Why 'Hornkranz' for crime operation?
Part II of an open letter to pres. Hage Geingob by the Nama Chiefs of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association:
The code name degrades the gallant and revered sacrifices made at Hornkranz, and diminishes these heroic martyrs to common criminal activity rooted in socio economic challenges which a democratically elected government has been given the mandate to address. Further, it disregards the sacrosanct value attached to the sacrifices of the fallen heroes and heroines of Hornkranz.
It is interesting to note that the naming of the crime prevention operation as Hornkarnz, comes shortly at the heels of the recent 2nd National Land Conference, where indigenous native communities, amongst them the Nama, demanded the return of lost ancestral land due to genocidal expropriation during the German occupation of Namibia.
The Hornkranz butchery was a result of refusal to give up land and human dignity. For many the 2nd National Land Conference was supposed to mark the restoration of people's dignity as well as the restoration of their land. Prior to the conference, the Nama of the southern regions was one of the many minorities to rise against the post-independence agricultural land reform program. Their cries were reduced to divisionist tribalism. But for these communities, the cries echoed the struggles of their forbearers who refused to be demeaned and denigrated to the marginal status of subjugated slaves. For them, the fight for land is not just about land. It is about dignity, human value, sacredness, integrity and a sense of belonging. When their calls were reduced and smirked off as petty tribal politics and a deliberate threat to peace and stability, they asked: Are we not human beings who can say I am hurting, you are stepping on my toes.
For many of them, their calls for land justice were demeaned, just as the massacre of Hornkranz rooted in the struggle for land justice, is belittled to a city crime prevention operation.
The recent code naming and equation of a common crime prevention operation to a massacre committed because of their refusal to be subdued, has once again left many to ask for how long their struggles and sacrifices will be rubbished. Namibia runs the risk of further alienating and sowing seeds of anger and bitterness amongst minority communities who have played a critical role in what is today an independent democratic country. We must be careful to sow seeds of division through insensitivity to the sacrifices made by all Namibians, particular the Nama in this case.
The sincerity of the President to fight crime must be applauded. It is however alarming that the sacred sacrifices made by an exemplary freedom fighter, and an attempt at the total annihilation of the Nama people at Hornkranz, should be associated with crime rooted in poverty. Hornkranz was rooted in the right to autonomy, a refusal to foreign subjugation, a determination for the preservation of self-governance and human integrity. Gaob Witbooi's people were brutally massacred for these noble values. Crime in present day free, democratic and independent Namibia is rooted in poverty, unemployment and a struggle for survival.
Is the call for crime prevention in a democracy a call for liberation from foreign subjugation? If not, it would be appropriate for those in power to explain to the nation why the fight against racist foreign domination at Hornkranz in colonial German South West Africa, has been diminished to a fight against crime prevention at Windhoek in a democratic Republic of Namibia. Criminals in the City of Windhoek have hardly attempted to exterminate an entire population of a specifically targeted group for reasons of subjugation and slavery. This is not to make less of the initiative by the President to fight crime. However the contexts, within which these events are rooted, seem to be in stark contrast and therefore suggest that the code name belittles and demeans a sacred cause for the total liberation of our democracy.
The attitude of the government not only alienates but also radicalizes the youth from the affected communities. Feelings of a north/south divide are very real, and government it seems is feeding this perception. It is a dangerous trend which goes against the principles of nation building.
It must also be noted that the massacre at Hornkranz was the first of its kind within the current day territorial borders of Namibia, contrary to the popular and officially sanctioned believe that Cassinga was the first massacre.
It is not clear who directed the coining of the code name. As Commander in Chief one assumes the President should have been informed and is well aware of the connotation to Hornkranz. Whoever may have been responsible, an apology to the descendants of the victims of Hornkranz and indeed to the entire Namibian nation, for this insensitivity would be appropriate in order to restore faith and hope in our democratically elected leaders.
The code name degrades the gallant and revered sacrifices made at Hornkranz, and diminishes these heroic martyrs to common criminal activity rooted in socio economic challenges which a democratically elected government has been given the mandate to address. Further, it disregards the sacrosanct value attached to the sacrifices of the fallen heroes and heroines of Hornkranz.
It is interesting to note that the naming of the crime prevention operation as Hornkarnz, comes shortly at the heels of the recent 2nd National Land Conference, where indigenous native communities, amongst them the Nama, demanded the return of lost ancestral land due to genocidal expropriation during the German occupation of Namibia.
The Hornkranz butchery was a result of refusal to give up land and human dignity. For many the 2nd National Land Conference was supposed to mark the restoration of people's dignity as well as the restoration of their land. Prior to the conference, the Nama of the southern regions was one of the many minorities to rise against the post-independence agricultural land reform program. Their cries were reduced to divisionist tribalism. But for these communities, the cries echoed the struggles of their forbearers who refused to be demeaned and denigrated to the marginal status of subjugated slaves. For them, the fight for land is not just about land. It is about dignity, human value, sacredness, integrity and a sense of belonging. When their calls were reduced and smirked off as petty tribal politics and a deliberate threat to peace and stability, they asked: Are we not human beings who can say I am hurting, you are stepping on my toes.
For many of them, their calls for land justice were demeaned, just as the massacre of Hornkranz rooted in the struggle for land justice, is belittled to a city crime prevention operation.
The recent code naming and equation of a common crime prevention operation to a massacre committed because of their refusal to be subdued, has once again left many to ask for how long their struggles and sacrifices will be rubbished. Namibia runs the risk of further alienating and sowing seeds of anger and bitterness amongst minority communities who have played a critical role in what is today an independent democratic country. We must be careful to sow seeds of division through insensitivity to the sacrifices made by all Namibians, particular the Nama in this case.
The sincerity of the President to fight crime must be applauded. It is however alarming that the sacred sacrifices made by an exemplary freedom fighter, and an attempt at the total annihilation of the Nama people at Hornkranz, should be associated with crime rooted in poverty. Hornkranz was rooted in the right to autonomy, a refusal to foreign subjugation, a determination for the preservation of self-governance and human integrity. Gaob Witbooi's people were brutally massacred for these noble values. Crime in present day free, democratic and independent Namibia is rooted in poverty, unemployment and a struggle for survival.
Is the call for crime prevention in a democracy a call for liberation from foreign subjugation? If not, it would be appropriate for those in power to explain to the nation why the fight against racist foreign domination at Hornkranz in colonial German South West Africa, has been diminished to a fight against crime prevention at Windhoek in a democratic Republic of Namibia. Criminals in the City of Windhoek have hardly attempted to exterminate an entire population of a specifically targeted group for reasons of subjugation and slavery. This is not to make less of the initiative by the President to fight crime. However the contexts, within which these events are rooted, seem to be in stark contrast and therefore suggest that the code name belittles and demeans a sacred cause for the total liberation of our democracy.
The attitude of the government not only alienates but also radicalizes the youth from the affected communities. Feelings of a north/south divide are very real, and government it seems is feeding this perception. It is a dangerous trend which goes against the principles of nation building.
It must also be noted that the massacre at Hornkranz was the first of its kind within the current day territorial borders of Namibia, contrary to the popular and officially sanctioned believe that Cassinga was the first massacre.
It is not clear who directed the coining of the code name. As Commander in Chief one assumes the President should have been informed and is well aware of the connotation to Hornkranz. Whoever may have been responsible, an apology to the descendants of the victims of Hornkranz and indeed to the entire Namibian nation, for this insensitivity would be appropriate in order to restore faith and hope in our democratically elected leaders.
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