by Muuse Yuusuf
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Dr. Hafsa A. Mohamed, graduate from medical school in Mogadishu, examines a child that she delivered by a
caesarean section in the MSF clinic in Mareerey, (an appropriate attribute to students killed in Mogadishu) |
The suicide bombing that was carried out at Shamo hotel in Mogadishu has been widely condemned by peace loving people in Somalia and throughout the world. It is not only families and friends of the victims who feel the pain and are mourning for the death of their beloved ones. The shock of this massacre has been reverberating across the world from Nairobi to New York since the tragedy. International organisations, governments, human rights organisations and ordinary people have condemned this barbaric action, as they have been asking the legitimate and big question: who could have carried out such an act of cruelty?
The question that immediately comes to my mind is: what is all the fuss about this violent act in Mogadishu and what makes it different? Why has it attracted an unprecedented public outcry? This is because, as we know, for the last 20 years or so, Somalia, particularly Mogadishu had been a place for unforgivable atrocities and human sufferings. In case you have forgotten, remember those days in 2007 during the Ethiopian occupation and the atrocities that had been committed. For example, children and their teachers at a Quranic school slaughtered, and Sheiks in holy places killed by the Ethiopian forces. Or teenagers accused of spying whose throats were slit by Al-Shabab, and how Al-Shabaab paraded that act on TV screens.
Well this time the difference is that the action was:
First of all carried out by a lone suicide bomber disguised as a woman dressed in Burkah, and by this definition it is the first of its kind committed on a Somali soil. And this makes it terrifying because this demonstrates how far people with evil intents would go to execute their brutal acts in order to achieve their twisted ideologies or political aims.
Secondly, and this is the most important thing, the act was executed in a special day, in which parents and their friends were celebrating their children’s hard work. Believe it or not, those students had been dodging bullets and indiscriminate shelling and bombs for the last few years in order to achieve their dreams of becoming doctors to save a human life. Their parents worked very hard in order to support their children financially. Unfortunately, parents and their children’s aspiration had been denied and their lives cut short by the action of a ruthless individual.
Thirdly, no one or organisation has yet to claim responsibility for that evil act, and because of its barbarity even the usual suspects denied of any involvement in it. This seems calculated acts of political intrigue and conspiracy intended to create an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust in all of us so that no one knows who to trust and turn to. So as questions are being asked and as wild speculations are rife, let me share with you some soul-searching questions that most people may now be asking themselves:
Who is the suicide bomber?
- A deranged and crazed loner who was acting on his own and was determined to kill others no matter who they were?
- A teenager who was manipulated by terrorists in believing that he would go to paradise by murdering innocent people, so that terrorists can gain their political aims in Somalia?
- Foreign secret services and their agents who are prepared to do whatever they can to disrupt the peace process hence creating an environment not conducive to a lasting peaceful solution?
- A person who was acting out of revenge because his old friends, who were at the graduation ceremony, had betrayed him before and because of their actions and malicious intentions his family were murdered?
- A political assassination, masterminded by a powerful grudge-holding politician, warlord or Sheikh, aimed at a minister at the meeting but the plant went wrong, claiming the lives of innocent people?
- And whoever was behind the bombing, why do they hate education so much? Are they those who would not allow girls to go to school, Taliban type?
We may never know the answer to the above questions and therefore the identity of those who carried out or were behind that cruel action will probably remain hidden in the sand forever. But what we need to do is: organise pubic demonstrations, as some organisations are already doing in London and other cities, in order to express our revulsion and anger over these kinds of barbaric acts. We must stand together united behind our beautiful blue coloured flag. Believe it or not the only people who so far dared express their anger publicly are those in Mogadishu who burned the Al-Shabab flag that they blame for the massacre.
And finally, we should not only support educational institutions in Somalia but we must also educate our children of the dangers of extremism and terrorism.
Long Live Somalia.
Muuse Yuusuf
[email protected]