adminJohn Sigauke
I READ a story from my home province of Manicaland that was quite disturbing on two fronts. First, the behaviour of the youths who allegedly abducted vapositori members was indeed very deplorable. However, the author of that story was equally despicable for he tried to politicize an issue that deserved seriousness. The media reported that a spirit medium and nine alleged Zanu-PF youths kidnapped and assaulted 30 members of the apostolic sect in Mutare. Whoever did that bigoted brutality, the point still remains that it was very bad.
Zimbabwe is a democratic country that upholds fundamental human rights and freedoms. Religious liberty is enshrined in the constitution of Zimbabwe. It is one of the countries in the world in which people have absolute freedom to worship.
According to our constitution, everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, which includes freedom of thought, opinion, religion or belief; and freedom to practise and propagate and give expression to their thought, opinion, religion or belief, whether in public or in private and whether alone or together with others.
The constitution goes further to postulates that no one may be compelled to take an oath that is contrary to their religion or belief or to take an oath in a manner that is contrary to their religion or belief.
The accused are alleged to have forced their victims to take some snuff. It was a gross breach of the rights of the members of the apostolic faith sect. That is horrible!
The whole drama paints a picture of a country with warring religions. The apostolic members were persecuted for their religious beliefs which do not respect the imagined sacredness of some places such as the Murahwa Hills.
Why should they be forced to revere things they do not believe in?
They must be allowed to worship in their own way no matter how illogical it may seems to be and those that believe in spirit mediums must mind their own spiritual business.
We are told that that the victims were forced to sing liberation songs, another violation of their rights.
However, the fact that they were forced to sing liberation war songs does not save as evidence that the youths were Zanu-PF.
The singing of the liberation war songs could be the basis upon which the reporter deduced his warped conclusions.
Were these youths labelled as Zanu-PF youths in the magistrate court? Did they produce their affiliation or membership cards?
The media carried a good story which, however, was marred by his attempt on politicking.
Everybody who sings a liberation war song is Zanu-PF. Really? This is a myopic thinking least expected from a newsman.
What makes the reporter believe that the apostolic faith members were not Zanu-PF, more so after noticing hordes of them at Zanu-PF gatherings?
There are some people and institutions who now believe that any victim belongs to the opposition, while perpetrators of violence are Zanu-PF. That is wrong.
This is the same mentality that informs their reaction to national election results.
Any election that Zanu-PF prevails is stolen and controversial. Even where senior officials such as Mr Tendai Biti had to concede a clean defeat, these people always force the defeated to refute the results.
What happened in Murahwa Hills was pure petty fights over spiritualism- more like African Traditional Religion versus Christianity.
Zanu-PF has no preferred religion and this why the constitution accommodates all forms of religion.
Within that party, there is a great chunk of its membership that belongs to the apostolic faith and at the same there are those who are ardent believers of spiritualism.
Zanu-PF is a hotchpotch of members from all religions.
Such accusations of violence and violations are meant to tarnish the good image of the revolutionary party.
Even the fights over girlfriends in pubs are politicized and the victims and victors in those fights are assigned to political parties accordingly.
Even if the 10 were Zanu-PF members, what they are accused of has nothing to do with Zanu-PF.
It is not political, just as the case of a Chitungwiza man (who happened to be a Zanu-PF member), who axed his colleague to death.
Sensational headlines which suggested a political violence were awash in our media.
Zanu-PF never sent the 10 to abduct people; neither does it condone violence of any nature among its cadres.
Everybody belongs to a social group, it, therefore, becomes very unfair to link whatever one does to a social group he belongs to.
The ten probably belongs to more than one social groups but the reporter conveniently linked them to their suspected political parties.
Why they didn’t link them to their churches for instance.
Only last week, Jestina Mukoko’s Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) concocted a report in which Zanu-PF was ranked as the most violent political party in Zimbabwe. It was a ploy to soil the reputation of Zanu-PF.
Zanu-PF does not wink at violence.
Online Reporter