Sikhs are NOT Hindus, OK?

[Onyango Oloo]

demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com/2014/02/sikhs-are-not-hindus-ok.html

[OtishOtish]

A Bishop Kegohi has "helpfully" explained that "Kisumu is a Christian town":

www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000104193&story_title=former-pm-raila-odinga-heckled-in-kisumu&pageNo=2

Wow. Never knew that. I better not visit any time soon ...

Ignorance + Stupidity + Stones. Never a good combination.

[omundustrong]

Great piece OO,informative too,it is this kind of religious intolerance that is a recipe for conflicts that are currently being experienced at the Coast.The Sikh community,if my memory serves me right have done alot of community projects in this country that needs to be lauded.The last thing you want to see is a group of youths drunk on whatever substance try to justify hooliganism.

[kamalet]

The issue in Kisumu was not about Sikhs or Hindus and their god whatever he is perceived to be. The issue is simple one of religious insensitivity.

I highly doubt a statue of Jesus and Mary in the middle of Eastleigh or in Lamu would go down very well with the locals.

Insensitive actions tend to lead to unreasonable reactions as was the case in Kisumu. In a town that has many christians and muslims none of whom apart from their places of worship has put up some religious statue, it was inevitable that the actions of a minority religious group would lead to the reaction that we saw in Kisumu. Nothing stops the sikhs from putting up their religious symbols inside and around their temples, nothing should stop the sikhs from having processions in the town marking important dates in their religion such as Vaisakhi - the point here being they are exercising their constitution right to freedom of worship.

So address the cause and you never have to worry about the result.

And just in case you were wondering Oloo, Protestants and Catholics are all christian....but they profess their faith in very different ways. That is why you would be lynched if you attempted to bring in the statue of Holy Mary into the St. Andrews Church, Nairobi!

[Onyango Oloo]

Comments from the blog:

3 comments:

Mbugua said...

I didn't realise how much damage those so called "evangelists" have done until I saw the events in KSM. Kweli the minds have been throughly washed of any independent thought. Intolerance is the way now and they do it while shouting hallelujah.

MSA or KSM all those youths need mental emancipation

2:09 AM
Khalsa Lakhvir-SINGH said...

thank you for your timely rejoinder on this burning issue. we much appreciate, brother! also visit our kenyankalasingha page to see how much more we have in common as kenyans. www.fb.com/feelthekenyaninyou
8:18 AM

Anonymous said...

This a very good message, but how do we make sure that such messages reach the very grass root people who are always, one way or another, the victims of the system?

[Onyango Oloo]

I have been commenting on racism for years:

groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/africa-oped/conversations/messages/7763




Another Rejoinder to a Kenyan Racist Online
(7763)


Onyango Oloo
Feb 1 4:14 PM
Return-Path: <oloo_wa_canada@...>
X-Sender: oloo_wa_canada@...
X-Apparently-To: [e-mail]

Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2004 21:14:54 -0000
To: [e-mail]

On the So Called "Indians" of Kenya: Another Rejoinder to The Young
Kenyan Racist Called "Mboya Rusinga"

An Anti-Racist Intervention from Onyango Oloo


(Note to those just joining this exchange. This is the latest in a series of retorts and rejoinders sparked off by a statement where
Onyango Oloo called for all Kenyans to stand up for the rights of our compatriots with so called `Indian Roots". You can follow the whole
debate by going to the following link on the Mashada discussion forum:

www.mashada.com/forums/index.php?=show_topic&forum=22&topic_id=37147&mode=full

First things first, Kenyans of South Asian heritage are NOT "Indians".

You remind me of white Canadian racists who suddenly discovered that disgraced star athlete Ben Johnson was "Jamaican" when he was
caught using banned drugs at the 1988 Olympics.

Secondly, I have not seen you respond to the FACTS, as opposed to your racist drivel that I cited in my first rejoinder to you. It is
easy to assert that so called "Indians" control the Kenyan economy. It is more difficult to demonstrate that with facts and figures, is it not?

