What's
important is not mere blame but a process leading to avoidance of historical
mistakes. And sometimes bad things have to be relived to avoid their
re-occurrences. Anyone, who's ever watched slaves' narratives made into motion
pictures might have sometimes questioned the logic of such movies. The pain and
anger one feels makes one question the intelligibility in making such
gut-wrenching reliving of a painful, grotesque, and immoral past. However,
history is a necessary monster that makes the reliving of such events
necessary. We have to be reminded of a painful past in order not to repeat it.
We've
now passed the second anniversary of the inception of the current crisis and
we've been more divided than we've been in decades. South Sudanese are more
divided now than they've ever been. And it'll take a very skilled, brave and
selfless leader to bring all the tribes together.
I
can't see that leader!
As
we commemorate the deaths that started in Juba and spread to other states in
South Sudan, we come to realize the selfish manner in which we rationalize the
crisis. Each and every tribe wants the crisis contextualized to its advantage
without realizing the alienating problematic it engenders. It's impossible for
one to expect others to value his pain and expect others not to expect a realistic
reciprocity.
As
we enter the 3rd year with peace still not in sight, I urge all South Sudanese
to be cognizant of the pain of others. A loss of one child to one mother is as
painful as a loss of 10 children to another mother. While third parties would
sympathize more with the 10-children mother, the 1-child mother will not
understand the rationalization of the third party observer.
The
best thing we can do to the two mothers is to acknowledge their pains, and make
every effort for no mother to lose her child again.
The
trend young people have embraced is worrying. If things continue this way, then
South Sudan will be in crisis for decades to come. The assumption that
"YOU HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE MY PAIN BUT I DOUBT IF YOU'RE IN PAIN' is
dangerous.
Lest
we forget but also lest we repeated it!
To
deny the Nuer massacre in Juba is not only unconscionable, it also shows the moral
decay that's plagued South Sudan. Besides, anyone who downplays the massacres
that happened in other towns in South Sudan is equally unconscionable, and
immoral.
