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The significance of Amazigh in Morocco's Royal Institution
It is said that the Amazighian language, culture and identity have recently risen up relatively to return from the oblivion, in which it had been better stay. The recently rise up is due to the steps taken by the King Mohammad the 6th to revitalize it, and shake off the dust from a matter that had been categorized for more than three decades as a political taboo.
Thus, the Amazigh gained "new validity" and took its place among the pillars of the modern democratic project of King Mohammad the 6th. But the questions are: do the regime have a strategy to manage the issue of multilingualism and multi-culture? What is the outgrowth of the King's five years in power in concern to dealing with Amazigh? Will the adopted approach success in integrating the Amazigh in the state's institutions and public life? To what extent the royal institution is aware of the significance of the Amazigh issue in order to be able to strengthen its validity? This is a group of reproductive multiplied questions waiting for answers, that will bring forth new questions also need answers.
Transition
During five years, the Amazigh has witnessed developments that were differently evaluated by the observers and the interested in the Amazigh issue. It is thought that the Amazigh of the Siba "except for Ahradan's Amazigh(1)" has entered the tunnel of the Makhzan(2). Meaning that the Amazighians were attracted to the authority and were integrated in the political project, even though they had made progress for the interest of the issue. The national and the international changes affect positively towards regaining the Amazigh as a language, culture and identity to its natural position.
It could be said, according to some researchers, that the regime has adopted two approaches in dealing with the Amazigh, individually and institutionally. The individual approach depended on attracting the important Amazighian figures to positions of authority, an example is Hassen Oreed, who was given a very important political position that is the official spokesman of the palace. This was not easy to do due to the mentality of the royal circle constituted of Arabia and Andalusia that undermine Amazigh. Abdel Haq Al-Mareeny, the master of royal ceremonies and badges of honor, is a clear model of this mentality which constitute a severe resistance of every development may happen to the Amazigh in its relation to the royal institution. Al-Mareeny had earlier resisted the Amazigh in public, by writing an article in (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, that was published also in Al-Alam newspaper, the official paper of the Independence party), in that article Al-Mareeny demonstrated himself against the recent developments in the issue of Amazigh, while no one read the news about Oreed's new position and did not stop at his origins.
As for the institutional approach, it represented in the establishment of the Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture", a consultative institution entailed to suggest and discuss then approve projects before sending them as recommendations to the King to approve them. The administrative council of the Institute was chosen by a royal committee, the committee considered the geographic standards and blemished the council with representatives from the Ministries of Interior, High Education, etc. Likewise, Muhammad Shafeeq, one of Al-Makhzan men was appointed as the chairmen of the Institute, before he left his position to his brother Ahmed Yokos, for reasons said to be relating to his health condition.
The regime integrated Amazigh through an unconstitutional gate, this is currently a fundamental demand of the Amazigh Movement. Some members of the movement have lately taken the initiation to submit a petition to whom it may concern containing comprehensive daring demands, as it is the first constitutional petition in the Independent Morocco's political life.
The outgrowth:
All the steps that were taken in advantage to the Amazigh: the speech from the thrown in Agdeer (3) in 2001, the establishment of the Royal Institute of the Amazigh Culture, the selection of the letter Tefenagh as the official alphabet of the Thmazight, teaching Amazighian language, and the exposure of the Amazigh in the public media. All these steps are well counted and could be considered as a result of national, regional and international aspects combined together and affected Morocco, which in turn could not find a solution but the official recognition of the Amazigh.
The political reconciliation, which is the main concern of King Muhammad the sixth will not be achieved without the internal reconciliation within the state's geography, history, cultural heritage and rich civilization. This concern was approved by all the political observers as they reported about in all their writings about the Morocco of Muhammad the 6th. But the question rises after 5 years is: Do these steps are included in a clear strategy to manage the matter of multi- languages and multi- cultures, as some European and American countries found solutions to their cultural problems?
Such clear strategy to manage the issue of multi- cultures and languages is hardly found due to several reasons: the first reason is that the royal committee that was formed to choose the names of the Institute's administrative council did not itself have a balanced structure, its main goal was to hurry to make this institute see the light, so that the strategic dimension was not a stamp in its steps. The second reason is that the gate of through which the Amazigh was integrated was not legal or constitutional gate, though some think that the Amazigh itself has to be comprehensively rehabilitated before obtaining constitutionality. The regime sufficed with marring the Institute with some Amazighian figures and turned them into clerks who work according to the regime's approach, furthermore, they defend it with a unique enthusiasm.