Just in case it has slipped your mind, here is what I wrote and I want you to discount a single statement of fact therein:

kenya.rcbowen.com/talk/index.cgi?action=Article&article=360660

Thirdly, I have interacted with Kenyans of South Asian heritage ALL my life. They have been my friends, my neighbours my schoolmates, my
political comrades, and in one case, my in laws.

I could give you more anecdotes about racist incidents involving individual Kenyans of South Asian descent that could fill a book.
They are not saints, but human beings with foibles, with bad apples and good guys among them. In fact lumping all Kenyans of South Asian
descent into that one little racist basket labeled `Indians" is not only scientifically inaccurate but racist because we are talking
about an agglomeration of many diverse communities, variegated by(Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim) language, regional origins, ethnicity, skin colour, class, gender, age, etc.

In my opinion, Mr. Mboya Rusinga, you have a very superficial and limited understanding of racism, both of the individual as well as
the systemic variety and this is nowhere more apparent than in your contention that Oloo's "masters" are the so called "Indians"
who "control" the Kenyan economy- something which is complete balderdash.

Let me pause from dissecting your ignorance and instead share with you my perspectives on racism.

Please read this excerpt from a document I prepared in January 2000
for the Canadian Labour Congress:

3. What Is Racism?

Many people in Canada consider "racism" a very "loaded" word. It is indeed, a word that evokes very strong emotional reactions whenever
it is used.

Yet, often, different people use the term to mean different things at different times.

There are even those who argue that "everybody" is a "racist" because "all" communities have "stereotypes and prejudices" that they
use to discriminate against other people from cultures other than their own.

The above approach has proved to be particularly harmful when it comes to conducting anti-racism educational campaigns because it
seems to imply that "everybody" is to blame and therefore there is nobody to hold accountable.

Then there are those who say that "racism" is an individual thing that happens to some people and not to others.

For some, "racism" is about "hurtful comments" made by "ignorant xenophobes".

What is racism?

On 27 November 1978 participants of a general conference of UNESCO held in Paris, France adopted a Declaration on Race and Racial
Prejudice in which they said among other things:


"... Racism includes racist ideologies, prejudiced attitudes,
discriminatory behaviors, structural arrangements and
institutionalized practices resulting in racial inequality as well as
the fallacious notion that discriminatory relations between groups
are morally and scientifically justifiable; it is reflected in
discriminatory provisions in legislation or regulations and
discriminatory practices as well as anti-social beliefs and acts; it
hinders the development of its victims, perverts those who practice
it, divides nations internally, impedes international co-operation
and gives rise to political tensions between peoples; it is contrary
to the fundamental principles of international law and consequently,
seriously disturbs international peace and security… Racial
prejudice, historically linked with inequalities in power, reinforced
by economic and social differences between individuals and groups,
and still seeking today to justify such inequalities, is totally
without justification. (UNESCO, 1978).

We must emphasize that racism is not a synonym for ethnic
prejudice. "Race" is a social construct as we shall soon see in the
next section. Racial oppression takes place where presumed people
differently based on their supposed "differences".

Within the modern monopoly capitalist state, racism, far from being
an isolated weapon of selected social psychopaths is on the contrary,
an integral part of how capitalism works on a day to day basis.

B.Singh Bolaria and Peter S. Li in their seminal 1988 work, "Racial
Oppression in Canada" observe:

"…we consider race as a social construct produced and maintained by
differential power between a dominant group and a subordinate group.
How race is defined and what rules of accommodation are established
depend largely on the initial contact between the two groups, and not
how far apart they are culturally. Such contact is not a historical
accident... Two racial groups do not just happen to meet and fight
over scarce resources. There are concrete historical conditions that
explain why populations of people came into contact, as the expansion
of the capitalist system in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
drove Europeans to expand into the world market for labour and
resources, and in doing so, impinged upon many indigenous peoples and
territories. Initial contacts are usually the subordinate group for
its labour potential. Thus the term "race" and its concomitant
concept "racial oppression" are consequences of racial encounters
predicated by the exploitation of labour and resources. In our
category. The focus here is on the institutional framework within
which groups come to be identified as racial and social interactions
are organized accordingly.…"

And they see a clear link between racism and the economic relations in a given society:

..Racial oppression has a number of dimensions, ranging from
physical coercion to ideological control. These levels of oppression
are means to control the subordinate group, with the ultimate purpose
being to exploit its labour power, or remove its sovereignty from
land and resources; racial categorization would be meaningless had it
not been for the exploitative value it brought about..."

