News:
A combination of 50 human rights groups have officially presented a letter to Tanzanian President Kikwete asking him not to sign into law the newly passed Statistics and Cybercrime Bills. The activists expressed sad concern for Parliament passing these bills without removing articles that contradict the current Mother Law and violates Human Rights at large.
They called upon the President not to sign the bills into law, since the move would shed a negative impact on the open government initiative efforts. (The Citizen, Tuesday April 14, 2015)
Comment:
This measure of Human Rights Activists could be seen by any enlightened thinker as some sort of naivety at the same time plainly exposes them to well-entrenched culture of selectivity in their mission.
The Human Rights Activists sense of narrow-mindedness can be vividly noticed from the fact that before questioning the validity of these particular bills, which with undeniable fact saddens and are unacceptable to any sane individual, in principle they should have questioned the very foundation of capitalist ideology, its democratic system by which the concept of human rights emanated forth.
This current scenario is expected and inevitable due to the intrinsic nature of capitalism which views everything at the angle of benefit even if it exposed itself to lying and double standards. Their main goal is to protect and safeguard ruling elites, their families, cronies and the wealthy. No matter by so doing they violate and contradict their own laws and ideals that they claim to uphold.
Again and surprisingly, while these human right organizations are protesting and urging the president not to assent to the Statistics and Cybercrime bills, why are they not questioning the role of the president’s assent in the law making process? Is this the real concept of Separation of Power as advocated in Human Rights? Do these three institutions: executive, legislative, and judiciary, each function independently?
In terms of selectivity, it is pathetic to these activists that when Muslims scholars or Muslim activists face inflictions and sufferings such as tortures, abuse and humiliation in the hands of law enforcement institutions or when their religious matters being intervened by the state, they just remained tight-lipped and in a disregardful manner, and none among them dare to raise voice and protest on those particular humiliations and oppressions against Muslims.
The invalidity of these bills is one among many scenarios that clearly express the invalidity of the whole package of the capitalist ideology and its democratic system. Time is up for these activists, intellectuals, opinion makers, and general public at large to ponder and think deeply the deception of this ideology, then throw away their empty slogans, then instead strive for an alternate ideology which is none but Islam.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Masoud Msellem
Deputy Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in East Africa