Religions in bloody fight

Religions in bloody fight

Business came to a standstill yesterday at Mangochi Turn-off in Liwonde when Muslims and Christians engaged in running battles that left several people injured, two of them seriously.

Machinga district health officer Arnold Kapachika last evening confirmed receiving two injured persons, one of whom was a sheikh injured at a mosque that was stoned during the fracas.

He said the sheikh was later referred to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre for further treatment.

The warring factions also went on the rampage and destroyed various properties, including residential houses, M’manga Anglican Church, M’manga primary and community day secondary schools and a mosque in retaliatory scuffles.

Some motorists were temporarily blocked from using the newly-rehabilitated Liwonde-Mangochi Road as the situation, which also sprawled to door-to-door combating, turned hostile before the Malawi Police Service (MPS) quelled the storm.

The bone of contention was the alleged refusal by the Anglican Church to allow Muslim girls learning at its M’manga Primary School wear a hijab.

M’manga Anglican Parish priest Mphatso Bango, whose house was among those damaged in the fracas, told The Nation in an interview that he saw a crowd of Muslims charging towards the premises before they started throwing stones.

He said the discontented group broke church glasses, his house and windows of the school head teacher’s offices. He also alleged that a nearby Seventh Day Adventist Church was not spared the damage.

Balaka District Council had earlier mediated the two parties and recommended to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) to determine the matter as it was a policy issue.

But yesterday’s fracas, according to Bango and Muslim Association of Malawi (MUM) spokesperson Dinala Chabulika emerged after the Anglican Church reportedly during a meeting the parties convened on Sunday rescinded a decision to allow the girls wear hijab.

Chabulika said the Sunday meeting was chaired by diocesan education secretary for the Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire (Adus), Reverend Canon Hopeson Odala Jailosi, who told the gathering the church would not allow hijab at its schools.

When contacted yesterday, Jailosi did not pick up his phone, but in an earlier interview last Wednesday he declined to comment and referred The Nation to MoEST.

Commenting on the matter, Chancellor College social scientist and specialist in peace process Master Dicks Mfune said the Liwonde incident and several others happening in the country were an indication of people’s expression of anger and dissatisfaction over the current government’s status quo.

“This is like a ventilation window where people have found an opportunity to express their anger and views on how the government is running the country…  So, what we want is a political solution,” he said.

Mfune said while he appreciated President Peter Mutharika’s extension of an olive branch for peace talks, such need to be in good faith and should not only involve Malawi Congress Party (MCP), UTM Party and the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC).

He said: “This is because the situation has now escalated. It’s like bushfire so he should go for a national peace building conference and bring every stakeholder together to find a solution that can heal Malawi.”

On his part, Chabulika said they do not condone such incidents, but they have been warning “our brothers on the ground” to become tolerant and avoid a small issue escalating.

“We are really concerned because we need coexistence and tolerance as Malawians,” he said.

Chabulika said MUM was surprised that it was only the Anglican Church turning back Muslim girls from their schools despite government directing that no learner should be barred in class because of dressing according to their religious rights.

“We had a meeting last week with the leadership of both the Anglican Church and MUM where a resolution was made to allow the girls put on hijab.

“But during another meeting yesterday [on Sunday], the diocesan education secretary [Jailosi] said they had changed their stand. That is what angered the Muslim community and mobilised themselves to react that way,” he explained.

National Police spokesperson James Kadadzera and Eastern Region police spokesperson Joseph Sauka were yesterday coy to comment on the matter, saying they would release a statement later.

The police said they had deployed more police officers to beef up security in the area.

Meanwhile, according to Chabulika, MoEST has called for an urgent meeting with leadership of Anglican, MUM and other stakeholders at M’manga CDSS to discuss the incident and find a solution.

There was no immediate comment from MoEST yesterday as both its Principal Secretary  Justin Saidi and and spokesperson Lindiwe Chide did not pick up their mobile phones. 

But on May 7 this year, Saidi issued a circular to all education division managers, district education managers, principals of colleges and head teachers directing them not to exclude any learner from school for dressing according to their religious rights unless the type of dress offends public morality or school discipline.

Further, MoEST said it had taken the administrative measure while waiting to hear from the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) with whom it had placed the matter for stakeholders to consult and advise government.

In an interview yesterday, PAC executive director Robert Phiri confirmed being reached by MoEST, but said he was yet to get the letter and read its content. Recently, cases of violence have escalated across the country with communities, including students, damaging property.