Mixing Oil With Water

Recently I read an article on the web which I found very enlightening. The author, Omar Jabir, in his article titled, "Eritrean Islamists: Focus on the Root Not Branches" (awate.com, august 30,2009), makes an important revelation. He lays down the political imperatives of three Eritrean Islamic Opposition groups [who are either trying to merge or already may have merged] with The Eritrean Democratic Alliance which is an umbrella organization of a number of Eritrean opposition groups. The author advises Islamist groups to accentuate their political agenda by adopting a vision that unites the entire Islamic population in Eritrea. He recommends that the Islamic opposition groups should be better prepared to deal with what he calls "the other partners" - meaning the secular groups under the umbrella of EDA. He, however, does not explain how the the Islamic Opposition will fit into the secular agenda of the EDA. Because when laying down their political imperatives he defines the cornerstone on which these groups are to be formed as follows:

1. Formation and content: there is not a single Eritrean Christian within the base or the leadership in the concerned organizations -not even an atheist

2. The program follows an Islamist school of thought in the organizing and propagating, in its demand of Sharia's in the phase that follows the demise of the current regime

3. The connection with Islamic movements in the region and the world.

From the above perspective one can easily discern that the author's ultimate objective is to create a power block comprising of an exclusive "Islamic political body" that will broker power for Eritrean Muslims after what he calls, "the demise of the current regime". Secondly, his vision also demands for a strong solidarity between the Eritrean Islamic population body and other global Islamic movements.

The above described vision and political framework raises more questions than answers.

(1) How could an "Islamic Body" that subscribes to the ideals of an Islamic State bound by Sharia law, function within a secular constitutional framework?

(2) Wouldn't aspiring to be part and parcel of a global Islamic movement take Eritrea to a political playing field that is more complex and hard to navigate through and would further complicate Eritrea's relationship with secular western and other powers, who more often than not are at variance with the proliferation of faith-based spheres of political influence across the world? Eritrea is on the verge of being classified as a state sponsor of terrorism in spite of the Eritrean government denying any involvement in assisting some radical religious groups in the Horn of Africa and South East Asia (Tamil Tigers). So wouldn't this strategy make Eritrea to be part of a greater global problem and thus distract it from focusing to fight against the effects of famine and economic degradation on its impoverished people.

(3) How will a power block that identifies itself as a pure "Islamic Body" be received by non-Muslim Eritreans? And how will it be possible to apply Sharia laws on Non-Muslims? Or what immunity could be granted to Eritreans including Muslims (who could be an overwhelming majority) whose choice it is to be governed by a secular constitution rather than by religious laws?

These are very important questions because faith-based laws (be it Christian or Islam) are mostly not congruent to the fundamental tenets of democracy. And that's why the ratified Eritrean constitution upholds the separation of state and religion? Secondly, I do not think that the application of the ratified Eritrean Constitution violates or undermines the rights of any group of people of faith because among many fundamental rights it also grants the right of a citizen to worship in a faith of his/her choice. That is probably why countries like Turkey - with predominant Muslim population - choose to have a secular government and have successfully stayed clear from faith-based political radicalism, and political rifts and polarization among their constituents. There are also a number of North African countries like Egypt and Algeria who follow the Turkish model. When it comes to deciding what kind of government structure Eritrea should have, there is a great deal of good models to choose from. Recently, Botswana has been rising as a stalwart of democracy and progress in Africa. I think we need to learn from countries like Botswana and others around the globe to come up with a government structure that will work for us equitably and one that accommodates ethnic and religious diversity judiciously.

In my opinion, having a 'sectarian polity' within a secular government framework is not viable for Eritrea. Religious sentiments are hard to compromise and mixing up religious sentiments with political aspirations often is a precursor for civil strife and disorder. Eritrea needs to fine tune its priorities and avoid sailing in uncharted waters. In the 1950's Eritrea had enjoyed a brief period of democratic environment. As Herui Tedla keeps on reminding us, we have a social fabric that has been keeping our communities together in peace and harmony for centuries. All we have to do is to go back and reflect on how our ancestors succeeded to maintain peace and order. The separation of religion and state has been a long recognized imperative in our society.

We need to focus on what unites us than on what divides us. We have people of varied religious confessions living together in our major towns like Asmera, Keren, Massawa, Assab, Mendefera, Teseneai etc.. These mixed or rather integrated communities in both urban and rural Eritrea need to be encouraged and groomed to embrace a vibrant national spirit under one national banner. Our diversities are our strengths. We need to think in terms of what rights and privileges a nucleus citizen should have instead of partitioning our population into tribal and/or religious enclaves? What point would it make for a person of one faith to feel like he/she is any less or more Eritrean than a person with a different faith. All Eritreans should be equal under the law. And that should be our guiding principle in building a prosperous and peaceful nation.

There are people who are obsessed with the things that divide us. Such people are bent on putting a wedge between tribes and people of different ethnic and religious affiliations. Our ratified constitution is good to go. All we have to do is implement it. All Eritreans, irrespective of their tribal and religious backgrounds, should, in unity, try to overcome the barriers that are deterring the implementation of the constitution. The fight should not be between a highlander and a lowlander or between a Christian and a Muslim. The fight should be between the people of Eritrea overall and dictatorship. Faith-based laws are not congruent to democratic governance. That is why we should be careful not to mix oil with water.