Col Iyo Abaar - War & Drought
By Bashir Goth

Col iyo Abaar, war and drought, were the historical enemies of the Somali people; the two disasters that played havoc with their nomadic life.

The fear of these combined calamities was so engraved in the Somali psyche that it manifests itself in their prayers; Ilaahow Col Iyo Abaarba Naga Hay (O’ God spare us from both war and drought). There was also no ills worse to invoke when cursing an enemy than to curse them with war and drought; Col iyo Abaari ku Qaadday or Col iyo Abaari Kula Tagtay are both curses that bid you to be taken away or snatched away by the twin terrors.

Nabad iyo Caano (Peace and Milk) was the antidote to Col iyo Abaar. And if the rainy season was exceptionally good and the pasture was abundant, then it was a time of Bashbash iyo Barwaaqo”; a time of splash and abundance or prosperity”.

For Somali nomads, therefore, Nabad iyo Caano was their best time, it was for them a time of Nimco Ilaah (God’s bounty). It was when both people and their livestock and in fact all plants and creatures on earth had Biyo iyo Baad (water and food). Without rain, Somalis live on dead earth.

When I met my wife for the first time many years ago, all she knew about Somalia other than a story she heard as a child about the Mad Mullah was that: “It was a dry land that came to life after rain.” Surprisingly, this was the first time in my life that I took note of my country described in such a graphic and indeed a realistic way. Sometimes, we need to see ourselves through the eyes of others.

It is no wonder that fatalism holds sway over the Somali people as their life hangs on the forces of nature and the Will of God, for who else but: “Allah sends down water from the sky and by it brings the dead earth back to life. (Surat an-Nahl, 65).

The Somali farmer can throw seeds to the ground, but he knows that without rain he should not expect to harvest them. If rain fails to come, then there is nothing he can do but look to the sky and pray. It was at a moment like this that a Somali farmer expressed his plight in the following biting lines:

“Illayn laguma doog dhabo hadhuud
Roob an kugu daadan
Cirka meel dushaada ah illayn
Dooxid lama gaadhid…”

Today, the Somali people, as in many times in the past, face the apocalyptic double hit of Col iyo Abaar.

Of the two, however, it is the Abaar that devastates the lives of the nomad. It is referred to as Abaar iyo Oodo Lulul, drought and tree shaking, as Somali nomads shake trees with their traditional hangools – a kind of a stick with a hook- to fall dry leaves for their livestock). One can run away from an enemy and avoid the areas of hostilities, but one cannot escape drought, particularly when it hits across traditional grazing areas. This is why the collective memory of the Somali people records the worst droughts that devastated the people through history.

Known by their telltale names that give graphic description of their catastrophic impacts on people’s lives and livelihood, some of the best memorized droughts include: Abaalees, the one that overran everyone and everywhere; Liqa iyo Qutura, the one that swallowed and stayed unyielding; Arbacadii, the one that started on the year that began on Wednesday; Xaaraamo Cune, the one during which people were forced to eat the inedible or legally prohibited food; Hawa Rida, the one that humiliated every proud person; and Jaahweyn, the one that stared at people in the face for a long time.

Also remembered are Maadh Gambiya, the one that devoured all wealth; Hayaan Dheer, the one that forced people to travel long distances; Siigacase the one with red sandstorms; Jaan Ma Reeba, the one that didn’t spare a single shoe as even shoes were boiled and eaten for food; Haarriya, the slow moving and grinding one; Bariis Guradkii, when the people were forced to eat rice which was an alien grain to the Somali people at the time; Sima, the equalizer as it made all people equal in misery and penury; Dooryaanle, the one that was characterized by the enormous quantity of worms it produced due to the enormous number of carcasses of dead animals around; and Daba Dheer, the long tailed – the never ending one.

When droughts last long and people and livestock perish, the only option the surviving people have is to seek refuge in a place which is mostly far and alien. In the old days the name for this torturous journey was Daaduun (escaping from famine and poverty). The word Qaxooti which is today’s parlance for refugees was used in the old days for people running from war and hostility but not from famine. Just like we see them doing today, the people on Daaduun would travel as far as their weak legs could take them, as far as their last drop of water could last them, and as far as the famished, haggard and malnourished children could make to the nearest graveyard or the nearest help whichever came first. But today, Somalis are running for Qax iyo Daaduun -both running from war and from drought’s famine).

Watching the news with my son and hearing that each day around 1500 people arrive in Kenya, he quipped: “Aabbo, if the Somalis leave the country in this rate and I know your population is small, I wonder, if anyone will remain in it.” He is a college student now and I remember addressing him in a poem I wrote when he was yet unborn telling him about the misery of the Somali people:

“…Insha Allaahu dhib yari iyo caafimaad
Waad ku soo dhalane
Ilmayohow la wada dhawraya
Bal an war kuu dhiibo
*
Hadday adiga nabadi kuu dhantahay
Dheregna aad hayso
Ood caalamkaba dhexdaa hooyadaa
Moodday dhummucdiisa
Adduunyada dhib baa joogta iyo
Dhiilo iyo ciile
Dhawrtay isku laayeen tolkay
Dhiigna loo qubaye
Waxa dhagarta loo galay anaan
Dhiilka la ii shubine
Gobannimadii loo dhaxay runtii
Gaalka lagu dhoofshay
Haweenkiiba kama dhaashadaan
Dhiilahaan lulaye
Dhul aan kuugu faaniyo ma lihi
Dhoobo iyo ciide
Dhagax buu Ilaahay ka dhigay
Ani dhankaygiiye
Dhawrkii bilood buu habeen
Dhibic ku tiixaaye
Dhuuni baan ka raadcaynayaa
Qooddi dhabarkiiye
Awr baaban weli dhaansadaa
Dhererka jiilaale
Dhallaankii harraad bay dhugteen
Dhabarka saarraaye
Ceelkii dhicirta weynaa beryahan
Looma dhaadhicine
Dadkaygii dhammaayo ma hadhin
Ruux ad dhugataaye
Iskadaa qabiil nin u dhintuu
Loogay dhirifkiiye
Dhilmaanyaaba weli laysa iyo
Dhaxanta dayreede…” (Laba Dhuux, 1989)

Since then the world has changed beyond recognition. The Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet Union had collapsed the cold war had come to an end; the information technology has made the world a global village. But even after two decades, just like the many decades before, the conditions remain the same for Africa. Nothing changes in Africa. It is either war, brother killing a brother, or drought, or both of them. Daaduun and Qaxooti all along. It is as if time stands still as I referred to it in the following stanzs:

“…Afrikay dhagax dixeed
Miyaad sidii dheri jajabay
Duleedka u dhooban tahay
Dharaartii soo baxdiyo
Habeenkii loo dhaxaba
Waqtigu ku dul dhereran yahay?
*
Waa kani dhiigii qulqulay
Haraha dhacadiida ee
Sidii durdur loo dhurtee
Miyaan ciiduba dhergeyn?
*
Miyaanuu ubad dhallaan
Dhirif li’i seexanayan?
*
Awrtani dhoomaha sidee
Jiilaallada dheelidiyo
Miyaan dhaankuba degayn?
*
Samada aan dheehdayeen
Quraanka u dheelmiyiyo
Miyaan ducaduba dhalayn?… (Dhuxusha Ka Madoobiyaa, 1999)

Even long before that I was, like many of my country people, lamenting the centuries old misfortune of my country and Africa; a misfortune that has become an everlasting viscous circle where the agony and distress expressed in a poem stands vividly valid over nearly 30 years as the day it was penned down. It gives me no comfort to read the following poem Qiiro that I wrote in December 1984 and was listened by many people back then in audio cassettes to be shocked that the conditions stand the same.

