Religious conflict will be too costly for Ghana

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Article 17(1) 7 (2) , sub-section 1& 2 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana reads:
?All persons shall be equal before the law. A person shall not be discriminated against on grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status.

Ghana FlagSub-section (3) explained that: For the purposes of this article, “discriminate” means to give different treatment to different persons attributable only or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, gender, occupation, religion or creed, whereby persons of one description are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another description which are not granted of persons of another description are not made subject or are granted privileges or advantages which are not granted to persons of another description.

It is upon the basis of this constitutional provision that it can be argued that national laws and regulations, practices and laid-down procedures must be made to work, indiscriminately.
The ongoing debate about religious tolerance in Ghana arising out of the stance by some religious people that their wards be allowed to take photographs meant for identification with veils on is an unfortunate issue.
For one to obtain Ghanaian biometric passports for instance, here are the requirements:

Ghanaian Biometric Passport Photographs

The standards are:
? 2 in ? 2 in (5.1 cm ? 5.1 cm)
? Front view, full face, open eyes, closed mouth, and natural expression
? Full head from top of hair to shoulders
? Red background
? No shadows on face or in background
? No sunglasses; no hat
? Normal contrast and lighting

 
This is the standard established by the state for identification and it is expected that one rule must hold for all citizens of a country, else national cohesion would be dismantled or difficult to achieve.
Moreover, this standard was not set out to discriminate against any religious grouping and so such claims are spurious and lacking in substance

The regulations for passports, and biometric national Identity Cards have been in place for some time now, and no religious grouping has ever protested against these requirements.
Fact is there is no need for such protests because one is made to show his/her real identity just for the moment the photograph is going to be taken, just as one takes of the veil in the bath or during Wudhu.
It was therefore of great surprise to hear members of one faith insisting that the rules, procedures or requirements be modified for their wards who were being registered for examinations run by the international examination body, West African Examination Council (WAEC).

The following hubbub that followed this incident in the community of this religion may have sent shivers down the spine of every Ghanaian who is abreast with international political agitations especially the ignition point of religious fundamentalism.
Would the modification of the rules of identification by WAEC not constitute discrimination against people of other religious persuasions whose faith doesn?t require females to wear veils?
It must be understood that WAEC did not set those regulations because it wanted to discriminate against any particular religious sect.
However, the most frightening part of this ugly development is the attitude of government, which immediately took sides in the matter.

Now in the first place, there was never an order to prevent children of any faith from attending school anywhere in Ghana. Secondly, there was no edict by WAEC or GES to stop children of any faith from participating in their examination processes.
There was never an order to prevent Muslim girls from wearing veils in any school. At least, no public evidence exists to that effect.
There is a general rule for all: that is the universally accepted rule that passport photographs for identification purposes have a format. This format is not different from what is used to obtain passports at the embassies across the world, or to participate in nursing training, teacher training or military and police service enlistment processes.

Once upon a time, when students of some Christian sects took issue with the University of Ghana, Legon for choosing their sacred day to examine students, what the university did was to ensure that their exams are written on any day so that no religious grouping would have cause to accuse the school of discrimination.-Universality of requirements is paramount.
It would be the moral responsibility for all Ghanaians to rise up, and rightly so, should there be any attempt by any institution to discriminate against any individual, child or adult on the basis of their religious persuasions

Indeed, the harmony of state depends on that that is why, yes, there must be places of prayer and ablution created at our public places for wudhu (Islamic ritual cleansing) and periodic salat (five daily prayers). It is their faith and they have the right to practice it wherever they are.
In fact water; clean water must be available for the Islamic communities so that ritual cleansing would be possible to the best of human ability. These are fundamental rights that must be accorded them.
It is however discriminatory to stretch the religious requirements to the levels this issue has been stretched.
Government?s rush to issue a statement exposes the attempt by government to appease Muslims, without actually listening to the full story.

?We consider it not only as religious intolerance, but also a breach of the 1992 Constitution of the republic of Ghana, for Muslim students to be forced to take off their hijabs in schools,? the statement issued by Minister for Communications, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah read.

The issue raised by the Muslims was that their wards were being ?forced? to remove the veils in order to take photographs for the WAEC examinations.
And so for government to pretend that the girls were being asked generally to take off the veils smacks of hypocrisy and unnecessary effort in placating people without due considering the over-riding national interest of peace, security and cohesion.

This subtle political PERSECUTION of Christians was carried a notch higher by President John Dramani Mahama when he delivered the State of the Nation Address. He threatened to sanction any heads of institution who forces Muslim girls to take of the veil or attend church services.

It is possible that government was pandering to the pressure brought to bear on the country through the hacking of the state website by a group in Turkey, who claimed their people were being persecuted in Ghana.
This incident was followed by the hacking of the website of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) by a group believed to be coming from Tunisia which goes by the name Hani Xavi.
That notwithstanding, this whole development is reminiscent of the craftiness of Emperor Nero of the Roman Empire against the Christians of old in the Rome fire of 64 AD.

He played the victim when accusing fingers started pointing at him for the fire which had consumed a critical portion of Rome, and diverted attention from himself using Christians as the scapegoats.
?I don?t think it was prudent for Government to have been so quick to issue a statement.
?That was a folly: it was a political gaffe,? an Islamic Scholar and security expert, Irbard Ibrahim told Kafui Dey on Starr fm.

But fortunately, the Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church have called the bluff of government, issuing a counter-directive to heads of Catholic schools.

?We wish to assure Heads of our Catholic Educational Institutions to remain resolute and not feel unduly intimidated by threat of sanctions. We expect our Heads to continue to manage our schools in ways and practices that are in conformity with our Catholic identity and mission,? the Catholic Bishops stated.
In this matter, the caution both government and religious leaders must exercise is very great, because the motive and sole aim of religious fundamentalism is to annihilate non believers, and moderate believers by the same sword.

Government, in particular must exercise great caution in the face of religious issues, because the modus operandi of most religious fundamentalists around the world is to play the victim.
And once they feel legitimised through the body-language of political leadership, all kinds of demands begin to come in, with the threat of militarism lurking in the shadows.

Ghana has been a one united country since independence, in spite of our religious diversity, but this development, if not nipped in the bud, can create such a tension in Ghana that would eventually lead to the disintegration of this beautiful country.

Ghanaians love their peace, and nothing must be allowed to destabilize that peace, else the consequences would be too much to bear. Enditem.

Source: Justice Lee Adoboe

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