Newspaper burning immortalizes media defiance

Editorial: Awdalnews Network

True to the superstition of the day, Friday the 13th of October 2006 was a day of bad luck for Somaliland press freedom. On this day, mobs of people, led by religious fanatics assembled in a public square in the second Somaliland city of Buroa, and burned editions of Haatuf newspaper, Somaliland's leading paper. This was the first time in Somaliland's living memory that forces of darkness tried to kill enlightenment.

The newspaper burners also threatened that the paper's offices will be their next target if it did not stop its critical reporting on Islamists. But what they did not say out loud is that it will be the reporters themselves that would be burning next time. They don't have to say it because we know they are capable of doing it. We have seen it in Iraq, in Sudan, in Pakistan, in Lebanon, in Somalia and in other places.

The question that may be asked is why the Islamists hate the free media? The answer is simple because they breed in damp invisible places like Black Widow Spiders and spread their hate message in dark corners. Just like the Black Widow Spider will avoid light, the Islamists avoid being in the focus of the press. They believe in cloaks; to them naked truth is akin to a naked body. All realities should be hidden under layers of concealment. Just like women whose real beauty the Islamists cannot stand to look at without going insane, they cannot also face the truth without feeling exposed. On the contrary, the press cannot survive without light. It likes to shed light on everything and everywhere. In line with the Somali adage, which says: "hidden things are rotten", the press also believes that only people with bad intentions, bad decisions and bad action seek refuge in the dark. Unlike the Islamists, the press loves to show beauty whether it is the beauty of nature, the beauty of women, the beauty of art and the beauty of truth. Even when it exposes ugliness, it does so in search of beauty, the beauty of truth. The press, however, can only work in broad daylight. This is why the media prefers to carry a touch with it all the time to see what lies in damp dark corners. The media knows no taboos in search of truth. It will not shirk to inspect what lies under cloaks, under veils, under long beards and under turbans. In its quest for revealing everything hidden, it will even venture to unmask vested interests shrouded in holy books and heavenly prayers.

It is so natural that the media's nose itches, its ears prick up, its eyes focus and its sense for mischief being committed sharpens whenever the name of Islam is invoked outside the houses of worship. As the famous witty madman, Cawaale of Borama once said: "If you hear Allahu Akbar chanted outside a mosque, strengthen your defenses". And this is what Haatuf newspaper and its sister paper Somaliland Times did. They heard the hollow Islamist slogans chanted, they saw their suspicious movements in dark corners, and they heard Allahu Akbar chanted for the wrong reasons and at the wrong places. As a responsible media outlet they decided to know why? So they took their spotlight and focused it on the sources of suspicion. And as expected the reaction was quick and as primitive and brutal as it could be to "burn the paper first and if it doesn't get the message, burn its offices." It is strange that the only time the extremists resort to light is when they torch freedom, knowledge or people they view as their adversaries or when they remind their followers of God's hell fire waiting for them if they ever doubted their intentions. They should thank God that in a democratic state like Somaliland they could protest, burn newspapers and walk away with impunity. We wonder whether their role models in the Islamic Courts of Mogadishu would allow dissent groups to protest, burn the veil and walk away without the fear of heavy reprisals in their waiting.

We applaud the courage of Haatuf newspapers and we remind them that as the ancient Jewish sage Ben Joseph AKIBA said: "The paper burns, but the words fly away." or as the Awdalian poet Caarre said when the enemy found him traveling alone and wanted to kill him: " Kill me but the news will fly away with the wind." Therefore, neither Haatuf nor any other responsible and courageous media outlet can afford to be intimidated to a dereliction of duty. You should continue serving the public by exposing the truth. The truth haters can only burn papers but the truth will fly away with the wind.

It is our advise also to the Somaliland government and to the media of Somaliland to declare this infamous day, October 13, as the Somaliland Day for Media Freedom. Canonizing this date would symbolize the courageous defiance of the free media to the intimidation of the forces of darkness and will remain as an eternal wart of shame on the face of truth haters.

Bashir Goth.

Source: Awdalnews Network

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