QIIRO
Qab-qabta waddankeena
Qalaanqalka taagan
Wanaagga la qoomay
Qiyaama jooga
Rasaasta qarxaysa
Qaxootiga daadsan
Abaarta la qiiqay
*
Hooyada qaxarkeega
Ilmaha ka qandhaysan
Qareena u weyday
Ilmada ku qubaysa
*
Odayga qulubkiisa
Dhulkuu qodanaayey
Hashuu u quminaayey
Abaari ka qaaday
*
Carruurta qadoodi
Caloosha qarraadhay
Qorraxda duhurkiiya
Ku beer qadhqadhaysa
*
Intuu qalbigoodu
Ka qoonsan lahaa
Miyuu shir qabiilo
Qalqaashay dadkaygu
*
Qolaba dhinaceega
Miyey qaradeeda
Ku muujisey qaylo
Miyuu qasku oogmay
Qaraabo is weyday
Nin walba qolqolkiisa
Xumaani ka qooqday
*
Qarddoofa nacaybka
Qabiilo is dooxa
Ninkii qabta taagan
Ka food qabsanaayey
Qalaanqalka diiday
Wanaagga qiraayey
Miyuu nin qaloocday
Qaradle ku tilmaamay
*
Muxuu qab-qab dhaafay
Hoostana ka qalaalan
Intuu qacda foolka
Dibnaha ku qaniinay
Qadaadkana taagay
U qoystay waxyeelo
*
Tollaayda qabiilku
Maxay dad qareena
Xumaan qabadsiisay
*
Nin walba qorigiisa
Intuu qacda waaga
Qorfaha kula hoyday
Miyuu qummuciisa
Walaal ku qiyaasay
*
Reerkii u qabneeyey
Carruuro u qaaday
Ninkii dab u quudhay
Miyaan qudha waaye
Dammiir qabayaynin
*
Qarniga la dhaqaaqay
La qaybsaday uunka
Wixii qurux yaalay
Qorraxda lagu dooday
Miyuu kas qabiilo
Qamaanshay dadkayga
*
Quluufan qallaafan
Waraabe qarjeexan
Walaal is qarddoofay
Dhulkoo wax la quuto
Qadhaab laga waayey
Dadkoo qoqobaysan
Ummadda qirinqiirka
Cumaha la qaniinay
Ku neef qabatowday
Simbiidhada qoobka
Qodaxda igu taagan
Qarooma xumaanta
Qormada degi weyday
Miyaan gulub qaylo
Xornimo u qalqaashay
*
Hashaan qummisteeda
Shallaad ugu qaaday
Miyaa qaran weyday
*
Halkay shalay qiiro
Qiyaas li’i daaqday
Dhulkii qoyanaaye
Qaboojiyey beerka
Miyaa qalal dhaafay
*
Beertayda qardowday
Cirkiina ka qaaday
Carrada laga quustay
Qarraadhay habaaska
Miyaa qalalaase
Ku beertay qabkayga
*
Qaxarka hiyigaygu
Afrika qulubkeega
Miyuu ku qalooday
*
Qooqaanida dooga
Barwaaqo qorshaynta
Waxaan ku qarwaayey
Sowtaa laga quustay
*
Afrika qirinqiirka
Sowtaa qaldhabaysa
Qiyaama haleelay
*
Qadaadaha weelka
Sowtaa qolqol meerka
La quuddaro oyday
Qaxooti wax mooday
*
Intaan qaaradayda
Qarsoomin dadkeedu
Qabuurta dushooda
Quruumo kaleeto
Hudheelo ka qaydan
Gabdhaa kula qooqin
Rabbow cirka qaadhay
Wanaag bal ka soo qub
Qabooji dadkaaga
Adaan qudradaada
Ka qiil suganaaye.(Qiiro,December 10, 1984)

So is this the destiny of the Somali people, one may ask? To which I could give a resounding NO; simply because as Somalis we are not less than other human beings in the world. In fact the Somali people are a very industrious race with great resilience. Their survival skills and entrepreneurship are proverbial. We are not also less patriotic than any other race in the world. On the contrary, one can argue that the root cause of the current debacle of the Somali people is patriotism went awry. They are the victims of their own nationhood and their legitimate dream and struggle to unite their race in one state and under one flag. An unlucky nation in hostile surroundings, they found themselves like a lone wolf in an unfriendly environment and a world dumb to their cries for justice.

As frustration breeds desperation and helplessness, it is natural in such a situation for brothers-in-arms to turn against one another and descend into a macabre condition of absurd proportions. The situation turns hellish also when the nature itself plays its hand.

No one can doubt also the hospitality and the generosity of the Somali people, a character that is deep-rooted in their nomadic culture. One thing we Somalis lack however is a sense of community and cultural cohesiveness. Just like our nomadic life when families moved together, settled together, fought together, died together and survived together in bloodlines, we still do the same and segregate ourselves in bloodlines even when we migrated to distant lands.

Visit any metropolitan in the world such as Nairobi, Dubai, Riyadh, London, Amsterdam, Melbourne, Ottawa, Minneapolis and Washington D.C and it will take you no time to find where your clan members gather. You may stay as long as you wish and unless you deliberately go out of your way to search for old classmates and old friends who may not be related to you by blood, you may end up not seeing any Somali per se but your own clan members. We do this while we see other African brothers such as Ethiopians, Sudanese, Kenyans and others making their own communities despite their differences in ethnicity, culture, religion and language.

If our brothers from the Horn of Africa can do, there is no reason why we cannot also do it. But only if we learn that our short term political differences and interests should not impede our long term goals to prosper and work together as a community. Only then we will be able to feel our collective pain, we will be able to lean on each other, and by pooling the few bucks that each one of us can afford we can make a difference. One can easily fall, but to rise needs an effort and sometimes a help and I am sure as Somalis in the Diaspora, we have the capacity and I am sure the desire to do it, if we appeal to our sense of community and put our political differences aside.

Being in every corner of the world, I am sure as Somalis we are today stronger and more resourceful than we have been at earlier times. All we need is an organized effort to lift the misery of our people back home with the help of the international community. The misery is not eternal and the day will come when the media of the world will talk about our fortunes to the world instead of our misfortunes. And as I sang about the suffering of our nation, I also sang about my dreams of good days to come. And come they will if we all adopt and internalize the passion and optimism that exudes from the following stanzas of the following poem Walbahaarku Wuu Tegi( the misery will go).

“…Dalkaygow wallaahiye
Warwarkiyo waxyeeladu
Cidna lama walaaloo
Qofna weerka dhiilada
Wehel looma siiyoo
Kuma waaro ciilkee
Waxad wayda haysaba
Waagii dhowaayoo
Walaacani ku haystiyo
Walbahaarku wuu tegi.
*
Wallee maalin dhow waqal
Weelka loo dareershiyo
War caloosha deeqoo
Gaajada badh wiiqoo
Wadnaha ii qaboojiyo
Weedh aan ku diirsado
London waayirkeegani
Waxyigii ilaahiyo
Wada dhalashadeeniyo
Waayaha ka weyneen
Weligii go’ayn iyo
Waadaantan gaaladu
Waddankii ku dhaafteen
Galabtii wadaagniyo
Waayeelka hirarkiyo
Ababshaha wardoonkiyo
BBCiisdu way werin…” (Walbahaarku Wuu Tegi, 1999)

N/B At times like this it may also be healing to listen to the sad mother’s lullaby “Ha iga ooyine aamu”

Bin Laden’s death may end a painful era for the Muslim world
By Bashir Goth

Bin Laden is gone. He died as he wished to die, a martyr to some but to many others an evil incarnate who chose to live by the gun and surely died by the gun.

But the nagging question is will the world be any different? Not so soon. As the Somalis say: Ayax teg, eelna reeb (gone is the locust, but it has left behind a lasting breed). Bin Laden has left behind a proliferating breed of Al Qaeda affiliates in many parts of the world. Indeed the world may experience nasty reminders in the near future as his followers try to demonstrate their ability to avenge their leader’s death.

One may hope, however, that Bin Laden’s departure closes a dark and painful era of division and hostility between the west and the Muslim world. No one can deny that Bin Laden and his extremist ideology were responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people around the world. Bin Laden adherents killed thousands of Muslims in mosques, in shopping centers, in schools and orphanages, in hotels and in their own homes while sleeping or meeting around their dining tables. The U.S invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq might never have happened and tens of thousands of lives as well as the material wealth and cultural heritage of old civilizations might never have been destroyed without the existence of Bin Laden. Muslim communities in the West might never have experienced such unprecedented alienation and Islamophobia and Muslim youth born and bred in Western capitals might never have sought deliverance and martyrdom in mass killing and suicide bombings. Thousands of spin doctors, spontaneous pundits and security experts might never have earned big bucks in the industry of terrorism and the Arab news satellite Al Jazeera might never have grown into such an iconic yet idiosyncratic news channel without propagating Bin Laden’s poisonous messages.

It is arguably true that it might have been ideal to capture Bin Laden alive and bring him to face justice in a court of law, but did Bin Laden himself believe in an ideal world? Did he allowed justice for the thousands of people killed by his supporters and sympathizers or did he ever express any sympathy to the victims of his terrorist marauders?

There is no doubt that Bin Laden’s Rambo type killing by Americans would turn him into a martyr, but it is also true it would be very difficult for Al Qaeda to survive very long without the deep pockets and outreach of Bin Laden and without his charisma as a Buddha-like figure who was born into wealth and luxury and chose to lead a harsh life among the poor. Al Qaeda was a house built on sand and stood only due to the ingenuity of its engineer and with the departure of the engineer, it will eventually fall. Granted that the debris and the fall out will cause a lot of damage here and there, but once the dust settles down there would be no Bin Laden to erect it again.

