Crystal Bayne
SOC 202-01
3/24/11
In just one month alone, three Imams in Ivory Coast have been brutally murdered. The most recent one occured just this week, was the murder of Imam Souleymane Sissouma. Several news outlets have reported that he was murdered so brutally that his surviving family members have now gone into hiding due to the fear of losing their own lives. it has also been reported that they were too afraid even to attend his funeral. Like most conflicts this is all over Religion and Politics. Many of the more recent attacks have towards a large number of Muslims who are in favor of Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of November's presidential election.
Alassane Ouattara is a Muslim man, who is currently in a political battle with Ivory Coast's current president Laurent Gbagbo. This due to who should be given power. While Alassane has been announced the winner, it seems as if Gbagbo is not going anywhere. Due to this political battle a large amount of religious attacks have been made. In has been reported that ten mosques across Abidjan have burned down due to arsonists, Another isolated event was an bombing of a mosque, via a grenade. Most of these occurred while there were people inside praying.
The violence has even begun to involve human violence, with many people being stoned to death or burned alive. Unfortunately there seems like there is no end to the violence, and things will only get worse.
Religious division and discrimination occurs every single day, all around the world. If it didn't, well I would have to pick a new topic. The real question is, is it all religion or does politics play a larger role? It is interesting to see how these countries within the Global South have a different style when it comes to their "Transition of Power" (however that's not the case in this particular story). Unlike here in the United States, when we elect a new president, the former one gracefully leaves office. However these countries in the global south use a more forceful method, more along the lines of "if you want to be in office come get it!" However it seems as if they're own beliefs are the main reason behind this hostility. Due to the fact that a newly elected official is Muslim the country might break out in a religious war! That's crazy, when you really think about it. Shouldn't our elected officials chose to keep their personal matters, private. That should never be a factor when leading a country.
So the real question is: Is this a Religious or Political conflict?
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