Shortly we will see how racial oppression has played itself out in Canada and examine the impact it has had on the unity and strength of
the Canadian working class movement.

4.Does Racism Exist In Canada?

Canadians are often fond of distinguishing themselves from our neighbour to the south. We often assert, with considerable
satisfaction, that we are not Americans. We don't have their decaying inner cities. We have a superior health system. We don't have the
same horrendous crime levels.

And thank God, we often exclaim, being in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg and Halifax is not the same as living dangerously
in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Houston or New Orleans.

One of the most cited statements is to the effect that at least in Canada you will not normally see hooded racists from the Ku Klux Klan
swaggering in down the street on their way from a cross burning.

All these smug assertions have given rise to serious doubts about racism actually exists and how it is impacting on Canadians.

Canadians are supposed to be the happiest people in the world. Toronto, we are told, is the most multi-cultural city in the world.

Surely racism can not exist in this diverse, supposedly tolerant society?

Sadly, the reality tells us a different story.

Racism is alive and kicking throughout Canadian society.

Racism permeates every aspect of Canadian life.

It is there in the economy.

You can see it in the country's political life.

Even the hallowed "multi-cultural society" is a thin facade that hides the ugly underbelly of systemic discrimination against the
communities of colour in Canada.

It is true that Canada has been largely spared some of the worst excesses of far-right fascist and racist activity (even though such
groups are to be found all over the land of the Maple Leaf). We are fortunate that we do not have endure searing television images
featuring the bruised bodies of black people being dragged behind trucks by unrepentant white supremacists.

But this is precisely why Canadians are in a sense, in a more precarious situation when it comes to confronting racism in this
country.

We are in denial. We are complacent. We think it is a minor problem.

It is time we all woke up to the ugly reality of racism in Canada.

Racism saps at the energy and unity of Canada's working people.

Racism perpetuates the exploitation of Canadian workers from the communities of colour.

Racism helps to increase the super-profits of the corporate forces in Canadian society who use it as a tool to expropriate the surplus
value produced by the labour power of Canada's workers, undermine the trade union movement in this country and continue the inhuman
stampede towards globalization, privatization and retrenchment around the world.

Racism in Canada is not new. It has a history. In fact, some people have argued that the history of racism in this country is intertwined
with the very complex story of Canada itself.

What is the history of racism in Canada...

TRUNCATED

From `The Political Economy of Racism in Canada' Onyango Oloo,
Toronto, January 2000.

Mboya, I really do not think I need to take any lesson from you on racism, especially internalized racism to which I will return in a
moment, explaining why it is YOU, Mboya who suffers from that malady.

Does racism exist in Kenya?

Of course it does.

How does it manifest itself?

If we are honest, we will acknowledge that we are firmly anchored to the world capitalist system. Imperialism (another name for the global
domination of capital) has ALWAYS RELIED ON RACISM to perpetuate its rule. From the early days of primitive accumulation centuries back –the rapacious Columbine raids; the thuggery, violence and trauma of the transatlantic slave trade; the creation of slave owning colonies in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean and the Americas to the maturation of industrial capitalism leading to mad quest for overseas empires such as the much discussed Scramble for Africa, we have seen over and over again how imperialism and capitalism has used race and racism to pursue their interests.

The so called "civilizing mission" was predicated on the racist social Darwinist precepts of White Supremacy which gave the their White Burden; it was important for the Germans, the British, the French, the Italians, the Belgians etc to SUBHUMANIZE Third World people in order to JUSTIFY their INHUMAN atrocities and obscenities that they unleashed in Africa, the Middle East, the Indian sub continent and all over Asia.