It is also worth to remember that Bin Ladenism has long been buried by Arab youth inspired revolutions before the death of Bin Laden himself. And we hope that Al Shabab, the Al Qaeda offshoot in Somalia, would take heed, disband and ask forgiveness from the Somali people for the heinous atrocities they committed before it is too late.

A tale of two Shabab movements: Egyptian and Somali

By Bashir Goth

As I watched the youth-driven upheavals that have awoken the comatose Arab people into action to reclaim their dignity and their freedom, I could not help but compare the situation of the Facebook empowered youth that spearheaded the Egyptian revolution with the Al Qaeda inspired Somali youth Al Shabab.
In the following paragraphs I will highlight the similarities and differences as well as the two movements’ national references, international appeal and historical significance.

At the outset one can see some similarities as both movements were born out of frustration, anger and humiliation; the Egyptians by years of dictatorship, unemployment and hopelessness and the Somalis by years of internecine and protracted civil war, warlords, foreign occupation, unemployment and hopelessness.
They were both equipped with youthful energy and enthusiasm to bring about change and both revolted against fossilized status quo and old people robbing them of their future and holding them back. Both wanted to have their voice heard and counted.

But one may ask if both movements were born out of despair and humiliation, why has one inspired and rallied the whole world behind it, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, and the other has alienated and infuriated the world, both Muslim and non-Muslim. Let us count the ways.

Different Approaches, Different Results

The Egyptians being more urbane, more educated and better connected to the world have taken a non-ideological, peaceful and sophisticated approach to civil unrest; a Gandhian type of civil disobedience. They have stunned the world with their mature behavior, their tolerance and macro vision of their demands as being like those of any other human beings. They rejected all kinds of division on religion, gender, ethnicity or clan. They based their cause on universal values of freedom of speech, good governance, jobs by merit and social justice.

They expressed their feelings in music, arts, graffiti and billboard slogans. They won the trust of their local communities by guarding suburbs, cultural institutions and banks. They prayed together despite their differences in religion, they danced together boys and girls, mothers and fathers, young and old people. They were all one people, Egyptians par excellence. And at the end the youth had cleaned up the mess they created during their campaign to prove that their revolution was to clean the country of all dirt and not to add more dirt to it.

On the contrary, the Somali Al Shabaab chose a brutal way. Their struggle was not driven by shared human values but by exclusionist, sectarianism, religious ideology. They proved to be less educated, less urbane and less humanist in their approach than their Egyptian counterparts. Al Shabab chose the gun and not the word as their tool of change even long after the Ethiopian forces, the raison d’être of their war, have left Somalia. They practiced brutal, inhumane atrocities that are reminiscent of the Spanish acquisition. They used coercion to subdue their own people. They alienated the youth by making music, dancing and all kinds of entertainment as punishable offence. They erected walls between genders. They forced women to be invisible and ordered them to disappear from the market where they used to earn the livelihood of their families; they shrouded them and even made wearing a bra a punishable offence. They separated women and men in public transport and in schools and made it impossible for boys and girls to socialize together or sit in one class together despite the scarcity of schools in Somalia.

While the Egyptian youth reached out and won the sympathy of the world through their perfection of the English language, the Somali Al Shabaab banned English language to be taught in schools, slamming it as the language of the infidel.

Whereas the Egyptian youth sought to win the support of the world media and international community, the Somali Al Shabaab shunned the international media as enemies of Islam and treated international organizations with derision and contempt, making it difficult for them even to help the poor and locally displaced people without paying heavy jizya to them.

The Egyptian youth’s revolution has recognizable human faces and names of dozens of media friendly young men and women who conveyed their message to the world as people with universal demands, jobs, accountable government and freedom of speech, with no ideological strings attached; while the Somali Al Shabaab is a faceless organization whose members are mostly masked as they are aware of the crimes they commit and they don’t want to be recognized. Their heinous crimes include severing limps, stoning girls and boys to death, beating women and men for socializing together or meeting for business. They also go around by false names that are alien to the Somali people.

The Egyptian Revolutionary youth are proud of their identity and they brag about waving the Egyptian flag for the whole world to see, while the Somali Al Shabab are ashamed of their identity and their national symbols. Instead of the Somali flag, they wave a black rag, a mourning symbol, a sign of death that is reminiscent of the pirate flags of the 19th century. The Egyptians are worldly, modern, nationalist and internationalist in their outlook. They embrace what is good of other cultures. The Somali Al Shabab is unworldly, antiquated, isolationist and revisionist in their outlook.

Different Role Models, Different Messages

The Egyptian youth-driven revolution shares similarities with revolutions that have changed the fate of humanity for the better such as the French Revolution, the American Revolutionary War and the revolutions for freedom in the former Soviet dominated Eastern European countries. On the national level they invoke the revolt of Ahmed Basha Orabi, the first Egyptian nationalist revolt against repression in 1882. It holds up Arab nationalism at the time of independence as its role model. The Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions took their legitimacy from the will of the people and inflamed the feelings of the elderly by chanting the nationalist lyrics and poetry that their fathers and forefathers chanted in their struggle against colonialism.

Al Shabab instead derives its legitimacy from medieval religious wars, the Spanish inquisition and in modern days from the damp, dark caves of Al Qaeda and Taliban. They echo the images of the Mogonlian barbarians and the marauding medieval hordes that destroyed the Roman Empire with the striking difference that Somali Al Shabaab has no empire to destroy and the only thing they managed to destroy is whatever remained of the soul, spirit, culture and pride of the war-weary Somali people. They do not want to take the Somali Youth League (SYL) that spearheaded the Somali struggle for independence as a role model. They dismiss them as a secular, sacrilegious movement. They even shy away from invoking the legacy of the Somali National hero Sayyid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan’s Dervish Movement which they see as heretic, sufistic and deviant school of Islam that does not agree with their puritanical and narrow interpretation of Islam’s holy scriptures. Even rekindling the people’s feelings through nationalist music is sacrilegious to them as they assume music in all its forms is an evil deviation from Gods’ path.

Whereas the Egyptian youth have united their people and rallied the support of the world through their refined behavior and humanitarian demands, the Somali Al Shabaab divided the people they intended to unite and shunned the sympathy of the outside world through their radicalized and religious-driven message of us against them.


Historical Significance

The Tunisian, Egyptian and other youth-led Arab revolutions won the hearts and minds of the world. Attracted by the civilized demonstrations of the Egyptians, the youth of the world had lent their support to the Egyptians in helping them to bypass the government’s blockade of the internet. The Egyptian and Tunisian youth have written golden pages in the history of their countries and have changed the world perception about the Arabs.

On the contrary, the Somali Al Shabab has written a dark page in the history of Somalia. It has tainted the identity, culture and dignity of the Somali people everywhere in the world, leaving behind a legacy of repression, darkness and fear in the psyche of the Somali people.

End of Extremism and Al Shabab

The revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world have stolen the thunder from Militant Islamism represented by Al Qaeda, Somali Al Shabaab and others. The death of Mohamed Bouazizi, the young Tunisian street vender that sparked Arab revolutions, had also toppled the wobbly house of extremism. The beleaguered people of the Muslim world have found a peaceful and civilized way to express their grievances and reclaim their rights without denigrating the great religion of Islam and without sending fearful and hollow religious slogans to the outside world. People have recognized their needs are basic and worldly and not grand and heavenly. Arab youth-driven revolutions have signed the death of Al Qaeda, Al Shabab and the much hyped argument of the Clash of Civilizations. Al Shabab will soon be in the dustbin of history but they should not be allowed to get away with the crimes they committed, the hundreds of people they maimed, killed and the millions of mothers and children they deprived of their livelihoods and made them to live in hell. They should face their fate in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

It is time that the educated, modern, cultured and nationalist Somali youth begin to restore the pride of the Somali nation. I know we have plenty of you who are better connected and pained by the plight of your people back home. All you need is to get a collective voice and it is about time that you should have it. You should not allow retired politicians and the cowardly Somali intellectuals who preferred to keep silent about Al Shabab’s crimes dictate your future. As I said it before in an appeal I addressed to the youth long before the Tunisian revolt and I repeat it again, your people are looking to you to salvage their once proud homeland by employing your brains, your pens and your laptops in building a proud new nation and not by wasting your time and energy in seeking to change men’s beards and women’s bras.

Mr.Silaanyo’s boomerang trajectory with free speech
By Bashir Goth
As always; it has to start with gagging freedom of speech. Not bad governance and corruption and not even rampant ignorance, disease and poverty. It is the oppression of the freedom of speech that is the Mother of All Warnings that signals whether a regime is going down the slippery slope towards dictatorship or not. Just look at history and dictators who fell out of grace after many of them started their rise to power as champions of human liberty and used freedom of speech and freedom of the press as their Trojan horses.

