Both online and print readers have their say.
Image: ChatGPT
Human Rights Day reminds us of the blood price paid for freedom. Yet we must confront a painful truth: Black men have been the deliberate sacrifice for the myth of human rights in South Africa.
From Sharpeville to Soweto, Tsomo to Taung, it was overwhelmingly Black men who faced bullets, prison and exile. Their custodianship of land, livestock and kinship systems—age-old structures of African survival—was stripped away by colonialism and apartheid without recompense.
As scripture reminds us, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22). Yet in our democracy, Black men are not cornerstones but scapegoats.
The empowerment of women, though noble, has often been framed in ways that empower already privileged white women, while Black men remain dispossessed. This echoes W.E.B. Du Bois’ warning in The Souls of Black Folk that emancipation without economic justice is but “a shadow of freedom”.
To speak of gender equality without restoring land, dignity and economic power to Black men is to build democracy on sand. The San and Khoi were annihilated in the Cape, the Aborigines in Australasia—proof that when custodianship is destroyed, survival collapses. We dare not repeat this cycle under the banner of human rights.
| Khotso KD Moleko Bloemfontein
By the time this letter is published, the request from the Gulf States for warring factions to put a hold on the war for Eid-ul-Fitr will either have succeeded or fallen on ears deafened by the explosions of bombs.
Either way, the idea of “suspending” a war for either a short or long period is most ridiculous and makes a mockery of the very occasion used as justification for suspending violence.
When are we going to stop playing marbles and grow up? “Guys, I have to stop for lunch now, so we will continue playing cowboys and crooks later, OK?”
Are only the so-called holy days important enough to stop killing children in schools, murdering tens of thousands of innocent people and bombing hospitals out of existence?
Are other days merely ordinary and irrelevant, while these significant days are treated as selectively symbolic? Are they really any different from a Monday or a Tuesday, except as virtual observances?
Are we ever going to realise that every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every month and every year is just as holy as any other — and absolutely vital to our existence? Even at the best of times, without war or violence, any moment could be our last on earth.
When are we going to instead honour every day by suspending war, violence, oppression, prejudice and all other evils so that each day becomes a truly celebrated occasion?
Stop the war for Eid? For Christmas? For Diwali?
Stop the world. I want to get off.
| Ebrahim Essa Durban
The massacre of 175 innocent schoolgirls in Iran on 28 February, and the injury of more than 110 others, will be remembered as a day of infamy that will haunt those who carried out this heinous crime.
Across the mutilated landscape of Minab, innocent civilians were killed in an orgy of violence that defies description. The scope and depth of these brutalities represent acts of barbarity unprecedented in human relations.
Savagery is condoned, bloodshed is accepted, discrimination is sanctioned by those in power, humiliation is undertaken with glee, destruction of property becomes enshrined in law and the displacement of innocent civilians becomes policy.
These horrific acts of slaughter and mutilation are covered up by a grossly biased global media. Such grotesque acts are not only violations of international law but are also tantamount to war crimes under International Criminal Court statutes. No important participants have been punished for these crimes.
The ruthless slaughter of innocent civilians lays bare the true nature of policies built on massive force. The gruesome details expose the double standards and hypocrisy of the outside world. The reaction of the global community has been astonishing in its weakness.
We must honour the memories of those who perished. Remembering those who survived them is our moral obligation. How can refugees survive and progress while living under the shadow of the world’s most powerful military machines?
Millions of refugees have become forgotten people. The pain and hardship of the past 80 years have not moved the conscience of mankind. The world must bear witness to the enormity of the savagery inflicted on a landless people.
Surrounded by horror, refugees anticipating their own deaths have appealed to humanity not to forget them. They have become defenceless victims as powerful nations pursue policies amounting to ethnic cleansing. Warfare has replaced diplomacy as an instrument of intimidation.
History will remember these killings as a date that will live in infamy. There are no memorials or plaques marking where the victims of these massacres are buried.
One of the most dangerous attributes of our time is selective memory, and that selectivity is on full display as the world remains unmoved by the plight of innocent Muslims in many parts of the world. Every day lives are lost to 21st-century weaponry instead of being protected.
We must not forget that hatred is an epidemic worse than any virus. Remembering acts of genocide against Muslims reminds us of the need to fight every vestige of religious prejudice with uncompromising determination.
| Farouk Araie Johannesburg
The massacre of 175 innocent schoolgirls in Iran on 28 February, and the injury of more than 110 others, will be remembered as a day of infamy that will haunt those who carried out this heinous crime.
Across the mutilated landscape of Minab, innocent civilians were killed in an orgy of violence that defies description. The scope and depth of these brutalities represent acts of barbarity unprecedented in human relations.
Savagery is condoned, bloodshed is accepted, discrimination is sanctioned by those in power, humiliation is undertaken with glee, destruction of property becomes enshrined in law and the displacement of innocent civilians becomes policy.
These horrific acts of slaughter and mutilation are covered up by a grossly biased global media. Such grotesque acts are not only violations of international law but are also tantamount to war crimes under International Criminal Court statutes. No important participants have been punished for these crimes.
The ruthless slaughter of innocent civilians lays bare the true nature of policies built on massive force. The gruesome details expose the double standards and hypocrisy of the outside world. The reaction of the global community has been astonishing in its weakness.
We must honour the memories of those who perished. Remembering those who survived them is our moral obligation. How can refugees survive and progress while living under the shadow of the world’s most powerful military machines?
Millions of refugees have become forgotten people. The pain and hardship of the past 80 years have not moved the conscience of mankind. The world must bear witness to the enormity of the savagery inflicted on a landless people.
Surrounded by horror, refugees anticipating their own deaths have appealed to humanity not to forget them. They have become defenceless victims as powerful nations pursue policies amounting to ethnic cleansing. Warfare has replaced diplomacy as an instrument of intimidation.
History will remember these killings as a date that will live in infamy. There are no memorials or plaques marking where the victims of these massacres are buried.
One of the most dangerous attributes of our time is selective memory, and that selectivity is on full display as the world remains unmoved by the plight of innocent Muslims in many parts of the world. Every day lives are lost to 21st-century weaponry instead of being protected.
We must not forget that hatred is an epidemic worse than any virus. Remembering acts of genocide against Muslims reminds us of the need to fight every vestige of religious prejudice with uncompromising determination.
| Farouk Araie Johannesburg
DAILY NEWS