Thus the consolidation of "Colour Bar" in Kenya codified into law, discriminatory practices that allowed the white settlers to grab
Kenyan land and treat Black Africans as savages.

The same racism, Mr. Mboya, is WHAT BROUGHT "INDIANS" to Kenya. There had always been contact between people at the Coast and traders from
India, but it was the British colonial conquest that brought in so called "Indian" people into large numbers.

I am sure you can remember how the Kenya- Uganda railway was built.
It was built with IMPORTED labour from the Indian subcontinent.

In the textbooks in primary school and high school these workers were referred to as "coolies". Only a modern day ignoramus does not know how OFFENSIVE this racist pejorative is. And do you know how these Indian immigrant workers ended up in Kenya?

It was through the Indentured Labour system. Do you know what that is?

Well, take a look at these links:

pstalker.com/migration/mg_history_2.htm

In other words, Mr. Mboya, these so called "coolies" were barely distinguished from SLAVES!
So let us ask ourselves who were the REAL RACISTS who controlled the economy who brought in these VIRTUAL SLAVES to the Kenyan economy?

The question is rhetorical because the answer is more than obvious.

Upon their arrival, did these immigrant workers from India take over the Kenyan economy?

Let us look at this LAUGHABLE IDIOCY through a historical prism.

Michael Chege, one of Kenya's most well known political scientists, looked at the issue way back in 1998:

faculty.vassar.edu/tilongma/chege.html


And see how the so called CONTROLLERS of the Kenyan economy survive in America and elsewhere as IMMIGRANT WORKERS:

www.rudyfoto.com/IndiansofAfrica.html


Here is some info on East African Sikhs who migrated for a second time to the UK:

www.sscnet.ucla.edu/issr/paper/issr55.pdf


Here is an extensive bibliography on this complex subject:

coombs.anu.edu.au/Biblio/biblio_sasiadiaspora.html

Kenyans of South Asian heritage like Zarina Patel have acknowledged the prejudice and bigotry that exists within the various communities
who are lumped together as Wahindi.


And in another very honest treatise that I have stashed somewhere in my hard drive, a Canadian of Kenyan (and South Asian) origins has frankly detailed the racist attitudes within HIS OWN FAMILY in Nairobi and elsewhere.

So nobody is debating the existence or prevalence of these warped bigoted anti-African attitudes within sections of the so called
Wahindi.

I did my A levels at the Aga Khan Kenya Secondary School in Mombasa, an elitist school DOMINATED by the offspring of upper middle class
Kenyans of South Asian heritage. I hardly need to rely on Mboya's second hand anecdotes to validate the concerns of Kenyans who have been outraged by some of the most condescending and prejudiced statements, attitudes and actions that can be discerned among SOME, but NOT ALL of the Wahindi. Together with those prejudiced attitudes, I noticed that on the whole BY AND LARGE, Kenyans of South Asian heritage ARE NO DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THEIR KENYAN COUNTERPARTS. On these online forums where we have these robust exchanges, there is no shortage of ill-informed prejudice by Gikuyus against Luos, Luos against Gikuyus, Wapwani against Wabara, Christians against Muslims, Kambas against Kales, Luhyias against Kisiis, and all the permutations and combinations in between. Because I do not want to be off topic I AM NOT EVEN TOUCHING ON THE EQUALY DESPICABLE ATTITUDES BY A LARGE CHUNK OF KENYANS AGAINST ANOTHER VISIBLE MINORITY- Ethnic Somalis who are citizens and nationals of Kenya.

We prefer to finger the wrong suspect rather than name the REAL in Kenya.