The leaders who climb the reins of power on the back of the press are always those who hasten to silence it once they sit comfortably at the Presidential seat. The reason is not difficult to understand. As the saying goes you can fool all the people some of the sometime but you cannot fool all the people all of the time, and I have to add that you cannot particularly fool the press any length of time. Once the initial euphoria is over, the press quickly returns to business and starts to play its role as watchdog. But when the press finds faults and exposes it, it baffles the new leader who used to hear only words of praise when he was in the political wilderness. And in places where freedom of speech and freedom of press are not entrenched in the people’s culture before being enshrined in the constitution, any censure by the darling press will definitely invoke the leader’s rage. It is amazing how quickly these leaders forget their own words and their ennobling of the role of free press and free speech.

It may be that President Ahmed Mohamed Silaanyo and his Interior Minister have not yet reached that stage, but no doubt the incarceration of the editor of Waaheen Newspaper, Mr. Maxamuud Cabdi Jaamac (Xuuto), by the government of President Mohamed Ahmed Silaanyo for publishing material that is already in the public domain and the imprisonment of a prominent elder, Boqor Raabi, for criticizing the government does not sit well with Mr. Silaanyo’s previous positions on free speech when he was in the opposition.

In denouncing the incarceration of the journalist, all I would do is to entangle Mr. Silaanyo and his Interior Minister with their own words. Commenting on the imprisonment of Haatuf reporters by Rayale Government in 2007, Mr. Silaanyo, as an opposition leader, described it as “a disgrace to our democratic process, our humanity and our nationhood…” Below are excerpts of Mr. Silanyo’s grand and applaudable statement in condemning Rayale’s record on freedom of press and freedom of speech:

“…Ugu horrayna waxa uu ka hadlay xadhigga Suxufiyiinta wargeyska Haatuf, kaas oo uu ku tilmaamay mid xaqdarro iyo dulmi ah. Waxana uu sheegay in cabudhinta noocan ah oo hore u dhici jirtey uu xadhiggani yahay mid si cad u xaqiijinaya mawqifka xukuumadda Madaxweyne Riyaale ka taagan yahay madax bannaanida saxaafadda, xorriyatul-qawlka iyo xuquuqda aasaasiga ah ee dadka.

“Taas [xadhiggaas] oo aan hubo inay ceeb weyn maanta ku tahay geeddi-socodka dimoqraadiyadda iyo dadnimadeenna iyo qaranimadeennaba,” ayuu yidhi Axmed Siilaanyo.
Waxana uu raaciyey isaga oo sharraxaya sida xadhigga suxufiyiinta Haatuf u waxyeelanayso Somaliland, “Innaga oo maanta higsanayna oo dunida u bandhigayna oo ku faanayna inaynu nahay qaran madax bannaan oo doonaya dunidu inay ictiraafto oo doonaya dunida inuu u bandhigo wax aynu qabsanay, geeddi socodka dimoqraadiyadda, xurmaynta aynu xurmaynayno sharafta uu qofku leeyahay, madax bannaanida saxaafadda, xorriyatulqawlka, sharciyadda, distoorka, inaynu maanta tallaabooyin caynkaas oo kale ah qaadno waxaan u arkaa inay aad iyo aad ay inoo waxyeelaynayso indhaha caalamka”.

Waxa uu xusay in xadhigga suxufiyiinta Haatuf uu cambaareeyey ururka caalamiga ah ee Amnesty International. Waxa kale oo uu sheegay in Madaxweynihii hore ee Maraykanka, Madaxweyne Jimmy Charter uu u soo diray Somaliland warqad uu ku cambaaraynayo xadhiga suxufiyiinta Haatuf, kuna baaqay in xorriyadooda loo soo celiyo suxufiyiintaas.

“Waxa kale oo ka mid ah arrimaha noocaas oo kale ah, xurmo darrida lagula kacayo dadkan acyaantiisii iyo waxgaradkiisii iyo salaaddiintiisii iyo ummaddiisii intii qiimaha lahayd,”ayuu raaciyey Axmed Siilaanyo. Waxana uu xusay xadhiggii lagula kacay Suldaan Cismaan Suldaan Cali Madar iyo xubno kale oo laga soo xidhay magaalada Burco iyo sidoo kale, markab shidaal ganacsi ah u sidey Shirkadda Alxarbi oo loo diidey inuu ku soo xidho dekedda Berbera.
Waxyaabahaas oo dhami waxay wada muujinayaan dhammaantood dalku maanta halka uu marayo iyo halka aynu higsanayno ee qaranimada aynu ka raadinaynaa in aanay wax isleh ahayn,”. ayuu yidhi

In a similar but stronger tone, Silanyo’s current Interior Minister Dr. Maxamed Cabdi Gaboose, lashed out rightly at the incarceration of Haatuf journalists at the time when he was in the opposition. One may not believe that Dr. Gaboose, today’s strong Interior Minister, is the same man who lectured to Rayale’s government about the vital role of free press which he described as a seeker of truth. A truth which he said carried with it “bitter and sweet taste.” In a glowing statement peppered with wisdoms and anecdotes, Dr. Gaboose had even related a hilarious story about a president who complained to his own father about the criticism of the press to him. The father responded by collecting all the newspapers that criticized his son for a number of days, put them in a pile and then called his son, the president, and told him to stand on the pile. Once he stepped down, the father asked him whether he felt taller when he was on top of the newspaper pile than when he stepped down. And when the son replied that he naturally felt taller when he was on top of the pile, his father told him: “This is how you would feel if you win the newspapers to your side by taking heed of their criticism and correcting your wrongs.” Below is Dr.Gaboose’s words and it will be worth to read the whole statement to the end:

"Xukunka Madaxweyne Rayaale isagoo leh saansaantii Keli-talisnimada ayuu si badheedh ah horay ugu curyaamiyey hay’adihii qaranka ee loogu talagalay inay iskaabaan, isna ilaaliyaan, haddana wuxuu u soo jeestey in la cabudhiyo saxaafadda, iyadoo dhirbaaxada Haatuf looga dhan leeyahay inay inta kale ku quustaan.

"Saxaafadda xorta ah waxa loogu talagalay inay kaalin libaax ka qaadato horumarka dalka, iyadoo dadweynaha u sheegtay RUNTA (Dhaqan, dhaqaale, siyaasad, cilmiyeed) ee ka jirta dalka gudihiisa iyo dibaddiisaba: - Runtu iyadaa ah Macaan iyo Qadhaadh meel ku wada yaalla."

Reading the good values and the statesmanship that both men had shown in their previous praiseworthy statements which they said long before they took the reins of power, one might not help but remember the words of Herbert Hoover, a former U.S. President, who said: “It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.”

I know it may not yet be fair to brand them with that title, but one may suffice to say that power corrupts and corrupts absolutely. However, if Mr. Silaanyo and his Interior Minister refuse to free the Editor of Waaheen and Boqor Raabi, and if they continue oppressing and stifling freedom of speech and freedom of the press, then one cannot help but fear that Silaanyo’s government may just be going down the famous path that we all know very well. And this would indeed be a sad trajectory for a government elected on a popular vote and rode to power on the back of the free press.

Email: bsogoth@yahoo.com

Somaliland: An alleged sexual deviant gets his day in court

By Bashir Goth

A court in Somaliland has found a German man guilty of making pornographic films of Somali women and has given him a four- year prison sentence and US$10,000 fine. This news story may raise some eyebrows or even evoke disdain from people who would dismiss the case as another botched trial from another infidel-obsessed Islamic country.

But wait a minute! Mr. Gunter Bischoss, 72, who lived in the region since 1993 and is married to a local woman, is indeed a lucky man because in some other parts of Somalia ruled by the rogue Al Shabab forces, Mr. Bischoss would not have had his day in court. There people are beheaded, limbs amputated and mothers and adolescent girls flogged and executed in public on decisions made in extrajudicial bogus trials presided by fanatically ignorant young thugs. There one doesn’t have to commit a crime to be subjected to such brutal treatment. Women are pulled out of public transport and flogged in public for wearing bras or not dressed in Al-Shabab ordained Islamic black robes; girls are stoned to death for talking to their male neighbors, radio broadcasters are slaughtered for playing Somali music on their radio stations; and even religious worshippers are killed for blasphemy simply because they don’t adhere to the Al-Shabab endorsed narrow interpretation of Islam. So if Al Shabab treats Somali people who are mostly practicing Muslims in this manner, it is anyone’s guess what fate would have been waiting for a foreigner like Mr. Bischoss.

But not in Somaliland! A territory of the Somali peninsula where the rule of law works, where an elected and stable government has prevailed for many years, where people look up to the courts for delivering justice, where the foreigner has even more rights than that of a citizen, and where Mr. Bischoss had his day in court.

