SENEGALESE NOT READY FOR “APOSTASY”

The so-called ”Amy Ndiaye Gniby” case continues to generate a lot of ink and saliva. However, beyond the emotion aroused by this violence between deputies in the National Assembly, it is also legitimate to wonder whether the public space is “mature” enough to see the dividing line between the religious dimension of an actor and his political cap.

“Religion and public reason: opposition or possible articulation?” This is the problem that the researcher Jean-Marc Larouche posed in an article. And according to him, post-secular societies require us to recognize that the modernization of public consciousness involves and transforms in a reflexive way, in successive phases, both religious and profane mentalities. On both sides, underlines the researcher, it is possible, on the condition of considering secularization together as a process of complementary learning, to mutually take seriously, for cognitive reasons, the contributions of each on controversial themes in the public space. But would it be necessary to know upstream the lines of demarcation between the religious and the political in the public space. Especially if the actor in question embodies both dimensions at the same time.

In Senegal, relations between religion and politics have always existed. If we revisit history, the guides of brotherhoods and Islamic associations have never agreed to be put in a strictly spiritual ”straightjacket”. They always have their say. Let us recall that General De Gaulle relied on the latter for the 1958 referendum. Better still, the late Caliph General of the Tidianes Serigne Cheikh Tidiane Sy Al Maktoum had created, with the unconditional help of prominent personalities of the time such as Cheikh Ibrahima Niasse and Cheikh Mbacké ”Gainde Fatma”, a political party which caused a sensation during the 1959 legislative elections. We can cite Serigne Mansour Sy Djamil (former Senegalese left-wing activist), Ahmed Khalifa Niasse, Serigne Modou Kara, Oustaz Alioune Sall, Mouhamadou Khouraichi Niasse, and members of the “Ibadou Rahman” movement who accompanied candidate Macky Sall in 2012 But the most outstanding personality, these last years, undoubtedly remains the guide of the Moustarchidines, Serigne Moustapha Sy who influences both the religious and political space. The last Legislatives have shown the rise to power of the Pure, of which it is the moral responsible. Not to mention his considerable contribution to the Yewwi Askan Wi coalition.

But whether it is the grandson of Sidy Hadji Malick Sy or the other politico-religious leaders, are they prepared to accept the ”blows” that politicians give each other in places of contradictions par excellence such as The national assembly? Can they “tame” their religious subjectivism for the benefit of a democratic debate? The answer seems to be negative if we trust the words of certain analysts.

DR MOUSSA DIAW: “A RELIGIOUS WHO ENTERS POLITICS MUST PREPARE HIS FAITHFUL FOR THESE KINDS OF ATTACKS”

“The problem in Senegal is that there is a mix of genres between politics and religion,” says political science doctor Moussa Diaw contacted by “L’As”. Based on the incidents that recently occurred in the National Assembly with the attack on MP Amy Ndiaye Gniby following her statements deemed disrespectful against the guide of the Moustarchidines, the political scientist affirms: “If we want to play an important role at the level of the hemicycle, we must know that it is a political space. And these are political logics that must be brought into play”. According to him, the religious who engages in politics must be prepared to undergo these kinds of attacks. “He must submit to the logic of politics. What is political logic? It is a contradictory debate. The religious cap should not obscure the political dimension,” he explains. In the same vein, he believes that religious men who want to enter politics must prepare and educate their followers. “Let them know that they will not be spared and their religious habits will be relegated to the background,” he said.

Continuing his explanations, he considers that politics is contradiction. “While religion is in the register of trust, of attachment to a person in relation to denominational convictions”, informs the political scientist before emphasizing that religion has nothing to do with politics which has its way of operate and its rules. And to prepare the disciples for this “blasphemy”, he declares that it requires a psychological and pedagogical preparation of the guides who interfere in the political space with their faithful. ”To avoid pitfalls, problems like those we recently witnessed in the National Assembly,” he advocates.

DR CHEIKH GUEYE: “IF WE ARE NOT CAREFUL, A WORST SCENARIO CAN OCCUR AT THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY”

For his part, the futurist and geographer by training, Dr. Cheikh Guèye, recalled that this issue of religion in the political space does not date from today. “This is a question that is old and has had a great presence in Senegalese literature since the beginning of the 20th century. We can already see the epistemological importance of this question since Paul Marty or even in the period of the 1970s with the analyzes of Christian Coulon with the Prince and the marabout”, he analyzes during an interview with “L’ As”. Dissecting this problem, he finds that it is a very complex question. “Because in Senegal, the religious leader exercises moral leadership, social and sometimes even economic leadership. And the lady (Amy Ndiaye Gniby) made it known implicitly that a religious guide who enters politics will have to be treated like the others. Of course, the religious in Senegal are not citizens like the others. Everyone knows it, because they belong to brotherly families with which several Senegalese recognize themselves”, he declares.

-Based on studies made on this issue, the head of monitoring and forecasting at IPAR reveals that 90% of Senegalese live their faith through a brotherhood affiliation. “It rubs off on social dynamics,” he says. Moreover, he indicated that the conflicting presence of religious in the political space is something that will increase. According to him, it will be present in Senegal in the coming years. The secretary general of the Unitary Framework of Islam points out that certain actors do not know the limit not to cross if it is about the marabouts “who often have fervent militants, fervent disciples and sometimes fanatics. So the question will come back over the next few years,” he warns before adding: ”We will have to supervise and manage this issue more, otherwise we risk experiencing more serious things than what we have seen in the hemicycle these last time”. Fearing the worst, he finds that if nobody is careful, there can even be inter-brotherhood or inter-confessional disputes with camps belonging to this or that party. ”This is the scenario I fear the most. A mouride or a tidiane arguing in the National Assembly is a disaster scenario,” protests Dr. Cheikh Guèye in the interview, and explains that in this respect, serious events could occur.

SENEGALESE NOT READY FOR “APOSTASY”