I notice that Kenyans, especially some of them who are in the United States, worship Uncle Sam and all her economic, cultural, political
and social institutions. I mean these are people who think that Warren Buffett is a GOD and that George W Bush is a political GENIUS; these are people who think that Coca Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Haliburton, Betchel, International Harvester, Enron, Monsanto, Verizon, Sprint, Time Warner and other corporate behemoths are the true engines for growth, not just in America but all over the world as well. These are the same people who praise the US led military forces when they drop bombs that leave thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis dead; these are the people who applaud the NYC cops for shooting innocent immigrants like Diallo dead; these are the nitwits who cheer on the racist mainstream media when they take part in the hi-tech lynching of Michael Jackson; these are the same Kenyans who have swallowed the racist Bell Curve inspires eugenicist canard about the inferiority of their own African American kith and kin; these are the same people who think that the World Bank and the IMF have a point in unleashing their disastrous policies on Southern countries such as Kenya and THESE ARE THE VERY SAME NUT BARS WHO HAVE THE TEMERITY OF CALLING COMMITTED ANTIRACIST IGNORANT NAMES LIKE "internalized racists".

How ignorant do you have to be Mr. Mboya, to believe that middle-class Kenyans of South Asian heritage are the real oppressors of the people?

Where is your outrage against the overt racists in the White House openly pursuing genocidal agendas against people of colour (from Latinos, Latinas and African-Americans in the United States to Asian, Middle East, African and other Third World People?

Where is your outrage against the racists who execute Black children in Texas yet shed crocodile tears for the children they have orphaned with the weapons they supply to their Zionist friends brutalizing Palestinians in the Occupied Territories?

Where is your outrage against the racists who continue to keep Korea divided more than fifty years after they failed to destroy the socialist formations in Korea and Vietnam?

Where is your outrage against corporate boards that will not let a single person of colour join their lily- white WASP ranks? Where are you when the Danny Glovers of this world are left stranded by racist cab drivers in New York? Where are you when the Tiger Woods of this world have to endure collard green jokes on the golf links of America?

Where is your voice when it is needed to demand for the release of the long incarcerated Puerto Rican independenistas? Where is a copy of your letter demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Leonard Peltier? When did you last sign a petition or attend a vigil for Mumia Abu Jamal?

Instead, what I see you doing online is BOASTING of your CIA and FBI contacts and what they can do to undocumented Kenyans living underground in the United Snakes. I see you bragging of how America has GUARANTEED your success. You are ENJOYING the American Dream while millions of people of colour in that same country daily experience the American Nightmare. Good for you, buddy. Here is what Malcolm X had to say on the subject:

"No, I'm not an American. I'm one of the 22 million black people who
are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people
who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy.
So, I'm not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a
patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver -- no, not I. I'm
speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America
through the eyes of the victim. I don't see any American dream; I see
an American nightmare. "(Malcolm X, `The Ballot or the Bullet',
speech delivered, 3, April, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio. Here is a link
to the entire address:

www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/malcolmxballot.htm

Now who actually suffers from the malaise of internalized racism?

Is it Onyango Oloo who continues to call truth to power, exposing the lies of the RACIST US led imperialism and how it subjugates Kenyans in neocolonial slavery even today-

Or is it "Mboya Rusinga" who sings daily paeans to the beauty and progress that Uncle Sam has brought to the whole of humankind?

You call Onyango Oloo an "Indian Lover."

To that charge I plead GUILTY. What and when will my sentence be?

Remember, "Indian Lover" is just another take on "black person Lover" and both of those terms are not employed by people who combat racist and
bigoted attitudes on a daily basis.

Rather, Mboya, by applying the racist epithet, "Indian Lover" to describe the efforts of one Onyango Oloo who is calling for the rights of Kenyans of South Asian heritage to be defended and respected, all you have succeeded in doing is earning a honorary membership within the ranks of Ku Klux Klan. But I am not sure if they allow Black membership these days- despite the efforts of the Dimwit in the White House to bring in Powell, Condoleeza and a few other token minorities to his administration.