In delivering the sentence decision, Judge Abdirashid Mohamed Mohamoud was quoted to have said that Mr. Bischoss was found guilty of committing crimes against religious ethics and morality by shooting pornographic movies and pictures with women from Somaliland. He pronounced his judgment like he would in any other criminal case committed by any local person. There was no commotion, no religious chanting, no xenophobia and no firebrand mullahs inciting people to take to the streets with anti-Western slogans or demanding death for Mr. Bischoss and his local accomplice, a woman who allegedly appeared in his pornography videos. She was also given one year prison sentence and some fine. No flogging, no stoning and no amputation. The prisoners’ full rights and full dignities were upheld during the trial. This was not lost on Mr. Bischoss himself who shouted to the reporters from the dock after hearing the judgment that: "The evidence in this case has been exaggerated and I will appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court."

Living almost 17 years in the country and being married to a local woman, Mr. Bischoss knew that he was in good hands; that Somaliland is not Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan or any other part of other mob-ruled countries. He knew that he had the right for an appeal and that he may even have the chance that the decision may be reversed by the same court or by the upper court if new facts come to light.

If anything, the words of Mr. Bischoss bring home the truth that the international community chooses to ignore; that Somaliland is a decent country, with decent laws and decent people that is struggling to live within the norms and values of the international community. A country that is crying to be heard and given the respect and the recognition it deserves for its accomplishments; a country that is astonishingly watching how the world flocks to Southern Sudan while its yearning for having its place among the civilized world is ignored.

Email: bsogoth@yahoo.com

A message to the Somali youth in 2011

By: Bashir Goth

The youth of my people, the future of the nation, I am addressing this letter to you as a person who grew up in a different era than yours. An era when stories about independence were still fresh; when feelings of Somali nationalism were stronger than clan loyalty; when we sang for a dreamland called Greater Somalia; an era when the blue Somali flag with the five-cornered white star in the middle symbolized a home for all Somalis in the Horn of African region. An era when we were imbibed with nationalistic songs such “NFD dhankeedaa, Dhinacaa Jubuuti, Dhulka la iga haysto, Ee dhaxal wareegay, Inaan dhagar ku galo, Oo dhiig qulqulo ayaan ku dhaarsanee…” An era when as children we slept and woke up with the Somali Radio playing “ Hawd iyo Danood, Haadaamo mee, Sow anaa hurdee, Sow anaa hurdee, Haadka la iima wadhin…” An era when tears used to well up in the people’s eyes and hearts used to pump faster with the melancholic lyrics of Abdillahi Qarshi: “Dadkaa dhawaaqayaa, Dhulkooga doonayaa, Hadday u dhiidhiyeen, Allahayow u dhiib…” the tunes the BBC Somali section still rings in its programs with many people not realizing that the lyrics of this tune were one time the La Marseillaise of the Somali people. An era when Somalis saw each other as brethren and the rallying cry was “Soomaaliyeey toosoo, Toosoo isku tiirsada eey, Hadba kiina taag daraneey, Taageera weligiineey…”.

I am addressing you also as a person who saw all these dreams dissipate; who saw the men and women who fought for these dreams die broken hearted and humiliated and many of them even imprisoned or killed. I am addressing you as a conscientious citizen who watched and observed his country descend into a killing field where brothers brutally slaughter each other in an unprecedented fratricide. As a person who to the best of his ability expressed his pain and frustration over the situation of his people in prose and poetry. I am addressing you not as a saint who has no sins of his own but as a Somali like any other person of his era who sometimes felt weak and almost crushed by the evil of tribalism. A person who knows the pitfalls and trappings of tribalism and can forewarn you of the dead ends and black holes ahead of you.

Harnessing technology

Youth of my people, I want you to look around and take a good stock of your bearings. I am sure what you see is ugly and depressing. It must not be only absurd but starkly anachronistic that you groan under the heavy burden of tollaayey culture in the 21st century when youth of your age elsewhere are changing the world beyond our recognition and for the better.

To remind you of some excellent examples, you already know or heard about Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, the 27-year-old founder of Facebook who was named person of the year by the Time magazine for his epoch making revolution in founding Facebook. By choosing him as The Person of the Year 2010, Time magazine said Zuckerberg has deserved the honor : “For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them, for creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives.”

Another young man Jack Dorsey, created Twitter in 2000 when he was barely 24. As you can read in his biography and I quote it: “Dorsey was fascinated by the technological challenge of coordinating taxi drivers, delivery vans and other fleets of vehicles that needed to remain in constant, real-time communication with one another. When he was 15, Dorsey wrote dispatch software that is still used by some taxicab companies today.”

Back on the continent, a teenager has made history by building a windmill and bringing electricity to his entire village in Malawi. At the age of 14, William Kamkwamba who dropped out of secondary school when his family couldn’t afford the school fees, he taught himself the principles of physics to make the windmill. His story published as a book “The boy who harnessed the windmill” has not only become a best seller but a symbol of defiance for what one can achieve through determination and single-mindedness.

These are only a few examples and obviously there are thousands of youth everywhere in the world silently weaving their own success stories through inventions, writing, learning, sports and music.

I am sure that many of you profusely use these social networks. You go to Facebook and Twitter on daily basis but I am not sure how using these youth-created technology services touch your inner soul. Does it ring a bell in you? Does it trigger your creative talents to do something to make a change to the way your fathers and grandfathers lived? Or does it goad you to use it for your primitive instincts of tribal allegiances -and enables you to add more veracity to the hatred-based clan culture that you inherited from your fathers.

Brain harvesting versus harboring tribal hatred

Youth of my people, as you can see the world as your fathers knew it has changed; technological explosions of volcanic proportions have created new realities, new cultures and new societies. Anyone who denies swimming with the flow or sits on the sidelines will be either crushed by the waves or left to rot on the banks. The pastoral life of your forefathers that was based on herding livestock, small subsistence farming and a primitive culture of small groups of family bloodlines huddling together against perceived enemies is no more sustainable and may soon disappear as the urbanization advances consuming all available land for modernized agriculture and industrialization while climate change takes its toll as well.

The most precious asset that you have in today’s world is indeed your brain. I reflected on this in my poem DAWAN which I wrote on 4th November 1998 on the inauguration of Amoud University:

“…Waxa maanta dunidani
La isku daba furaayaa
Dirirtuna ka joogtaa
Waa maadh dahsoonoon
Daymo lagu arkayn iyo
Dal waliba aqoon iyo
Inta uu garaad da’o…” (Dawan, November 4, 1998)

Yes, this is what you have to invest in and harvest, not rearing camels in barren lands or continuing internecine and outdated clan wars. That was the life of yester years, the life of your nomad forefathers. That does not mean that you cannot go back to the countryside and modernize the way the nomad and farming communities live, but to do so you must first gain education and shape your destiny not only with the aim of getting more income but also by shaping and advancing your thinking and your culture.

As the Somali adage says: “Dhar magaalo sida loo xidhaa way dhib yartahay, dhal magaalo sida loo noqdaase way adag tahay.” (It is easy to dress like city people, but it is difficult to get the character and values of city people – meaning civility)”.

If you think that by going to school, living in a city and dressing like city people you can become a civilized person think again. Education should change your mental attitude, your philosophy of life and should open up your mind to evaluate issues on their moral grounds and not on inherited cultural and tribal mindsets. Baffled by why Somalis do not learn from their interactions with other cultures, Jama Duale, a poet whose reflections I admire, not only comes to the same conclusion but also satirizes about the futility of the Somali claim of brainstorming through Qat sessions in the following lines of a poem he wrote in the 1950s:

“…Maraakiibta way raacayeen, reer masar ahayde
Mijilisyada way garanayaan, laga macaashaaye
Maroongigana way daaqaayaan, maalin iyo layle
Haddii anay mansuukhiin ahayn, maankii laga qaaday
Mirqaankeeedu Soomaali sow, meela uma sheego…”

There is a simple test to do to assess whether education has changed you or not. Your nomad cousin comes to you crying and tells you that the clan’s homestead has been attacked by enemies who just happened to be your mother’s brothers. What will you do? I say this because how you react to this issue will determine whether your education has changed you and made you a better person or whether your brain remains fossilized in old times. If you would rather jump to your gun and follow your illiterate nomad cousin to shoot the hell out of his enemies, in this case your maternal uncles, instead of telling him to go to the authorities and file a case, then you should know that you are only dressed like city people and your education has failed to change you and make you a law abiding citizen. Unfortunately, most of us, Somalis, are so imbibed with the culture of revenge and empty pride that the passion for Tollaayey takes the best of us and we react impulsively to the tribal call.

Tollaayda qabiilku , Maxay dad qareen ah, Xumaan qabasiisay (My poem Qiiro, December 10,1984.)

Youth of my people, if you look at the revenge-based Tollaayey culture that many of us are so beholden to and defend with pride; you will see that there is indeed no pride in it. What pride is there in killing your maternal uncles? What pride is there in killing of any human being at all, let alone a close relative? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself since when did your paternal ancestry become more sacred than your maternal one; since when did your father become more sacred to you than your mother to the point that you can easily kill your mother’s brother but defend your father’s brother to death.

