The Weekly Observer (Kampala)
Anne Mugisha
16 July 2008
opinion
The stories I read about non-violence reaffirm my belief that people are the same everywhere and when faced by a similar set of circumstances their reaction and the consequences of their actions will be similar too.
Exploring through the salt march in India during Gandhi's show down with British colonialism, Martin Luther's movement in segregated America, or Otpor's peaceful defiance against Milosevic's security operatives, one sees a constant that activists had to overcome: Fear.
It is the same enemy that we face everyday in activism against dictatorship in Uganda.
Fear is a powerful weapon that the oppressor deploys either tactfully like in the case of Uganda, or audaciously like in Zimbabwe. Its purpose and immediate effect is to freeze us in our comfort zones so that we do not see beyond our job, our riches, that next contract, and of course our families. The popular belief and instinct that the oppressor is playing to, is that only a fool will dare risk their life's work to alter the status quo. And at first they succeed. We cling to all that is dear to us and limit our vision to what matters: my job, my car, my son, my dad, or my house. Knowing this to be a powerful instinct, the oppressor gives you motivation to cling even tighter. Those who seek to protect the status quo are rewarded with better jobs, bigger contracts; they buy larger houses and get themselves beautiful wives and girlfriends to cling to. Conversely, those who dare challenge the status quo lose their jobs, businesses, houses and yes, even wives to the oppressor's supporters!
The rest of the society looks on and learns to choose between having it easy, or riding rough. For the change agent, this predicament poses the challenge of getting people to overcome their fear for the greater good of a just and equitable society.
I went in search of answers from those who had overcome this barrier and got lucky at www.canvasopedia.org where I found an article titled 'Overcoming Fear' by Col. Robert Helvey. Here are some slightly edited excerpts:
"...how do you get others to overcome the effects of fear? Well, the first thing is that you must not ever call people cowards...fear is normal and fear is something that everybody experiences.
And if you tell me you have never experienced fear, you are a liar or you have got a mental problem, you are mentally unbalanced...
...So we have to come up with things to help us overcome the damaging effects of fear...and one of them is--don't be alone... if you're going to take action, get people closer together, so they touch each other. Sometimes the sounds of the enemy - the clicking of bayonets, the beating of the batons - can instill fear. So you ask your own people to chant and make a lot of noise so that it drowns out some of the frightening sounds... Now if you have ever been on the looking end of a rifle, it is very disconcerting...put your banners up in front of the crowd so people in the back rows do not see this ...divert their attention......Find them things to do to keep attention diverted away from the instinct of fear. If the demonstration's success depends on what you are doing, then you are going to be awfully busy... So you give tasks to everybody like, 'Hey you, you're in charge of keeping this row straight'. And that's your job all the time, constantly check, get people lined up.
"...You place other people out on the flanks, to see if the Police is coming and to provide a warning....You get other people to carry water because you may be there all day...You have others in charge of first aid. You have got to have this training, in order to carry out these things and you have got to check every now and then to ensure that everyone understands their role. If it is going to be hot, you are going to have people fainting, how are you going to handle that?
"...So you come up with dozens of tasks that are extremely important...You must train people so that they are not surprised when the Police come and they are not surprised at the first sight of blood.
"So just like Martin Luther King used to do, you know, he used to take people to a church and go through a rehearsal. How do you fall down and protect your head when a cop starts beating you? If you are not surprised, there is less chance for panic. It is not unlike training soldiers who are trained to ensure that they are not going to panic and run and they are going to know exactly what to do in combat. Demonstrations and non violence action can turn ugly so this must be our approach."
We have about 950 days to train people to overcome fear and to master these skills... before the next general elections.
Anne Mugisha, The author is a Special Envoy, Office of the President, FDC. , www.fdcuganda.org
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