Yaya Sillah

Thoughts on marriage and society


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There is no room for slavery in modern societies.

Hi everyone. Today my discussion will purely focus on the inhumane treatment of black Africans at the hands of Arab Libyans. I have to admit that whenever I am dealing with subjects such as this, if I fail to echo Hon. Louis Farrakhan or Mr. Malcolm X surely I won’t be able to make any relevant points at all. However, even though I am extremely heartbroken by the abhorrent slavery in Libya, I will try not to be compulsive in my language, rather for now I will use diplomatic vocabulary. Like my comrades, I am equally horrified by the shocking pictures emerging from Libya that are circulating on social media concerning forceful slavery of African migrants in labour camps across the country. The evil behind such barbaric acts by North African Arabs does not surprise me because the culture of impunity is supreme in such puritanical societies.

I struggled for a while but I cannot find any better words than this: what puzzles me the most is the culture of silence by religious scholars in North Africa and the Middle East who often silently indorse immoral attitudes toward black people and minorities in the region. It is really shameful and disgraceful. In addition to this, in the pages of many books authored by scholars of Arabia and their intellectual commentators you will find distorted versions of religious texts written to justify such puritanical concepts which are the fruits of slavery and social segregation, are still profoundly deep rooted in the wider culture of Arab world.

Relatively recently, the OIC, Arab league, EU, AU, and other major international human rights organisations including the Gambia, were robust in their condemnation of a suspected Houthi insurgency missile attack from Yemen against the capital city of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh where there were no casualties. Although we all knew deep down in our souls that, in politics there are no ethical foreign policies by any nations but, by the virtues of humanity including our moral obligations. Apart from the Gambia, I believe the EU, AU, OIC, Arab league, and other international organisation were slow to acknowledge the serious abuses that have taken place in Libya since the overthrow of Gaddafi.

According to Anti-Slavery International, which is the oldest human rights organisation in the world,  more than 46 million people are still kept as slaves in one shape or form. Sadly, the majority of those caught up in these modern-day conditions are either African or people of a dark complexion. I ought to ask the following question, “why less than one hundred years since the evil of the holocaust  robust international intervention has effectively prevented another holocaust from happening to the Jewish people. But “shockingly” for more than two hundred years, since the horrors of trans-Atlantic slavery why are similar preventative measures still failing to protect black people from the repetition of slavery particularly in Arab countries?”

Of course, I know there are no easy solutions to tackling cultures of discrimination and segregation which are the main causes ofslavery, but in my opinion, robust international intervention would effectively reduce the suffering and inhumane treatment of people perceived to be inferior and minorities who are usually the victims of slavery.

I will suggest the following to African governments: you ought to protect your citizens from discrimination and segregation at any cost and empower them to realise their potential in their native countries.
And for now, my message for Africa’s youth: understand that, you are not inferior to anyone, and you are not a slave to anyone except God. Rise up to the challenges and be the Moses of your time to free your fellow brothers and sisters from slavery across the world. Use all the peaceful means necessary. Enough is enough!
It is the time to emulate the actions of our prophet Muhammed peace be upon him. He and his companions have emancipated more than 39,370 slaves during their lifetime in Arabia.

Please understand that, all men are created equal you are not inferior to anyone and you are not slaves to anybody. Period.
Yaya Sillah

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lets maintain peace in the Gambia

We must not let the spirit of national unity to be hindered by the actions of few political agitators!
Dear editor, can you please kindly give me a space in your widely read news paper, to express the following concerns in relation to events taking place in our dear mother land” the Gambia”   Following  the country successfully won the wrestling with over 22 years of dictatorship, the smiling coast of Africa must not let crisis engulf this glorious victory. Therefore, the last thing we need in that country is a “frequent civil disobedience”. I was absolutely baffle however, not surprises by the recent waves of violence tendency which surfaced from April this year after NAM’s election in the Gambia. My fellow citizens, if you could still recall; civil disobedience which had erupted in Foni Sibanor, and URR such similar events had recently repeated in Kombou Farratou, and Foni Kanilai. Why all of sudden, a societies always known for its tolerance towards everything and anything including the culture of peaceful coexisting between tribes living side by side  together for many centuries why now risking all that to replace with uncertainty at all aspect?
Without any excuse; why are we letting political intolerance, religious intolerance, tribalism rhetoric’s including hates, and vengeances from the past slowly engulfing this wonderful mother land particularly the recent negative tribal rhetoric circulating in the social media between Gambians communities living Diaspora; Why…why…why?  As patriotic citizens of one nation; why can’t we come together as one massive force of strength, at least for the sake of the Gambia to say enough is enough to political intolerance, religious misunderstanding and wipe-out hate which is rapidly consuming the minds of our civil society?  In the book which I recently published title” How to Build the Gambia” I had stated some clear guidelines of how the government in collaboration with civil society shall do to tackle these attitudes from our society immediately. This includes; dialogue in the new political dispensation, engage community leaders to national civic education scheme as well as tough actions against those who want compromise peace and stability in the country.
A country where most people’s still struggle to understand the true meaning of democracy, freedom, and liberty; allowing frequent public demonstration taking place in such society could lead to many loses of lives and properties. The poor country like Gambia cannot afford to risk destruction of what had been built from the past fifty years after she gained independent from the British colony. One innocent life of one Gambian is equal to lives of whole Gambian, its only one Gambia, one nation, one flag, one people. As good citizens of this nation we must jealously safeguard peace and stability which the nation is always known about. We should not let the interest for certain individuals to destroy the national unity which gave our nation the title of “smiling coast of Africa”. Unfortunately; a society which is full of people’s with copycats attitudes, in my view for such society, the government should order the citizens to cease from all forms of public demonstration with immediate effect until  each citizen had fully understand the true meaning of freedom and liberty. In this new political dispensation; anyone who wish to express their view trough the intention of public demonstration shall go through their local representatives or direct all their concerns to the government trough the ministry of information in writing form to address those issues.
In conclusion; Gambians living in Diaspora have moral obligation to ensure peace is always prevail back home in the Gambia. Donald Trump white House pulse the UK Brexit had confirmed theory of the old rhetoric” there is no place like home”. No matter what; our spirits of national unity and reconciliation from the past misunderstanding must continue with no hindrance. It’s the common interest which we must strive to achieve; not just for today but for our collective future generations to come.