Youth of my nation, you are the cyber generation and the world is your oyster, it will be unfortunate if you limit your ambitions, your careers, your future and your innovation capacity to the clan horizon. Why should you insult your intelligence by narrowing your opportunities while technologies invented by your peers around the world are broadening your horizon and proving to you that there are no barriers to the outreach of the human mind? You do not need to shorten your lives on fighting for clan farms; camels or water wells when all you need to own is a computer to unleash your creative abilities. Why do you allow yourself to fall into the tribal vortex that sucks you to the bottom, dehumanizes your personality and reduces you to your basic animal instincts of revenge and bloodletting? Think about how you can connect half a billion people around the world, break all barriers of culture, time and distance, and create your cyber community like Mark Zuckerberg instead of succumbing to age-old traditions and spending your energy and your talents on scheming how to kill your uncles.

“…Muxuu qab-qab dhaafay
Hoostana ka qalaalan
Intuu qacda foolka
Dibnaha ku qaniinay
Qadaadkana taagay
U qoystay waxyeelo
***
Tollaayda qabiilku
Maxay dad qareena
Xumaan qabadsiisay.
***
Nin walba qorigiisa
Intuu qacda waaga
Qorfaha kula hoyday
Miyuu qummuciisa
Walaal ku qiyaasay ?...” (My poem Qiiro, 1984)

Remember whenever you kill your fellow brother on petty tribal issues and you proudly stand on his dead body waving your gun, the world is laughing at you. Your peers in advanced countries see you as a savage. They dismiss you as a primitive, ape-like African fighting on camels and water wells.

“...Aaheey aah
Iyo aah
Sowka sheeka adduun
Ka qoraaya abkay
Ubadkooga iskuul
Afrikaanku alwaax
Inu yahay sida ape
Bahal ayda ku nool
Ku baraaya aqoon…”(My poem Amar Dhacay, December 17, 1984)

Youth of my nation, you have to make a choice. Do you want to be in the 21st century, take these successful young people of your age as role models and make your future and history from a computer screen or do you want to carry on your fathers’ and grandfathers’ mission of self-destruction over barren land and tribal feuds.

The world has changed. Old powers are crumbling and there are new forces on the march. After being many years in the dustbin of history, China and India are today writing the future history of human civilization. The Arab Gulf Countries are heralding the Arab re-awakening and reclaiming the proverbial glory of the Abbasid and Andalusian ages. The African continent is also experiencing what some people call as the African Renaissance. Africa is awakening to the new global reality. The new opportunities created by the access to the Internet and modern telecommunications technology are empowering people to free themselves from the clutches of poverty. It is you, the youth of Africa that have to lead this new movement of liberation against poverty, ignorance and corrupt regimes.

Youth of my nation, the older generation has let you down. They left you a legacy of shame and disgrace. The ruins of our cities, the refugees of our people everywhere in the world and the destruction of our identity and dignity are a living testimony to the stained heritage they left for you. It is a great burden indeed but the ambition and the vitality of youth can overcome all obstacles. All you need is to shun the past with all its ugliness, claim your future, break all barriers and embrace change. It is you and only you who can starve the tribal fire. Life is beautiful and you can make miracles if you follow your dreams instead of brooding over the broken dreams of the older generation. You are not accountable for the failure of the older generation; you are responsible only for what you do with your own times. Just recall the Quranic Ayah: “Those are a people who have passed away. Theirs is that which they earned, and yours is that which ye earn. And ye will not be asked of what they used to do”. (Al Baqara, 2:134)

Don’t ever be discouraged by the grim reality of our people. Grimness of any nation stays only as long as its youth allows it to stay. You have good examples in history. There are countries that are advanced and prosperous today that have seen worst days than we have in our region. The resilience of the human spirit knows no bounders and once you hit the gutter, the only option you have is to climb up to the top. And this is what you should do to wipe out the tears of your mothers and prove to them that their dreams in you, the dream of any mother for her sons and daughter, will be realized. You should reassure them that the long night would soon end, sing to them with me:

“Dalkaygow wallaahiye
Warwarkiyo waxyeeladu
Cidna lama walaaloo
Qofna weerka dhiilada
Wehel looma siiyoo
Kuma waaro ciilkee;
Waxad wayda haysaba
Waagii dhawaayoo
Walaacani ku haystiyo
Walbahaarku wuu tegi;
Wallee maalin dhow waqal
Weelka loo dareershiyo
War caloosha deeqoo
Gaajada badh wiiqoo
Wadnaha ii qaboojiyo
Weedh aan ku diirsado
Waayeelka hirarkiyo
Ababshaha wardoonkiyo
BBCiidu way werin…” (My poem Walbahaarku wuu tegi, 1999)

Youth of my people; you have the tools of enlightenment to fight the darkness of tribalism. You have the pen, the football, the music and the technology in your possession. Create your own sports and cultural clubs. When the nomads and farmers start their fratricide games, you reply to them by playing games together, reading books together, singing together, dancing together and meeting on Facebook and twitter to reach out to each other. When they battle with guns, clash on the pitch in peaceful, bloodless and friendly games. Prove to them that you would better play, dance, sing and embrace the beauty of life with your maternal cousins and uncles than kill them.

Reject the vulture politicians who live on the nation’s carcass, fossilized academicians with retired ideas who trade in intellectual prostitution and extremist mullahs whose mission in life is to kill everything beautiful so they could thrive on the rotting flesh of their mothers, sisters and daughters whom they killed for nothing more than selling vegetables in the market, breast feeding a child, laughing with a neighboring boy, singing in a wedding or wearing a bra.

Youth of my country, you can start your enlightenment revolution by proclaiming 2011 as the year of the Somali Youth Renaissance; a year that you walk out from the cloak of tribalism to the light of civility and modernization; a year that you see your fellow Somalis as your family members and not your enemies and other people everywhere as your brothers in humanity that you share with them one endangered earth and not as infidels that deserve to burn in hell. You should start your renaissance from yourself. Only when you liberate yourself from the clutches of the petrified medieval ideologies and tribalism and you forge ahead with your future shoulder to shoulder with the youth of the world, only then you can look yourself in the mirror and say: “Yes, I am free, I am my own man or woman”, and only then you can help others to stand up as well.

Shining moments

Luckily you don’t have to start from scratch. There are already some success stories with real heroes. The sheer number of universities the Somali people have established over the last chaotic two decades is a stunning example of our people’s resilience. The fact that Ridwan M. Osman, one of the first graduates of Amoud University, the doyen of Somali universities after the country’s collapse, is now pursuing a graduate course in the prestigious Cambridge University is a story of enormous hope. Dr.Hawa Abdi who along with her daughters have been chosen as the “Women of The Year of 2010,” by Glamour Magazine for their fearless efforts of running a hospital in a lawless country where the mere existence of women let alone saving lives in a battle field is a daily struggle, are exemplary heroes that deserve more than a Nobel Prize. A woman of equal tenacity though working in safer conditions is Dr. Edna Adan who established the first maternity hospital in Hargeisa. Fowzia Haji Adan who pioneered and campaigned for the creation of Hargeisa University is another shining example of how one individual can move a whole community to a good cause.

Ayan Ashour, and yes it always has to be a woman, as the inspiring force behind the creation of the fast spreading Readers’ Clubs in Somaliland including Maskaxmaal in Borama, Timacadde in Gabiley, HRC in Hargeisa, BRC in Berbera, Halkaraan in Burao and Anfac in Erigavo, is a woman whose interest and patronage of the Somali literature and music is comparable to what Madame Geoffrin was to the French Enlightenment in the 18th century or to what May Ziadeh and Rose Al Yousef were to the advancement of Arab literature in the 20th century. Not only does Ayan single-handedly organize and hold two major annual Somali cultural festivals in London and Hargeisa, but she also made it ritual of touring all the Reader’s Clubs around the country and attending their book reading sessions. Ayan is a woman who made her mission to keep the Somali culture alive and kicking against the barbaric onslaught being waged by dark forces. In a similar effort, though with less limelight, Maryan Omar Ali, Aryette, has collected, properly documented and archived 9000 songs through her personal effort and money. This is the literary heritage of the Somali people that would otherwise have disappeared into obscurity.

