The Tanzanian Divorce

3rd Student GUEST POST: Syakaa from Tanzania:

Tanzania is the child born from the union of main land Tanzania formerly known as Tanganyika and Zanzibar. These two countries had different paths until they met on April 26^th 1964. Tanganyika mainly had European influences from colonialism under the Germans, missionaries and traders to being a protectorate under the British as such he adopted Christianity. Zanzibar on the other hand was an exotic island which attracted more eastern attention from trade with the Arabs to the Omani Sultanate as such she became Islam. But on the day they wed the differences did not matter as they tied their fates together for as long as they lived.

Tanganyika and Zanzibar both made compromises to make it work. They would have a rotating President and vice president system. If the president was from Tanzania mainland then the Vice president was from Zanzibar and vice versa. Zanzibar would have its own President and government which would deal with internal affairs and they would work on union affairs together. They have had conflicts throughout the years but none as serious as the ones that have happened this week after the defilement of the Quran by a 14-year-old (Christian) boy, who was trying to disprove his Muslim friend who claimed defiling the Quran would turn him into a snake. Logically, the Christian boy then urinated on the holy book to prove his point. Although the boy was not turned into a snake, angry Muslim mobs have subsequently threatened to behead him.

Muslims assembling outside a mosque ready for protests

Massive protests have raged throughout Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam which has led to the use of military force by the government to curb the violence. There have been attacks on Christians, burning of churches and a lot of hate in the air. There have been calls from the leaders of both religions for tolerance and an end to the violence. With the discovery of oil causing conflict in terms of who gets the benefits and the denial of the request by the Muslim community to install the Islamic Court “Kadhi” in Tanzania, religious conflict is higher than ever.

Military ready to maintain peace in Dar es Salaam

Random Tanzanian Thoughts: Tanzania is such a peaceful country that no one could expect to see such a thing happening here. We cannot judge a group of people from the actions of a minority. And if Tanzanians don’t solve this as a nation we are heading into a pit filled with hate that does not end well for anyone. There is a need for these two partners to talk this out in a friendly atmosphere or else Tanzania might just be forced to hire a very expensive divorce lawyer.

A police officer arresting a protester without a warrant