Violent protests have hit Senegal for last several days as demonstrators burnt cars and clashed with police after the arrest of an opposition leader Ousmane Sonko on Wednesday. Four people have died, and several others got injured in the rare unrest. Police fired tear gas at Sonko’s supporters, who set up makeshift barricades in the capital Dakar where the ground was covered in burnt debris and people. Police is targeting motorbikes and mopeds, which are popular among Sonko’s young supporters, actively participating in the anti-government protests.
The Country opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko is in government custody on the charges of disrupting public order rape allegation. He denied the allegations and his supporters termed the accusations are politically motivated. Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome vowed to use all the means necessary for a return to order. Mr. Diome accused Sonko of issuing calls to violence. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged protesters and police to refrain from violence in the nation which is one of West Africa’s most stable countries. The United Nations’ special envoy for West Africa Mohamed Ibn Chambas has appealed to both sides for observing patience and calm.
In a bid to diminishing the heightened situation, Senegal government suspended two private TV Channels for 72 hours covering protests. Mr. Sonko is the new emerged political reformer, claim to end economic inequality and provision of a good life to the people of Senegal. Mr. Sonko founded his own political party, Pastef-Les Patriotes in 2014. Presently, he appeared to a potential candidate for the position of Country’s President. As per reports, Mr. Sonko has been provocated his young activists, that there is enormous potential in this country and people are suffering due to Politicians, who are criminals and looters. Accòrding to Sonko, those who have ruled Senegal from the beginning deserve to be shot.
In fact, fuming of extremist thoughts in the youth in the name of reformation and false allegations of treason and corruption without any proof for the ultimate aim of achieving power has always proved to be fatal for the country in the long term. There is a need that the Politicians of third World Countries must keep their politics limited to difference of opinion or policies instead of inciting hatred among the masses for the sake of their politics. Such behavior can push the country into anarchy and unrest being faced by several developing countries in the world.