Youth of my people, these are the unsung heroes of our nation that you can keep in the focus. And apart from those outstanding personal stories, you have runaway success stories in the business sector. Isn’t it amazing how a country dubbed by the international media as a failed state has some of the most successful money transfer companies in Africa. How such a failed state managed to have as many airlines as any country in Africa flying to every corner of the country. How the Somali telecommunications companies are one of the best with the cheapest rates in Africa. How the Somali diaspora are despite the stereotyping and cultural stigma following them to every airport have created some of the most booming businesses in East Africa, South Africa, Minnesota and elsewhere. How thousands of second generation Somali-American and Somali-European children have excelled in schools and universities, tenaciously overcoming cultural barriers and the burden of coming from unprivileged refugee underclass. How many of them are educating, integrating and advancing in social and cultural hierarchies, trying like other fellow citizens to follow their dreams of becoming useful, tax-paying citizens. These are stories which are buried under the rubble of our demolished identity; under the hubris of an arrogant media infatuated with a patronizing attitude of nothing good comes out of Africa.

Youth of my people, it is you who have to change this condescending behavior towards our people by contributing positively whereever you are. And this again comes through education, integration and pursuing your rightful dreams. If you are confused about where to contribute back home as you see the Somalia that your fathers knew is no more, I can surely tell you that goodness somewhere is goodness everywhere. So just do it for heaven’s sake no matter where you do it. Does it matter if Dr. Hawa Abdi carries out her humanitarian services in Mogadishu, Kismayo, Dhadhaab or anywhere else in the world as long she saves human lives? Does it matter if Ayan Ashour fulfills her cultural revival passion in Somaliland, UK or elsewhere as long as her aim is to preserve the Somali poetry and music and spread enlightenment among the youth? Does it matter if you volunteer your services to the local community in your suburbs in Minnesota, London, Ottawa or Amsterdam? No, it doesn’t matter. To me goodness anywhere is goodness everywhere and so you should.

All you need is an open mind and to view the world through your own eyes and not through the prism of a tainted inherited culture. One good example about how your entrenched cultural mindset can block your thinking is a story that happened between my son and I. He was about three years old when one day he took some of his toy machines and started building something. Finding him so engrossed, I asked him what he was doing. He said he was trying to come up with a machine that keeps apples fresh all the time and prevents them from rotting. I immediately shot down his idea and told him that only God could do that. Stopping whatever he was doing, he turned to me with a baffled and frustrated look in his face and said: “Then what is the use of being human…” At that moment I realized the damage I did. With my closed mind, I tried to put a culturally tainted lid on my son’s enquiring and open mind. Who knows he might have invented the machine he had in mind. And even if he didn’t he would have at least exercised his mind with freedom and without any cultural barriers blocking his thinking. This is what I never did again. My son taught me a lesson in the power of free thinking. And if you have any doubt just imagine if Zuckerberg and Dorsey would have invented Facebook and Twitter if they had such age-tainted cloaks draped over their vision and looked over their shoulders in every move they made.

Youth of my people, as I conclude this personal appeal which I hope would find its way to your hearts, may I ask you to reflect with me on the words of the following stanza’s which I extracted from a long poem “Miyir Qabow” that I wrote in 1995 to free myself from the clutches of tribalism.

“…Ma dib jiro qabiilow
Qaadhaan ku noolow
Qudde iyo hunguriyow
Dheri qaaxo weynow
Qaddarkii dadkaygow
Qudh aad goyso mooyee
Nin aad qalato mooyee
Hooyo iyo qabkeedood
Kala qaaddo mooyee
Daka kala qaleeyoo
Kala qaybi mooyee
Miyaan reer qormayn iyo
Nabad aad u qaadhiyo
Qorsho iyo wanaag iyo
Kolla qawl macaan iyo
Qabar aan ku seexdiyo
Qurux kaa sugaayaa
***
Ma dib jiro qabiilow
Qaadhaan ku noolow
Muddaan kugu qarwaayoon
Qawlkii Ilaahiyo
Sidii waxad quraan tahay
Qalbigayga laabtiyo
Loox kugu qoraayee
Waxan qiiro weyn iyo
Qori kugu ilaashaba
Markaad qululo hoosiyo
Qodqod dayni weydeed
Qoys ku soo aroortaan
Gartay qiimahaagoon
Sanka kaa qabsadayoon
Xamaantayda qaatee
Waxba dayrka qoobkiyo
Qoorta ha iiga soo lalin
***
Abidkaaba soo qooq
Ninkaad xadhig qalloociyo
Booraan qarsooniyo
Qudhun hoosta kuu yaal
Qooraansi eegmada
Ku qaldayso yeelkii
***
Ani qaaba qowskiyo
Qulubkaad i gelisiyo
Mar haddii quruuxdii
Qaadir iga bogsiiyoon
Maanta miyir qaboobahay
Qabillow udbaha quro
Qummayoy bax oo dhimo
***
Intaa qaaday oo dhigay
Laynkaan u qaydiyo
Qabadsiiyey dawgee
Tixdu saban qad weeyoo
Waygu soo qayootee
Qormo kalena aan dego
***
Ninkii cudur qabiiliyo
Xin qareen dhaqaajee
Qoyskayga mirayeen
Qayd aan ku seexdiyo
Qabaal iiga teginee
Aar inaan u qoystiyo
Qori aan cabbaystiyo
Qummuc iga sugaayow
Qaan kuuma haystoo
Qoro inaan qabiil nacay
***
Ninkii naxali qabiiliyo
Qoonkii awowgii
Qarniyaal horoo tegay
Nin aan qolo wadaagnaa
Qatasha ugu jiidiyo
Qaadhaan fogaadiyo
Ani qabata xoogliyo
Qool ila sugaayow
Anuu qaras gaboodiyo
Wuxu Qaaddirkeen riday
Kaama qaan dhabaayoo
Qoro inaan qabiil nacay
***
Ninkii hayb qabiil iyo
Qudhac baynu wada nahay
Qadra Aabbaheediyo
Inaan dilo Qammaan madar
iigu qaylinaayow
Qoro inaan qabiil nacay
***
Gabadhaan ku qooqiyo
Maryan qaararkeedii
Cadawga iga qariyee
Nin ay quudhsanaysoy
Qolonimo wadaagaan
Qoorta uga geliyow
Qoro inaan qabiil nacay
***
Ninkaan laanta qaadkiyo
Qarjamida wadaagneen
Qaacida iyo heesaha
Qayibo godkeedii
Maalmo kula qayilayow
Saaxiibkaan u qadi jirey
Isna qurubka uu helo
ii qarooci jirey een
Maanta kala qaloonow
Qaan kuuma haystoo
Qoro inaan qabiil nacay
***
Kii qooddi beer iyo
Qindi meel u jeexiyo
Made qorraxdu duubtiyo
Qalax igu dilaayee
Carradaydi qaatow
Qaan kuuma haystoo
Qoro inaan qabiil nacay… (Miyir Qabow, April 21, 1995).
----------------------------------------------------------------------

By Bashir Goth
E-mail: bsogoth@yahoo.com

Haweenka Soomaaliyeed Waa Dheemanka Dalku U Aayey
By Bashir Goth

Nin deeqba haweenle baan ahay
Haddana dafiraaya baan ahay
Dabeecado jaanle baan ahay
***
Darbaal nin ku seexda baan ahay
Haddana ka dillaalayaan ahay
Nin dayn lagu biiliyaan ahay
Dawaro ku xeraada baan ahay
Haddana duhur jiifa baan ahay
***
Duddada nin ka buuqa baan ahay
Darroorrina joojin baan ahay
Duqayda nin caaya baan ahay
Digriiyo ku faana baan ahay
Talana dooyeysan baan ahay
Qudhaan dabanaynin baan ahay
***
Daayeer maryo loo xidhaan ahay
Haddana wax dacaayadshaan ahay
***

Cutubkan oo ku jiray gabaygaygii Soomaali Dafuufan Baan Ahay (1999) ayaan xusuustay markaan arkay deeqda ku dayashada mudan ee ay haweenka ka soo jeeda Awdal/Salal ee deggan dalka Ingiiriisku ay ku taageereen dhismaha jidka Boorama-Dilla ee hormoodka u yahay ururka ASARDA.

Ma aha mid curad ah oo waan uga baranay in haweenku ay wanaagga iyo samafalka u dabacsan yihiin, in ay dhisaan wixii rag dumiyey, fuliyaan hawshii rag ka seexday, oo ay hawl u heelanaadaan inta raggu hadal iyo huuhaa ku foogan yihiin.

Waxa dhab ah in deeqda cududa leh ee haweenka Awdal/Salal ay ku bixiyeen saacdo yar gudahood ay ragga ku qaadan lahayd muddo aad u dheer haddiiba ay huraan in ay wax bixiyaan.

Balaayo kasta oo dhacdaa waxay is beddel ku keentaa aragtida qofka, waxay u dillaacisaa indho cusub oo uu wax ku qiimeeyo. Taasi waxay dhaxalsiisaa in uu barto qiimaha runta ah ee wax walba leeyahay. Waxa ka mid ah in wax uu qofku markii hore qiimayn jiray uu ogaado in aanu qiimo buuran lahayn, wax uu indhaha ka lalin jirayna uu arko in ay yihiin jawharad aan qiimaheeda la malayn karayn oo ka qarsoonayd.