To sum up:

The Kenyan economy is NOT dominated by Wahindi, but by international monopoly capital;

There are only 3 Asians within the ranks of the 20 richest Kenyan families;

Kenyans of South Asian heritage are NOT angels-they have ethnic chauvinists just like Luos like you Mboya, Gikuyu tribalists like akina nani, Gusii bigots like Fulani bin Fulani; Islamic Chauvinists like… and Christian Fundamentalists like… in other words, there are no better, but more importantly NO WORSE than any other group of Kenyans. They have their own bad apples.

If you are serious about tackling systemic racism, prejudice and discrimination in Kenyan society, then please equip yourself with a thorough understanding of the political economy of our country, its history and our links with the forces of capitalism.

Showering me with ignorant spittle all in UPPER CAPS will not advance your shallow racist outpourings one iota.

And with that, I say goodbye to this correspondence.

[jakaswanga]

Feb 11, 2014 8:28:01 GMT 3 kamalet said:

The issue in Kisumu was not about Sikhs or Hindus and their god whatever he is perceived to be. The issue is simple one of religious insensitivity.

I highly doubt a statue of Jesus and Mary in the middle of Eastleigh or in Lamu would go down very well with the locals.

Insensitive actions tend to lead to unreasonable reactions as was the case in Kisumu. In a town that has many christians and muslims none of whom apart from their places of worship has put up some religious statue, it was inevitable that the actions of a minority religious group would lead to the reaction that we saw in Kisumu. Nothing stops the sikhs from putting up their religious symbols inside and around their temples, nothing should stop the sikhs from having processions in the town marking important dates in their religion such as Vaisakhi - the point here being they are exercising their constitution right to freedom of worship.

So address the cause and you never have to worry about the result.

And just in case you were wondering Oloo, Protestants and Catholics are all christian....but they profess their faith in very different ways. That is why you would be lynched if you attempted to bring in the statue of Holy Mary into the St. Andrews Church, Nairobi!

I tend to agree with you Kamalet. Religious statues ---Sikhism being a religion which coincides with ethnicity like Judaism—should be confined to the private entities of those religions [church compound, temple compound, synagogue shrine, mosque compound].

Public places I want to reserved for humans ! Yes I am for idolatry in public places! Like the statue of Carey Francis [who was that you ask] at Kenyatta Sportsground in Kisumu; the statue of Dedan Kimathi at Kimathi street Nairobi; the statue of Tom Mboya, or Jomo Kenyatta in their respective streets in Nairobi; the unknown soldier. And hopefully soon, Ojijo Koteko in Kendu-Bay, and Lwanda Magere at Awasi.

But a statue of Mohamed, or the Budha, or Jesus like this Rio de Jeneiro landmark?



on a PUBLIC SQUARE/PLACE?? Then I will ask Karangi and the KDF to do to it what the Talibhan under Mullah Omar did to the Budhas of Bamiyan, 240 km from Kabul.



Never since the Islamic conquest of Egypt in which the Muslims tried to chisel out the Sphinx of Giza, has the world witnessed such a barbaric act of cultural vandalism.

But hey, the issue being avoided in Kisumu, is the poor race relations between Indians and blacks. In 100 years of existing together, these communities have not managed to produce a single interracial wedding!

Sociologically speaking, that is a significant statistic. Apartheid?

NB: There is reason to come up with a good understanding of the increasing militant puritan, fundamentalist tendency in world religions. God's case no appeal, Achebe once joked!

ThAT is why god's people scare me. They are always right.

Actually it was Napoleon of France who ordered his troops to use the nose of the Sphinx for target practice! It is the French, not the Muslims, who vandalised the Sphinx. Next time you catch a French lady twitching her nose at the Talibhan of Afghanistan, remind them of just how primitive the French under the great Napoleon were, destroying the wornder of the world, the Sphinx!

[OtishOtish]

Kamale, "reliable" as usual, writes that

Feb 11, 2014 8:28:01 GMT 3 kamalet said:

I highly doubt a statue of Jesus and Mary in the middle of Eastleigh or in Lamu would go down very well with the locals.

