Sudan: Happily Ever After

Too early to celebrate southern Sudan's independence from the north. Yes, elections are always a plus (or are they?) There are now indications that the elections occurred solely for purposes of clearing the table. Civil wars are always messy. It’s far easier to conduct campaign between recognized nations. The flashpoint will be Abyei. Oil will be a factor. AQ will agitate. It will not allow a Christian nation to stand. The West will fail to protect its interests.

Elections will hardly matter. It’s just a show to appease Western sensibilities. The West is obsessed with symbolism, even if symbolism amounts to mere ritual.

Last weekend, the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu celebrated Pongal. It coincides with the festival Makara Sankranthi celebrated throughout India. Pongal in Tamil means "boiling over" or "spill-over”. The boiling over of milk in a clay pot symbolizes material abundance for the household. Pongal, celebrated at harvest time, is traditionally intended to thank the Sun God and farmstead livestock that helped create the material abundance.

You now know more about Pongal than the average Indian does. They see it merely as a three-day celebration sanctioned by the government and to which the Chief Minister contributes amusements and protection at designated sites. It is a secular holiday in which all can participate - just like elections (the world over) these days.

Sudan's north-south civil war has simmered since 1955, claiming an estimated two million lives.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/