Cricket, lovely cricket
Sir: How on earth can your reader Dr Donald M. Bowers (Letters, 20 June) hope to get away with the ridiculous conclusion that the anti-apartheid campaign is 'based entirely on hypocritical self-righteous con- ceit' and holds 'humanity in contempt' simply because no anti-apartheid campaign- ers raised 'the slightest moral criticism of the Federal Nigerian government' over the Biafran affair? Research workers on the treatment of cancer may just as well be condemned for lack of interest in all other incurable human diseases.
The anti-apartheid campaigners form but one arm in the struggle to end man's in- humanity to man. If they achieve nothing else in their lives but the destruction of the evil system of apartheid in Southern Africa, they will have a place in history rivalling those of people like William Wilberforce who fought for the abolition of human slavery. They too were not very popular in their time. The anti-apartheid movement who fight not for material benefit form a sharp contrast to materialism of those who support apartheid. They therefore deserve the praise and the admiration and encouragement of all men of goodwill, not the cynicism and insolence of those who prefer to do nothing about any evil until all evil can be wiped out altogether.
As an African myself let me hasten to assure Mr Bowers that I find nothing wrong with apartheid in principle. As I understand it the word is supposed to mean 'separate development', in this case of Europeans and Africans. However, it does not say anything about the Europeans having a hereditary right to determine the rate at which the Africans must develop, where this develop- ment must take place, or when it must occur. Separate development is all right pro- vided that no group obstructs the develop- ment of other groups. Indeed most Africans will favour the ultimate and logical conclu- sion of apartheid which will be for the Euro- peans to return to Europe and develop themselves there to their hearts' content, while leaving Africa for the Africans to mis- rule if they so desire,
N. J. Ogbuehl Hospital for Tropical Diseases, 4 St Pancras Way, London Nwl
Previous page