Jesus? Mary? The Hindu or Sikh or Hindu-Sikh "god" didn't look like any "religious" personality I can think of. As it turns out, I have bought a couple of "abstract praying figures" that look very much like that one, the only difference being in the positioning of the hands. What's more, I bought them in Kisumu, not far from where the "Hindu Sikh God" was being stoned. I bought them on the basis that they were "premium & authentic Kisii carvings", but I am now examining them carefully to find out whose gods they are. I may need a microscope.

So address the cause and you never have to worry about the result.

Here you have a point. If religious intolerance can be addressed, we will not have to worry about this sort of thing.

[jakaswanga]

Feb 11, 2014 1:31:31 GMT 3 OtishOtish said:

A Bishop Kegohi has "helpfully" explained that "Kisumu is a Christian town":

www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000104193&story_title=former-pm-raila-odinga-heckled-in-kisumu&pageNo=2

Wow. Never knew that. I better not visit any time soon ...

Ignorance + Stupidity + Stones. Never a good combination.

We have been having some purification rituals. The Legio Maria group organised a very big one which calmed the nerves of the town.

The story goes like this. First you remember the woman who was saved from lynching and a witch-burning ceremony by the police some time back? Folks claimed she was a ''shetani'' and had been caught draining blood from neighbourhood children. Thereafter, a curfew fell over the town, especially on the bodaboda trade. Word was, the woman had left a nest, and the nest hat matured. There were creatures in town in the form of humans; but in the dark as they rode the boda, they turned into ferocious wolves which bit the necks of the rides through.

The Kenya police with their trigger-happy sharp-shooters could not calm nerves. So the Legio Maria priests took charge. With success! But the Legio is a controversial sect as you know. Melkizedek Ondetto has the rank of a Messiah, and that is the same rank as Jesus Christ.
But there is also the new kid in town, Prophet Owuor. And competition will be competition!

Yes, Kisumu is a heavily Christian town. I have attended an evangelical gathering with star canadian priests whose chief message was: burn homos! ---and the crowd roared in affirmation!

[OtishOtish]

Feb 11, 2014 21:42:23 GMT 3 jakaswanga said:

But hey, the issue being avoided in Kisumu, is the poor race relations between Indians and blacks. In 100 years of existing together, these communities have not managed to produce a single interracial wedding!

This poor "race relations" is an issue worth looking at. But I don't put much stock in the inter-racial "where your women at?".  Look around cities and towns in Kenya---Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru, etc. How many marriageable young "Indian-Kenyan" women are there to go around, and how many young "Asian" men are in need? The phenomenon of insularity in such cases is not any different from what would be observed with minorities in just about any part of the world, and the "Indian-Kenyans" in Kenya are actually a very tiny group relative to the size of the country's population.  Events such as the one being discussed are hardly going to encourage the "Indians" to hand over their women to what they see as crazed stoners. (Real stones, not getting stoned, which would actually be preferable.)

Continuing from the last sentence, take a look at the larger tribes in Kenya. Once you get out of places like Nairobi, how much inter-tribal marriage is there to be found? And should we foment inter-tribal hatred, or allow it to thrive,  on that basis? 100 years? In my own lifetime, I can remember a time when a Luo marrying "outside" was considered really bad, and, I imagine, that would be the case with other tribes. A Luhya or a Kisii might have "sneaked" in, but a Luo who married, say, a Kikuyu or a mzungu was definitely "lost". Might as well be dead. 

Today there are increasingly more "inter-tribal" marriages in Kenya.   But what do they amount to?   Look around during elections, when its "our man" and "our people".  Women and children will get burned like firewood, because they are "foreigners who stole our land", and from the other side similar atrocities ...

That the race relations are in poor shape is in no doubt, and it's not just in Kisumu. Part of the problem is actually very simple: envy of economic success. That part could be dealt with by one side not flaunting its success and perhaps giving more and the other side trying harder for its own success. As regards the latter, too often the locals who start businesses quickly proceed to be Mr. Big at the local bars, daily ordering drinks for the house and buying malayas by the dozen. It's not a solid foundation on which business can thrive, and many don't thrive.

