|
Written by Gonaranao B. Musor
|
|
Tuesday, 26 August 2003 |
In acknowledging the death of MILF Chair Salamat Hashim, it is important to remember him “not just as a mere rebel, but also as an intellectual, father and as a real Moro leader.” YMP Chair Baibonn Sangid emphasized this during her opening remarks in the Muslim Youth Organization Launch of the search for Muslim Leaders, with the theme “Through the Legacy of Amir Salamat Hashim.”
In cooperation with the Assalam Association and the Bangsamoro Youth League, the program was held last August 22 at the Romulo Hall in UP Diliman. In recognition of Salamat Hashim’s contribution to the continuing Bangsamoro struggle, several guests paid tribute in their own special way. Drieza Lininding delivered a Maranao song acapella, fellow YMP member Rasul Mitmug recited a poem “The Martyr” written by bangsamoro.info webmaster and another YMPer, among others.
MILF legal adviser Atty. Musib Buat decided at the last minute to veer away from his prepared speech and showed the lighter side of the great Moro leader in between tears. Buat recounts, “He used to carry me on his back. The young Salamat was an extraordinarily intelligent man. He always excelled in class, graduating with honors both in high school and in madrasah.”
Aside from his anecdotes, Buat also gave some of his insights about the Bangsamoro struggle. “A state can have many nationalities. In the Philippines, the Bangsamoro nation is foremost of them. The Moros were already a nation long before the (concept of) Filipino nationhood was established in the Philippine Revolution of 1898. Filipinos were still indios then.”
Peace advocate and legal scholar Atty. Soliman Santos gave an account of Salamat based on four research interactions with the leader, interactions that led him to form a favorable impression of Salamat. “Salamat Hashim was a cut above them. Much like the mold of Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia.”
In an open letter that Santos sent to then President Joseph Estrada, he further described Salamat as “quite articulate, easy to discuss with, flexible and easy to deal with.” Santos even defended the ongoing Bangsamoro struggle, stating that this “is not about ideology, about being against Christian Filipinos (and) the government being Christian-dominated. We are simply against oppression. The oppression is (about) denying the Bangsamoro people of their freedom.” “The physical death of Hashim was like the physical takeover of Camp Abubakr and the Buliok complex”, he adds.
End.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed