SABAHI
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Al-Shabaab first mounted a campaign in Barawe in October to scare
residents off from using smartphones, warning them that the hi-tech
gadgets are tools used "to spy on Muslim people".
Then the group banned Barawe residents from watching television,
saying it compromises their faith. Now, al-Shabaab is trying to convince
the citizens of Barawe, one of the towns the militants control in
Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, that sending their children to school
could also harm their Islamic faith, locals told Sabahi.
By one resident's account, al-Shabaab operatives gathered locals at a
public square on November 7th to incite them to defy the Somali
government's plan to improve education nationwide.
"Al-Shabaab ordered us Barawe residents to attend religious sermons
that will address Somali education, which they said would be changed so
that Somali people could be taught the Christian religion," said Maryan
Borow, a 34-year-old mother of five. "It was a surprise to us and we do
not know where they got that idea." Borow said she did not think that
Somalia's citizens would ever allow curricula to be changed in a way
that could hurt the religion of Islam.
"I do not believe that an entire population of Muslims can be led by
their government down a path that would jeopardise their Islamic faith,
but we all know what al-Shabaab wants is to make their ideology into the
religion we follow and they have a wrong idea about the religion. They
do not know anything about education because they are ignorant," Borow
told Sabahi.
'Al-Shabaab will be gone soon'
For his part, Abdalla Ahmed, a 52-year-old traditional elder from
Barawe, was blunt in saying that al-Shabaab were the ones attacking
Somali education. "There is no one who does not know that the group that
is attacking Somali education is al-Shabaab," he told Sabahi. "They are
trying to convince the public of something that does not exist, which
is that Somali education books will be replaced by books [with Christian
content] that have been written and funded by infidels."
"Where have they [seen] those books? If they were being
straightforward, they would have presented them to us," Ahmed said. He
said even though citizens are forced to listen to al-Shabaab's speeches,
they should not believe what the militants say.
"Al-Shabaab does not offer education or a life for the people, their
intention is to fight the public from all sides, whether it is by saying
[people] are watching unlawful things on television or saying that
Somali education is going to be changed to a system will destroy [their]
Islamic faith," he said.
"In any case, I suspect al-Shabaab will be gone soon judging by how
they are acting." Another Barawe resident, Shamso Yasin, a 41-year-old
mother of nine, said she decided to keep her children out of school due
to her hatred of al-Shabaab.
"We do not want al-Shabaab. I do not believe what they are saying
about Somali education and the lies they are spreading because
[al-Shabaab] is a group that exploits the religion of Islam in its fight
against the Somali people," Yasin told Sabahi. "Their fight has delved
into every sector [of society]. I no longer even send my children to
school and I keep them at home because I am afraid they could believe
the wrong ideology that al-Shabaab is spreading."
The only way the people of Barawe can get a break from the problems
caused by al-Shabaab is for Somali troops to liberate the district from
the militant group's rule, she said.
"I am asking the Somali government to help us get our freedom from
al-Shabaab. If there is an economic constraint, we are even ready to
sell our gold jewellery for our Somali national forces," Yasin said.
"Please rescue us. Every day, al-Shabaab is abusing your suffering
mothers and children."