A cheap and very effective way in which in inter-racial relations could improved is in daily interactions. During colonial times, there were places with signs stating that "Africans, dogs, and children not allowed". My observation---first-hand, in quite a few Kenyan towns--is that when it comes to their employees and customers, some "Indian-Kenyans" appear to operate on the basis that "Africans, dogs, and children are allowed; but they will be treated like Africans, dogs, and children". That's happening even now in 2014, and the hidden resentment is a good replacement for anyone looking for gunpowder but unable to find it.

Clearly, there are problems on both sides. A great deal of tolerance and get-along attitudes need to be built. Having lived in places*** where I was part of a very tiny minority, I would put the larger part of the burden on the majority; otherwise, the minority, on its part, simply becomes more insular. And on and on it goes, with the majority continually puzzled that "they still won't hand over their women!" ... never mind that some of those asking are wolves (Jakaswanga excluded). A starting good starting point would be some knowledge: it doesn't help when people think that Hindus and Sikhs are just "the same Indian lot", know nothing about their religious beliefs and practices, but have no doubts when they sight a "god" from  .... even when similar "gods" and "idols" are routinely sold just down the street---by the "real" Kenyans and to the "real" Kenyans!  Even on eBay they are routinely sold, with what appears to be great "pride" and "this-is-the-real-Kenyan thing".

A country like Kenya need to work very hard at "tolerance"---tribal, racial, religious, etc. Otherwise all that there exists is a collection of little powder-kegs waiting for a match.

________________________________________________________________________________________
*** Places where it is assumed that Africans do very bizarre things. How does anyone know? Well, just look at them! They are Africans! So it was said ... Perhaps they in mind things like:

www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-131987/why-night-runners-are-seeking-state-recognition

(I think all forms of exercise are good for the health, and no doubt one feels "really free" when running around naked. But kicking door and stones on the roof is definitely bizarre ... many of these people are "good, upright Christians.)

[ebarasi]

This issue just goes to show how intolerance has grown, not only in Kenya but everywhere. As long as we accept an individual or a group as part of the society, then that individual or group has a right to occupy public space. By that I mean, practice their culture, Religion included. Isn't the tolling of the church bells or the the call to prayer from the minaret well beyond the confines of the church or mosque an occupation of public space? The idea of hiding or practicing one's religion in the closet and playing someone else in the public space is an attempt at encouraging hypocrisy to assuage the thirst of ignorance. If religion and culture be the carrier of the norms by which you view the world, by what standard do you view the world when you have shed your glasses when out of the closet?

[OtishOtish]

Feb 12, 2014 0:59:36 GMT 3 ebarasi said:

This issue just goes to show how intolerance has grown, not only in Kenya but everywhere. As long as we accept an individual or a group as part of the society, then that individual or group has a right to occupy public space. By that I mean, practice their culture, Religion included. Isn't the tolling of the church bells or the the call to prayer from the minaret well beyond the confines of the church or mosque an occupation of public space? The idea of hiding or practicing one's religion in the closet and playing someone else in the public space is an attempt at encouraging hypocrisy to assuage the thirst of ignorance. If religion and culture be the carrier of the norms by which you view the world, by what standard do you view the world when you have shed your glasses when out of the closet?

Point.

[nowayhaha]

Feb 12, 2014 0:59:36 GMT 3 ebarasi said:

This issue just goes to show how intolerance has grown, not only in Kenya but everywhere. As long as we accept an individual or a group as part of the society, then that individual or group has a right to occupy public space. By that I mean, practice their culture, Religion included. Isn't the tolling of the church bells or the the call to prayer from the minaret well beyond the confines of the church or mosque an occupation of public space? The idea of hiding or practicing one's religion in the closet and playing someone else in the public space is an attempt at encouraging hypocrisy to assuage the thirst of ignorance. If religion and culture be the carrier of the norms by which you view the world, by what standard do you view the world when you have shed your glasses when out of the closet?