If you ask me about the most impressive and least surprising aspect of what is going on in Somalia's state building it is how strongly and visibly Rahanweyn have stood up to become a force for what is right, just, and good for Gedo.
If you look back at my writing, couple years ago I posted the summary of my evolved understanding of Rahanweyn culture and history particularly as it relates to Marehan and their unfortunate relationship in the upper Jubba Valley.
You can post that to show the Marehan I was right when I said "MAREHAN SHOULD MAKE A FULL REAPPROACHMENT WITH RAHANWEYN UNCONDITIONALLY."
Now look at MP Sareedo, at MP Taliye Shub, at the overwhelming majority of Digil & Mirifle parliamentarians who refused to be present for a quorum if the Ceel-waaq group were sneaked in.
Marehan everywhere and anywhere should honor and express profound humility with regards to Rahanweyn.
I think more than anything the most important consequence of what is going on is the opportunity for true and permanent reconciliation in southwestern Somalia between Rahanweyn and Marehan.
Post that original thought I penned where I expressed optimism for what is being displayed now; a positive change in the relationship between Marehan and Rahanweyn is a force for what is good and what is right in Somalia.
This is what V wrote before in this topic > https://www.somalinet.com/forums/viewto ... 0#p4984487
Voltage wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 12:02 pm I support FULL REAPPROACHMRNT btw Marehan and Digil + Mirifle.
FULL REAPPROACHMENT.
UNEQUIVOCALLY. WITHOUT WAITING FOR A SINGLE CONDITION.
IT IS TIME.
As part of my look historically, I have had a lot of information to look through and situate my perspective.
As Marehan, our position has been simple, unwavering, and unyielding at "Rahanwayn joined USC and attacked us from the back during our war for survival."
They did. I have lost close family to them. I have not hidden this fact nor have I been so considerate of them politically though I have never wished anything negative on any D & M individual. You might recall Shirib who is a Mod here is a long time family friend of mine. I have never blurred the lines between politics and people.
But even so, my position on politics was misguided.
Beyond our individual perspectives and personal stories and subjective rationalizations, there is a wider world out there we almost never get to chance so long as we are devoid of the humility and empathy needed to check the worst excesses or limitations of our own assumptions.
Understanding brings that humility and empathy.
There is a history before 1991.
Even if we Marehan say "Well they are lying then too; Siad Barre didn't bring us to this land" .... there is also a history before 1969.
We as Marehan have not been the nicest people in history.
We didn't come out of nowhere innocent as a babe and entice people to take us for our sense of charity.
No, we took land. We raided live stock. We killed those who resisted and we claimed where we are today by right of conquest.
We were not innocent and we were NOT nice.
If Marehan and Digil & Mirifle are able to able to bridge this history and truly take each other into their bosom as brothers, wallahi I get goosebumbs trying to imagine just what this sends to Somalis as a lesson.
Right now we are both passive aggressively ignoring each other. No single issue in Somalia has the potential to ignite such a fury of blood and existential like war of annihilation than this issue between Rahanwayn and Marehan. The last time they clashed it caused world wide shocking starvation.
So we both ignore it and we both ignore each other.
As Marehan, I say it is Marehan that should take the first step. It is Marehan that owes responsibility for initiating the end to conflict began by Marehan.
I hope this is soon.
I hope even Pres Lafta Gareen, born of both blood, is the one who lights the spark.
It is time.
Voltage wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 8:49 pmMurax,Murax wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 1:10 pm I agree 100%. I need to find a Rosetta Stone for Af maay maay. Voltage from what I hear from several people coming back from Somalia they are becoming the preeminent power. Baay, Bakool are our neighboring region I support a strong alliance.
I even defended them when MX were getting mad @ many of them coming to Doolow and settling.
Btw its sad that you have to describe citizens of the same country, same race as them or they but that’s a issue for another day.
Even while editing, I questioned myself multiple times with regard to language.
For example, when I said "took land", "right of conquest", "raided livrstock", etc strangely I asked myself if I was betraying some Marehan-bias and even possibly heroifying past misdeeds---
---until it literally hit me that If I was betraying any bias, it would be Somali-conditioning where inverse to the rest of the world, it is the oppressive actions which have been narrated to sound as the noble or heroic actions.
Raiding livestock is not a heroic action and subscribing it to our ancestors is not a noble quality. Like so many things in history, how and why it happened can be debated, but for the purposes of recognizing historical wrong, we have to face that, for example, there was nothing strong or noble about the enslavers who put the chains on our West African brothers The stealing of human bodies and selling of their labor wasn't strong nor noble. Opposite in fact. It was a symbol of the weakness, the deficit, rot of human capacity for humanity, morality, and strength for resisting our innate weakness at the base.
Our history is so ever present even in how I was going to describe exactly what I thought was the deficit of our ancestors until I realized history may live but shall not live over me as Maya Angelou once said.
I actually have gotten interesting wanting to learn Maay myself. i would even add Af Maay should be STANDARD NATIONALLY and in PRACTICE be treated just like Maxaa Tiri as two co-national dialects.
As Marehan, you are right. There should be an even greater emphasis for learning Maay as one of the States where May will also need to be declared a State co-dialect.
Luuq is the town of their Chieftains and Baardheere a historic Jamaaca and the Jubba is central tp the concept of Reewin identity.
Even beyong that, if you look at economically and business, it makes great sense to tear down every single proverbial wall, real or otherwise that has been put up between Reewin and Marehan today in Gedo.
Even imagine how much farmland and production we all are collectively losing out on because of this divide.
I have come to the understanding that MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE;
1. Reewin deserve and have a right to their legacy.
2. Reewin are a CULTURAL FORCE FOR GOOD for Marehan in terms of helping us making the jump needed to sedentary civilization and therefore readiness for modern citizenship in a modern state.
Most importantly, I have come to admire Reewin purely on the merits. Everything we demonized about them is a strength and a blessing for them. And everything we claimed against them is, in my opinion, a weakness and a cause of instability for us.
For example, when he showed a desire for compromise, we said he is weak.
So next time, we sociopathically pushed even harder, only to misunderstand why he compromised even more.
He wasn't weak; he bad something to lose.
Our Marehan ancestors could deconstruct their entire camp and load their "raar" (nomadic homes) on their camels in one sunrise. By mid-day, he was in a different valley without any connection to where he was that morning.
The Reewin had his shambo/farm. His "raar" was all in the ground waiting for harvest. It decided whether his entire camp survived or not. The loans he owned, the dowry for his children's marriage, whether his parents could have their loans paid, his self respect and dignity... It wasn't hundreds of walking gold coins in the form of camels... It was the beans just sprouting up and down the field .
So from the start the relationship was unequal. The nomad loses nothing but ONLY gains while the Reewin can only lose due to being rooted. When he compromised more and more, it wasn't weakness but hope from a position of profound desperation that at least some of the harvest, AT EAST SOME, had to be salvaged and if the price to do it was to accommodate our greed it was worth the price.
We owe Reewin an apology and desire to overcome our past.
begging the beggars now.