As usual in the relation between the regime and the active elite in society, the regime bestowed upon them rewards and privileges, the renown tool used to contain and integrate them into its approach. The Amazighian active persons with the Institute do their best to keep the Amazighian issue in its tight circle, away from the Amazigh Movement and the public opinion in general. They also fight anything that could turn the Amazigh Movement to a public one.
The third reason is that the state's institutions are not totally obligated to involve in the Amazigh integration process. A telling example is the experiment of the Ministry of Education.
The fourth reason is related to the administrative council's decision when adopting the official alphabet to write the Thmazigh language. Imposing the letter Tefenagh instead of the Latin letter demonstrates the absence of such strategy. Though the Tefenagh is the natural letter of the Themazigh which embodies its identity, the selection of such unknown letter was away from the academic and scientific context, it was decided with the consideration of political aspects and other aspects related to security in the first place. This letter does not fit the modern developments, unlike the Latin letter and the Arabic one, particularly the Arabic, which shows the control of the Arab cultural project over the Amazigh, but currently is considered to be the most spread.
The fifth reason is the fact that the procedures taken in this matter have no relation to the Parliament, this could isolate the Amazigh from society, as it appears to be a matter related to the Amazighian only.
Morocco's Akleed(4)
Even initially, the Amazigh has entered in the scope of the new validity in regard to the King "Akleed", who is shown in special garment when it relates to Amazigh, the same when he is in the position of the President, the Khalifa or the Sultan. The Official acknowledgment of the Amazigh gives Morocco the device of representing distinguished culture and civilization, which in turn differentiates it from the other countries in the Arab world.
It is thought that the institutional integration of the Amazigh based on a strategy to manage the multi-cultures and multilingualism will contribute positively in revitalizing the validity of the royal institution itself. The researcher Muhammad Atrakeen said: it will make the Other discover the model of the original Morocco, which does not stand at the point of Al-Mawla Edrees Al-Awal(5), but passes it over to make royalty knows the universality of the rights and freedoms, to give birth to the state of citizens not subjects and the concept of a nation without any religious indications.
The Amazigh could give historical and cultural extension to the royalty, as well as it could give Morocco a distinction from the other countries of the Middle East, which had been always the source of trouble, like when the Wahabi though came from Saudi Arabia and was about to destruct the religious arena with its destructive ideas, that differ from the core of the "Malikite school of theology" adopted officially in Morocco and based on tolerance, nonviolence and the other characteristics of Morocco's Islam. According to the same researcher, the most important fact is that the Amazigh will ease the transition to the Secularism, which is indispensable for adopting a democratic calm and correct transition.
Secularism is the means to insure logical management of multi-culture and multilingualism in the context of the national unity and away from any mistaken religious interpretations. In its legislations and institutions Morocco today shows a secular trend, but the real integration of the Amazigh would widen this horizon. Amazigh is based on principals of secularism, relativity, modernism and democracy, no one can deny this except those who deluded with the ideas of Islamization of Amazigh or Amazighization of Islam!!
Hassen Oreed, the King's consultant for the protest movements, who takes the steps of his master Mohammad Shafeeq, knows that very well, but the great Arab and Andalusi heritage of the men of Makhzan burdens the royal institution and resists the exception of Morocco from the Middle East countries.
The future developments may deliver the requirements of such transition which, on all cases will be for the interest of Morocco's rich history and civilization. In this transition, the rule will summon its Amazighian spirit.
Notes:
1) Ahradan's Amazigh: Al-Mahgouby Ahradan, one of the important figures of the public movement, known with its defense of Amazigh since the end of the 50s. He had been appointed in many governmental positions and had many conflicts with the regime of King Hassen the 2nd. Ahradn is now the chairman of the National Public Movement, one of the represented parties in the current government. He has a political cultural conception of the Amazigh which differs from the Amazighian Movement's conception of the Amazigh being a democratic independent movement active within the civil society and has oriented cultural and political demands such as constitutionalzing the Amazigh.
2) Al-Makhzan: a political cultural system have been known in Morocco centuries ago.
3) Agdeer: is an Amazighian area, located on the Mediterranean Atlantic, its residences talk Thmazigh. In 2001 King Mohammad the 6th made a famous speech in Agdeer in which he recognized the Amazigh as a component of the Moroccan identity.
4) Akleed: means the king in the Thmazigh, he is characterized by being strong and secular.
5) Al-Mawla Idreis: is the founder of the Adaresa's State in 173 of the Hegira.
Moustafa Antra
Moroccan journalist and researcher
musantra@hotmail.com
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