Many nations have never been able to achieve the promising change and attain a good standard of living with sufficient space of freedom, feeling of proud citizenship, living at ease provided with daily vital needs and proper existence. Feeling of respected and respectful human condition in a caring and tolerant society would have basically been the outcome of a long struggle of the merited sovereignty in most third world countries. Lack of means for an aspired change towards those features of wellbeing couldn’t be reached due to many barriers that turned out to be a source of nightmare rather than a legitimate dream. Those barriers have always existed inside some manipulators’ soul and mind. Political militants know well how that it is familiar with any corrupt system to initiate them to quickly manifest and become outspoken leaders. They happen to be intellectually influential and reliable, and appear at the front line of debates and protests on some futile issues which can only cause discrimination, hatred and lead to the unknown.
We who are very naïve follow those manipulators blindly as if we were hypnotized, perhaps, due to a lack of a particular level of maturity in order to understand the implications to be caused by such subjugation. We have never learnt from our past errors so these issues are revived again and again and the mistakes are repeatedly committed to eventually become a big investment for those wicked guys. So far, we are busy debating what could have been overcome and buried as being worthless earlier. These worthless concerns distract our attention and we exert much power and time away from real matters that should require our authentic effort and commitment. We are constantly guided towards ” …what to talk about and segregates, not what it should be done…” to tolerably live with our differences secure and serene. By such uncertain conduct we have wasted a lot of time, effort and those countless missed opportunities to develop and improve things are no longer redeemed in an environment of apostasy and corruption…
Now, when we become aware of such ailing local situation and our position worldwide in all fields of life: socially, politically and economically we feel awfully frustrated. Nothing can make us be comforted or satisfied here in our country when we see how distant we are from developed countries. Even when compared to similar ones or poor others in education, culture, industry, agriculture and sport with almost no inspiration; akin to a harpy since we live only to consume everything offered to us. We, Algerians, not because we are short of intelligence or knowledge are we paralyzed this way; but perhaps, we may be too naive, too reckless, too indifferent or perhaps – what I really fear from– too deliberately ignorant. Some concerned people have always tried to understand and investigate the actual and foregoing reasons behind that situation. After a long deep thinking they were unable to spot the real disease, though they could hint some bugs leading to this chronic and heart-breaking reality. Therefore, we feel constantly doomed to failure on many issues: ties with our religion practices, challenging identity dilemma, language diversity claims and ethnicity alarming wall. All these (false) problems could have been resolved if we had truly adhered to the genuine principles of our religion. Islam, which is founded on the doctrine of the Koran, is believed to be a constitution to live with. Contrary to what Western critics view the laws that govern our life with respect to this religion, in Islam there is fusion of religion and politics, din wa dawla. Yet, we are neither an Islamic state nor a civil and laic one and this situation led many scholars to adopt the term “political Islam” in order to identify our integration into the secular domain of politics while maintaining our religious hard lines. These political practices linger away from other types of individual piety and devotion to envelop all society’s deportment and pattern of life in all fields. Bennabi, hence, explained a significant key for enlightened politics that comprises the need for the ruler’s faith not only spiritually but also to aspire to change not just for the adequacy of the absurd. So, many scholars believe that contemporary Islamic and ethnic movements, groups and parties along with the existing system shouldn’t seek power by violence nor using religious leading principles and language specific question. These societal features are shared by all and shouldn’t be monopolized by some to reach or seize the power. Politicians, some may argue, with religious or cultural tendency blinded by the thirst for grabbing power are commonly indicted to be a sword at the hand of the ruling class or foreign agendas. Religious and racial dogma, normally, are to be isolated from the contest for power from all parties: the state and its rivals. Furthermore, relying on the creation of numerous parties, organizations and workers’ unions carefully selected from one single region, ethnicity, cause or allegiance can only spoil the people’s right to have free choice.
