human beings are born equal and made of the same materials, which makes it folly to hate or look down on others based on race, tribe or ethnicity.
Examples of political intolerance abound in Africa where politicians on the opposite sides of the political divide are always locked in rancourous squabbles, with the members of each side defaming and victimizing the other. Owing to the insincerity, hypocrisy, selfishness and greed characterizing African politics, political intolerance impacts heavily and negatively on tribalism. In Africa, perfidious, power-hungry and bloodthirsty politicians have the nasty habit of fanning the flames of tribal sentiments for political gains.
The Ivorian crisis, which claimed so many lives and displaced a colossal number of people, can be cited as an example in this respect. In Ivory Coast, discriminatory laws were passed with the sole aim of barring popular candidates from contesting in elections as way of guaranteeing victory to less popular candidates. Chief among these is the heatedly disputed ivoireté law according to which some Ivorians are more Ivorian (bona fide) than others who are considered to be second-class citizens or foreigners and hence have less rights- and disenfranchised- than the members of the former category. This silly act by crooked, errant politicians split the country into two main halves for quite a long time: the northern half dominated by Muslims and controlled by the New Forces rebel group, and the southern half dominated by Christians and controlled by the government. A remarkable fact is that a very large number of the inhabitants of the northern half are from the Dioula tribe whereas the southern part is predominantly inhabited by other tribes.
Likewise, politicians have a big share of the blame in the Rwandan genocide, as evidenced by the conviction of former politicians and the confessions of former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda at the Rwandan war crimes tribunal. The same thing can be said about the crisis in Burundi where Nelson Mandela’s idea of rotating presidency and having in place a president from one of the two tribes and a vice-president from the other tribe was implemented to resolve the problem but without attaining the desired degree of success. The politicians of these two countries can be said to be tarred with the same brush as their counterparts in the DRC where the president, Joseph Kabila was at one time assisted by four vice-presidents chosen from different rebel factions and different tribes/ethnic groups with the view to resolving the crisis which still fails to subside. It is worthy to note here that DRC is a misnomer for Zaire, judging by the behaviour of her politicians.
The civil wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau had some elements of tribal/ethnic and political intolerance blended together in that many people fought to help leaders from their tribes/ethnic groups mount or stay in power, which made the situation enormously calamitous and grave. An astronomical number of people were killed in the catastrophe, with many maimed.
The war involving Islamic groups in Algeria and the rebellion involving the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda can be viewed as springing up from religious and political bigotry. In the former case, the Islamists resorted to venting their spleen on people after the cancellation of the results of elections which were widely believed to be won by them, and were hence confronted by government forces. This created great terror and led to many deaths and destruction of properties. In the latter case, the leader of the LRA, Joseph Cone was engaged in abducting, killing and mutilating people, especially women and children. He claiming to have the intention of overthrowing the Ugandan government and rule his country by the Ten Commandments of the Holy Bible, which is ironical, to say the least. Superfluous to say, the resulting confrontations between the LRA and government forces also proved to be catastrophic.
The conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis can be analyzed as having religious, racial and political dimensions and being influenced by both internal and external factors, thereby making it extremely complex and difficult to resolve. Arabs, Muslims and Jews in and outside Palestine and Israel, irrespective of whether they are politicians or not, may be held responsible for this long-lasting, bloody conflict. Everything boils down to intolerance, as support for and opposition to either side of the conflict is normally based on religious, racial and political reasons or sentiments.
From the foregoing analysis, it can be concluded that no country or region on earth is immune from conflicts in the absence of tolerance. Ivory Coast, which used to be a safe haven and attracted a huge number of migrants during the time of the late President Felix Houphet Boigny, is a clear testimony to this. What has befallen Ivory Coast can happen in any country where people change attitude from ‘tolerance’ to ‘intolerance’ as the Ivorians did. This statement is substantiated by the Quranic verse: “God would not change the situation of a people unless they change their attitude”. In other words, God changes the situation of a nation only when they change their attitude or behaviour. So, the citizens of a country can expect positive changes in their lives if they change attitude from bad to good. By the same token, they should expect negative changes in their lives if they change their behaviour from good to bad.
Hence, it is abundantly clear that intolerance does not pay. It breeds rancour and discord, which germinate into conflicts, which, in turn, yield affliction. Therefore, it is wise for those countries renowned for tolerance to try to safeguard or maintain such a virtue if they want to avoid conflicts and live in peace, for prevention is better than cure. Countries that are marked by intolerance and conflicts should try to change attitude for the better if they want to disentangle themselves from their awkward situation or troubles. To enjoy global peace and stability, people all over the world should learn to exercise tolerance and restraint.
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