Reporters autopsy religious clashes
Dar es Salaam -- Tanzania is considered one the world's peaceful countries, but lately increasing religious clashes have marred that reputation. Several months back, three religious leaders were killed, and recently Muslims and Christians fought over animal slaughtering practices, leaving some people injured.
Over 300 people including religious leaders, government officials and journalists, met in Dar es Salaam in March to analyze the roots of the growing problem. The conference members appealed to the government and religious leaders to take prompt action against people and institutions associated with the breach of peace.
The meeting was mainly sponsored by local Christians and church leaders, with partial funding from The Media Project. Participants said it is essential to have such meetings to discuss solutions to the conflicts between Muslims and Christians and to secure a brighter future of the nation.
Speaking at the conference, presenting his paper on ‘How religious issues started in Tanzania’, pastor Fredy Mahundika, leading the Christ Church in Dar es Salaam said the country is currently experiencing an increase in religious conflicts between Christians and Muslims, mainly because people refuse to follow religious teachings. None of the religions promotes conflicts or killings.
“We used to believe in ghosts, and prayed to deceased sisters and brothers," Mahundika said. "It was our thought that if we ask (our ancestors), they would assist us in solving our problems. Later came missionaries and Arabs as colonists who forced us into these new beliefs, but their intentions were not bad, since religions are not warlike. They are mainly for peace.”
Pastor Mahundika blamed leaders entrusted with power who only condemn the incidents instead of taking action. As a result, he said the perpetrators of violence have continued with the squalid acts that threaten the peace of the country.
“There are signs showing that some leaders maliciously want to ruin the existing peace in the country. We can’t say directly that some leaders are behind this, but why don’t they take serious action?” he asserted.
Pastor Mahundika insisted that we shouldn't allow our differences to obliterate this peace. He challenged his fellow compatriots to guard the peace, saying that people from other countries admire the peace that we have.
Among the latest incidents are the killings of an Assemblies of God pastor, Mathaio Machila (45) in the Geita region in Tanzania.
The conflict had been boiling for some time as Muslim leaders demanded closure of butcheries owned by Christians. Earlier in October 2012 scores of Muslim youth attacked and torched churches after they failed to get a 12-year-old boy accused of urinating on the Quran. A Catholic priest, Father Evarist Mushi, was also killed on the way to celebrate Mass in his church on the island of Zanzibar.
The main objective for the day conference was to help the participants understand religious issues, and know how to live with people who believe differently.
Psychologist, Modesta Kimonga, said that religious conflicts must be stopped, or Tanzania is in serious trouble.
“I am giving you this assignment: go and open any place in your Bible or
Qu'ran. Where does the God you believe in say we should be separated or
we should be killed?" Kimonga inquired.
“If we start war, it will be very difficult to have peace (again)…People will want to avenge the death of a wife or husband...You will not relax until you kill the one who killed her or him,” she insisted.
Presenting the paper on “The Government and Religious Issues,” Modesta insisted that the constitution has no relationship with any religion, but recognizes religious practice.
“I am happy that we have created an “Action Plan to Adopt A Free From Conflict Nation,” which I am sure will be discussed by government officials and action taken accordingly,” she said.
“We have to work and cooperate in a serious way, as Muslims and Christians. I hope such a meeting is good for Tanzanians and has come at the right time,” said Mustafa Khaflan, Muslim leader at Al-Aqsa mosque in Dar es Salaam, who was one of the keynote speakers at the conference.
“I don’t understand if someone says that Muslims intend conflict. What I see is that people use religion for their own personal gain,” he insisted.
Sheikh Khaflan said he doesn’t see any difference between those who continue with religious conflicts in Tanzania and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) group based in Uganda, also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement.
It is a militant movement, which is described by some as new religious movement or a cult which was operating in northern Uganda, South Sudan. From 2005 there has been claims that the group entered the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in 2007 it was reported that they are in Central African Republic.
He said it has been accused of widespread human rights violations, including murder, abduction, mutilation, child-sex slavery and forcing children to participate in hostilities.
Ideologically, LRA believe in African mysticism, Christian fundamentalism, and Islam. It claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and local Acholi tradition. The group is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the spokesman of God and a spirit medium.
“I am warning Tanzanians and government leaders. We don’t believe in this, we have to be serious. We have to take action now for the good future of Tanzania,” he said adding that is like some Tanzanians are following what LRA is doing in Uganda, by using ‘religion’ to cause problem.