Haddaba waxa hubaal ah in balaayada Soomaali ku habsatay waxyaabaha laga bartay ay tahay qiimaha iyo doorka udub dhexaadka ah ee ay haweenk ku leeyihiin bulshada dhexdeeda. Waxa jirtay maalin uu Abwaan Xasan Sheekh Muumin ka hadlayey madal qaadhaan loogu ururinayey Jaamacadda Camuud magaalada Boorama uu sheegay in dadku markii ay balaayo dhacdo ay ka naxaan iyaga oo eegaya dhinaca dhibtda iyo dhiiladda. “Aniguse maanta waxan leeyahay” ayuu yidhi: “Balaayoy Mahadsanid. Maxaa yeelay dadka reer Awdal maanta jaamacad kuma ay fikireen haddii aanay balaayo dhicin.”

Waxa kale oo isla maalmahaa hadal kaa la mid ah yidhi Suldaan Yuusuf Aw Muuse Gasle isaga oo la hadlaya weftigii taakulada Jaamacadda Camuud oo uu kula kulmay tuulada Jaarraa Horato. Markii uu jalleecay in xubnaha weftiga ay ka mid yihiin dhalliyaradii dalka wax u baratay oo intii ay dugsiyada ka baxeen dabadeed aan dib loo arag ee Xamar iyo dhul fog u qadhaabsi tegey, ayaa waxa hadaladii uu madashaa ka yidhi ka mid aha: “ Horta maanta Ilaahay baa mahad leh. Idinkase wax mahad ah oo aan idiin haynaa ma jirto. Maxaa yeelay ciiddii aad wax ku barateen ayaad ka dhoofteen oo aad dib u soo eegi weydeen. Ciiddii ayaad ma dhalays ka dhigteen. Haddaba maanta markii Xamar dhibaato ka dhacday ee aad soo guryo hoyateen ayaad wax qabanaysaan. Markaa waxan leehayay Ilaaha meelihii aad ku dhuumanayseen idina soo saaray ee ciiddii idinku soo celiyey ayaa Mahad leh.”

Labadaa hadal ee xikmadda lihi waxay la cudud yihiin hadal aad uga dambeeyey oo uu yidhi ninkii Madaxweyne Obama u ahaa Horjoogihiisa Aqalka Cad (The former White House Chief of Staff) Rahm Emanuel , hadalkaas oo ahaa: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste, and what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you didn’t think you could do before.” (Qofna ma jecla in uu dhibaato xoogle oo soo martay khasaariyo, waxan uga jeedaa waa fursad aad u heshay in aad fuliso waxyaabo aad markii hore moodaysay in aanad fulin karayn.)

Hadaladaasi waxay inna tusayaan in macdanta fiican ee qofku soo bixi karto kolka uu balaayo la kulmo. Carabtu waxay tidhaahdaa marka cuudka la shido ayaa udgoonkiisa la ogaadaa.

Waxa hubaal ah in marka nabadda iyo barwaaqada lagu jiro ay dadku is dhigtaan oo aan wax badan la qabsan, balaayaduse ay dardar geliso qofka awooddiihiisa iyo rabitaankiisa si uu balaayada uga gudbo oo uu guryo samo u gaadho. Gabadhii Maraykanka ahayd ee la odhan jiray Helen Keller oo ahayd gabadh carruurnimo ku weyday aragga iyo maqalkaba dabadeedna rabitaankeeda iyo hadhiwaa la’aanteeda awgeed ku guulaystay in ay tacliin barato oo weliba ay buugag badan qorto waxay tidhi:

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” (Dhaladka qofka laguma kobcin karo raaxo iyo degnaansho. Sida keliya ee lagu soofayn karo nafta, himiladana kor loogu qaadi karo, guulna lagu gaadhi karaa waa iyada oo qofku dhibaato ku laylyamo.”

Markaa hawsha uu qofku u galo sidii uu dhibaatada uga bixi lahaa ayaa keentaa in uu helo sirta horumarka nolosha sida aan ka dhuuxi karno hadalka uu yidhi Abwaankii reer Swistzerland ee la odhan jiray Henri-Frederic Amiel qarnigii 19aad: “You desire to know the heart of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering.”(Saaxiibkayow, miyaad rabtaa in aad ogaato sirta nolosha? Waxay ku ku jirtaa weedh keliya: ka faa’iidayso dhibaatada.”

Haddaba waxa runtii caddaadatay in dhibta iyo balaayooyinka ku habsaday Soomaali meel kastaba ha joogtee ay soo faqday oo banaanka soo dhigtay run in badan inaga maqnayd ama laga indhola’aa oo ah in haweenka Soomaaliyeed ay yihiin dheemanka dalka iyo dadkuba u aayey.

In kasta oo waxa maqaalkan igu dhaliyey ay ahayd kaalinta wacan ee haweenka Awdal/Salal ee deggan dalka Ingiriisku ay ka galeen dhismaha jidka Boorama-Dilla, waxan jecelahay in aan xuso in haweenka Soomaaliyeed ay yihiin kuwa ay dhibta ugu weyni ka soo gaadhay balaayooyinka dhacay, sidaa awgeed ay taasi keentay in ay ka gilgishaan oo inta ay raggu dilka iyo burburka wadaan ay iyagu geedka nolosha adkeeyaan oo ay carruurtooda tusaan in ay ay dhibta ka soo bixi karto nolol qurux badan sida foosha xanuunka kulul ee hooyada ay uga soo baxdo nolol qurux badan.

In aan xuso hawlaha haweenka Soomaaliyeed qabteen waxay u baahnaysaa qoraal intan ka dheer iyo waqti badan, laakiin waxa marag ma doon ah in ay laf-dhabar ka yihiin wax kasta oo horumar ah oo meel kasta laga sameeyey. Jaamacadaha, Cusbitaalada, xarumaha agoomaha, jidadka iyo gurmadka aafooyinka intaba waxa si cad uga muuqda doorka lama illoobaanka ah ee haweenku ku leeyihiin. Intaa waxa weliba u dheer in haweenka dalka jooga ay yihiin kuwa had iyo jeer u xaydan sidii ay u soo kasban lahaayeen quud maalmeedka ubadkooga, kuwa dibadda joogaana intooda badani ay keligood carruutooda koriyaan.

Iyadoo ay sidaa tahay ayaa waxa la yaab leh in kuwa xaaraan quutayaalka ah ee qoriga la cararaya meelaha dagaalku ka socodo waxa ugu horreeya ee ay noloshooda iyo xuquuqdooda ku tuntaan ay tahay haweenka. Ujeedadooduna waxa weeyi iyaga oo og sida keliya ee ay nolosha dadka ku joojin karaan oo dadku isku dhiibi karaa in ay tahay in ay haweenka jidhkooga googooyaan, banaanada ku toogtaan, inta nolol ku hadhana hawada iyo qoraxda u diidaan oo iyaga iyo ubadkoogaba neefta ku dhejiyaan.

Waxa kale oo xusid mudan oo dad badani aanu aad u ogeyn in gabdhaha Soomaaliyeed ee ku nool wadamada Gacanka Carabta ay yihiin kuwa keliya ee ay ku tiirsantahay nolosha reerahoodu. Gabdhahaa oo u badan kalkaaliyeyaal cusbitaalada ka shaqeeya ayaa noloshoodii iyo mustaqbalkoodii u huray sidii ay waalidkood iyo walaahood u daryeeli lahaayeen iyaga oo weliba ku jira duruufo adag oo aad uga duwan kuwa ay ku nool yihiin haweenka jooga dalalka reer galbeedku.

Waxan qormadan ku soo xidhayaa in aan sida odayaasha aan hadalkooda cuskaday aan u hadlo oo aan idhaahdo: Balaayooy mahadsanid mar haddii aad na bartay qiimaha haweenkayaga. Waxase arrinkan iiga horreeyey oo waa hore arkay Jaamac Ducaale oo ahaa gabayaa caan ku ahaa degmooyinka Wajaale iyo Dilla oo gabadh uu dhalay oo la odhan jiray Bidhiidho ay wiilashiisii oo dhan uga fiicanaatay. Jaamac arrinkaa hadalhayn buu ka reebay oo wuxu yidhi: “Maalin baan goblami gaadhay, oo waa maalinta inanta Bidhiidho wiil iga noqon gaadhay”. Markaa aniguna waxan leeyahay Soomaalidu maalinta ay goblami doontaa waa maalinta haween Soomaaliyeed la waayo.

Nin deeqba haweenle baan ahay
Haddana dafiraaya baan ahay
Dabeecado jaanle baan ahay…

By Bashir Goth, Email: bsogoth@yahoo.com