So far, as Algerian Muslims, our preoccupation shouldn’t be what variety of language to speak to prove we are different as long as we are supposed to belong to this same multi-ethnic nation guided by one single great religion. This religion has already provided us with clear path to follow free from all evils that could divide us with the aim of investing our will on better and more beneficial needs. ” It isn’t irrational to propose teaching AAVE speakers how to use Standard English. But it is irrational to go into paroxysms of fury about the very idea of taking AAVE seriously as a separate linguistic system with its own somewhat different syntactic correctness condition…” (Geoffrey K. Pullum 2004) Creating a language for my own, modernizing or promoting any dialect in isolation from the collective societal real needs of democracy, human rights and safe survival can be a waste. Indeed, that can be one way to sustain the mediocrity system and to obstruct others way to take part. This is one type of issues that can only help hypocrites to benefit on the expense of the good intention of their countrymen who instinctively are misled towards a loss that may disarray the principles of individuals and deteriorate the foundations of the nation. Some of those who really help in the longevity of any corrupt regime rise slogans of dialects along with regional and ethnic affairs. It is a sort of self-replicating system as far as decision makers encourage religious groups, ethnic figures and illiterate people to be appointed in different posts or elected. For the sake of their personal profit on behalf of their belonging, they aspire to be appointed in governmental institutions and remain to faithfully and fraudulently serve it. “The operations of state institutions have become a source of enrichment and a way of serving private interest,” said the Algerian NCCPPHR report (2011). They have always been the hidden power of the governing figures; taking advantage of any public opinion that is sensitive to a particular class like history, race, vernacular, sport or even music to widen the gap between the various governed communities. When naming some sport teams, which represent a whole nation, after a region or tribe while the majority of them doesn’t wholly belong to, some consider it a discriminating factor vis-a-vis the others. When some singers are openly encouraged to praise some citizens and disgrace others in the name of some so-called difference of culture understanding veils a big offence. When some ones break the law and they are never sued that paves the way to anarchy and contempt of others. Bribery, management failure, misappropriation of funds, use of the media for ethnic and racial purposes lead many people to believe that those who seek change are not different from the ones who rule. These opium relationships have always been intended for hijacking the dream of any nation towards happiness, congenial life, real democracy and peaceful rotation of power. Therefore, the call for Boumedienne’s dream of ”a state that will not disappear with the departure of men,” has always remained a void slogan.
Those unsolved issues and aspirations that have become more and more beyond one’s reach, as is a common belief among many intellectuals, have led ordinary people to be no longer concerned with their constitutional rights or duties and their own welfare. They simply remain committed followers of others’ influencing ideas as they can’t make up their minds and wisely think beyond their feeling of controversial distinctiveness: dialect, doctrine and tribe. Indeed, these alleged problems remain unsolved to keep egoist ones play their mischievous game. They say it is one way to help those governing ”figures easily rule and keep in power”. Many thoughtful people, in fact, are right to ask about the goal behind this manipulation and on why the real needs for good living, health, education, and other substantial rights are marginalized leaving the same opportunists in some areas decide on citizens’ destiny. In a country like Algeria where any issue concerning dialect or ethnic belonging is seen as awkward as if we doubted about that; he who lives within a community that tolerates and accepts him as a whole, is not allowed to harm it. If we could stick to the genuine principles of our tolerant religion Islam, we wouldn’t worry about any and those recurring conflicts wouldn’t be of any advantage to those adventurers. Everybody knows that no dialect can be authorized to be dominant over others and the official one that gathers all Algerians, Arabic, should be unconditionally protected. Dialects, which remain a common heritage and patrimony, are numerous and almost every region has its own. No region is to be allowed to absorb and to maintain all the official attention. Any regime which respects its nation’s diversity and values shouldn’t help nurture such controversial focus that deepens some contradictory issues. Culture, in its diversity within this singular nation, a lot of wise people consider as common wealth shared by all, and also a factor for uniting all citizens to seek ideal living in harmony with this rich and mosaic ‘continent’ in all aspects: people, history, landscape, dialects, but connected by one single religion that abhors any dividing practices.
Mebrouk Benfettacha
22 avril 2016
