AfricaPress-Tanzania: NATIONHOOD, patriotism and citizenship are concepts which have an important bearing on whoever relates oneself to a country of one’s birth or through naturalisation.
The association that a person has with a given country, is supposed to be coupled by immense love or affection for it.
We dare say, indeed, that the association is in the league of the one that a person has with one’s biological parents.
It is supposed to be rock – solid. A truly patriotic person becomes immensely outraged whenever one’s country – alternately k nown as motherland – is undermined.
It is indeed standard practice, worldwide, for well-intentioned citizens of a given country, to join forces whenever it becomes a subject of negative tendencies ranging from, say, unfair criticism over policy decisions to military provocations.
Whenever such situations arise, all citizens literally send all other considerations on leave and join forces to form a united family in order to attain common objectives.
Those who would go against the objectives of fellow citizens – as members of a supposedly united family – would be perceived to be traitors.
History is indeed replete with examples of crude forms of punishment being meted out to traitors, whose misdeeds, by word and deeds, are perceived to be the height of absurdity.
Now, the narrative so far, wouldn’t have arisen, since the points there-in are supposed to be part of common knowledge.
It pains, us, indeed, though, that, we have been compelled to dwell on them, due to the absolutely unpatriotic, and indeed crude, stance of Chadema.
For, being Tanzania’s main opposition political party, it is supposed to be a role model for others in the camp.
Due to the unpatriotic and uncivil behaviour of its leadership, though, it lays itself prone to being dismissed as a patriotism-sabotaging group!
The latest crude manifestation to that end was the distortion of the national anthem, by substituting the word-concept Tanzania with Chadema!
The doctored song was enthusiastically sung by members who included top leaders, as the opener of a recent major political event in Dar es Salaam.
The mischief, which we imagine is even beyond kindergarten children, is absolutely damnable! Yet, paradoxically, it is the brainchild of a party that aspires to become the ruling party some day, in a country known as; curiously, which? Tanzania or Chadema? The electorate will provide the answer, come
