by Neba-Fuh
June 5 2009 marks 20years since the world witnessed the greatest ever public individual defiance by any human being. The setting : Tiananmen Square, Beijing China. The event: Demonstrations by Students and workers denouncing Communism and calling for greater freedom and democracy. The Year:1989. Star Protester: The "Tank Man".
After weeks of protest, Chinese Communist Party leaders decided to use military force on the protesters, the result was massacre and bloodshed-the worst ever in the history of communism in China. Unarmed protesters were murdered indiscriminately. The demonstrations were suppressed and Tiananmen Square was cleared of its bloody corpses.
On the next day, June 5 1989, Chinese military tanks rolled down Chang'an Avenue towards Tiananmen square -a show of power and supremacy and of course a threatening tactic meant to cow protesters after just witnessing the massacre of their compatriots. Then, a lanky fellow, whose identity is still a mystery up till today, came out from the crowd and assertively ordered the rolling tanks to halt by standing on the route of the tanks.(see video).
This single act performed in the context of totalitarian China in the Eighties would earn the "Tank Man" a place in Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the 20th century. As of today, the fate of the "Tank Man" after that memorable day is unknown. His identity and whereabout remain a mystery.
China's exponential economic growth is now the central point of the global spiral. Dictators and democrats beat bushy paths into China's financial 'warehouse' fearing to anger an emerging giant, as they loan money. China's developmental strides today, cannot be dissociated from the sacrifices the "Tank Man" and the Tiananmen heroes made in 1989 - demand for reforms and justice.
Everyone has a 'tank man' in him -that 'spirit' that moves you to action even though everyone around you thinks you're illogical. That 'spirit' that would keep a faithful nun chaste all her life or drive someone to become a suicide-bomber. That 'spirit' that would push a young compatriot to shun the daily niceties of life and voluntarily enlist to defend his country during war. That 'spirit' that lures each and everyone of us to take actions that may seem 'illogical' to many. That is the 'spirit' of ultimate sacrifice! Therefore, the way we use our 'tank man' spirit makes or mars our world.
What I doubt not, is that Africa needs more of that 'spirit '-the 'tank man spirit'. African dictators rule their people with iron fists, rolling the people's tanks down the street to massacre them anytime they ask what is rightfully theirs through protests. The 'Tank Man' incidence serves as a reminder to these hardcore dictators that the roaring sound of the military tanks or the barrels of loaded guns cannot anaesthetize the will and mettle of people power.
One day, those tanks will be halted and sent back to chase the hunter.
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