?A government museum for Matoub El Ounas..Did Guevara's Amazigh family betray his cause
the minister of culture receives the sister of matoub al-wannas
When the Armed Islamic Group assassinated the Amazigh singer and activist, Matoub El Ounas (1962-1998), his opposition to the existing political system had reached its climax, due to his intransigence in refusing to recognize the Amazigh language and culture , to the extent that Matoub changed the Arabic words of the national anthem with Berber words while keeping the The same tune. This was considered, in more than one popular and governmental circle, to cross the red line in view of the sanctity of the anthem.
The assassination of "Guevara the Amazigh" caused one of the fiercest confrontations between his fans and supporters and the government security forces.
The assassination of "Guevara the Amazigh" caused one of the fiercest confrontations between his fans and supporters and the government security forces. The day of his funeral in the village of Thaourirth Aith Moussa, 120 kilometers east of Algiers, was attended by tens of thousands of Amazigh-majority provinces. Security protection for him, as a famous figure who received threats from armed groups, which he was also opposed to.
The grave of Matoub El Ounas has become a daily shrine for his fans and supporters. His mention and his biography and songs remained limited to non-governmental platforms. The regime continued to see it as an opponent targeting its existence, even though it was not separatist like the singer Farhat Mhanni , and his fans and family circles continued to see the regime as an opponent of the Amazigh language and culture, to which the late man devoted his art and life.
This hostile tone shared by the two parties made the Minister of Culture, Ezzedine Mihoubi , a few days ago, visit the tomb of Matoub Ounass, a place of astonishment, as he described him as a "martyr" and said in his right that "he was clear in his positions, frank in his opinions, and a believer in democracy," the minister added. Jazairy: "The artist never dies."
Later, it appeared that the minister’s visit to the grave of the opposition singer and activist was a prelude to presenting a governmental project represented in the establishment of a museum specialized in presenting and preserving his credit and organizing a ceremony honoring him in Apera, Algeria.
Public opinion waited for the sister of the late and the head of the institution that bore his name, Malika Matoub, to reject the government’s move, on the grounds that it was normalization at the expense of the image of the deceased and his positions, for which he died, but a statement by the Ministry of Culture surprised many that Malika Matoub herself wrote to the President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, asking him Supporting the museum project, "For this purpose, and on assignment from the Prime Minister, the Minister of Culture received Mrs. Malika Matoub and informed her of the president's decision, where she expressed her appreciation and gratitude for this noble stance."
The intellectual elite in Algeria was divided regarding the initiative of the Matoub Al-Wannas Foundation. Writer and academic Abdelaziz Boubaker asked in a Facebook post: “How did the honorable sons of the Matoub family allow the Matoub family to sell their son’s honor at such a low price?” A professor of literature at the University of Bejaia and an activist from Bejaia responded to him. Honoring the Amazigh culture, Hamid Bouhabib said: "I do not see any betrayal in the matter. Rehabilitation is not a crime, even if it is from a corrupt regime."
Abdelaziz Boubaker: "How did the honorable tribesmen allow the Matoub family to sell their son's honor so cheaply?"
Bouhabib adds: “Do you want, for example, that we do not accept the demarcation of the Amazigh language under the pretext that it takes place under the shadow of His Excellency, who was president at the time when the gendarmes were shooting at our youth in the Black Spring? popular imagination with the rest of the Algerian country.
For his part, the poet and one of the cadres of the Ministry of Culture, Rabih Zarif, told that the Presidency's acceptance of sponsoring the museum project indicates that it deals with the logic of the state concerned with all its citizens. to narrow political calculations.
Source : websites