Editor,



Many people are asking: "Who is responsible for Black Thursday?" Before I answer that question, I would like to go through a few things that happened on Black Thursday. The morning of Black Thursday produced already tensed moments between two feuding ideals bursting at the seams with insecurity, mistrust, even anger and hatred. By the afternoon of Black Thursday the riot had taken its toll as cars were overturned, businesses burned down, and most tragically, lives lost. By sundown on Black Thursday, the government signed a petition agreeing to increase the People's representatives to 21, which is the desire of the people who had lived at Pangai for the past 11 months, and of course those for the democracy movement. If the government had agreed and signed the petition on White Wednesday, would Thursday need "Black" to describe itself?



What happened on Black Thursday is wrong, and those responsible for the devastation of Black Thursday should be brought to justice and punished for their crimes. Our hearts lament the loss of precious lives, the destruction of businesses of hard working individuals, and also for the bleak future for all Tongans in Tonga and abroad.



Who is truly responsible for Black Thursday anyway? Is it those for democracy? Is it the government? Both sides would shy away from the blame and point their fingers at the other. Or perhaps both sides would stoop below their character and blame the drunks and juvenile delinquents for starting the fires of Black Thursday, as has been alleged. Although human nature is having a real problem figuring out who is to blame, I think the blame should be placed upon us who are living in the comfort of New Zealand, or Australia, or like myself, who is residing in America.



Those of us who had a dream of a better life and fled our island home to seek an education in Fiji, or England, or Hawaii as I did, should shoulder the blame for Black Thursday. When we left our island home, some of us left seeking a better education, and some left to find better employment opportunities so they can send money back home to provide for their families. Or may be some of us left Tonga because a family member was a good story teller and we wanted to experience the same adventures overseas, or perhaps as many of us did, left Tonga to live in a better home than the shack we grew up in? How many of us left Tonga because of poor services, expensive electricity and water bills, or limited product selections at the stores? If those of us who are living abroad, had been in Tonga to augment and facilitate peace, would we have made a difference and perhaps even change the course of events and thus avoid Black Thursday altogether? If we returned to Tonga with all the knowledge we have now, would we be able to make Tonga better? If you left Tonga for any of the above reasons, or answered yes to any of the above questions, you need to decide how much of the blame you want to take for Black Thursday. Not because its your fault because you had no knowledge of Black Thursday when you left Tonga, but because you want to contribute to the betterment of Tonga by raising your voice: "You want for Tonga, what you left Tonga to find."



The reasons you left Tonga, is more to blame for Black Thursday than anyone, or anything, else. And because those reasons came from us, we are to blame for Black Thursday. Black Thursday is a heart-rending statement of the unfulfilled dreams many of us had. This failure has plagued Tonga for a very long time, and it is because of that failure that we left Tonga for a better life abroad. I believe Black Thursday...’s struggle, although deplorable and inexcusable, was made by Tongans who finally stood up and said they want their dreams to be fulfilled in Tonga, unlike many of us who tucked our tails and left our island home for a better life elsewhere. Yes, bring to justice those who brought the gasoline and the matches to burn down our capital city. But we should bring ourselves to justice by doing something courageous about it by admitting to ourselves that the reasons for Black Thursday is the very reason why we left Tonga.



I would like to see Tongans find opportunities for education, employment, and personal freedom in Tonga . . . some day. Hopefully sooner than later, so that the best that Tonga has to offer (some of which are overseas), will want to stay in Tonga, and make Tonga what God had intended when He created it. To offer His children living on our island home, the opportunity to improve one's self, and be given the room to progress and blossom and reach its potential without fear, without provocation, and certainly without retaliation. And perhaps, God willing, to become like Himself (Ps 82:6 & John 10:34) who is our Father in Heaven, for we are His children. And as His children, we are rightful heirs (Rom 8:17) of His character, His blessings, and His perfection (Matt 5:48). And as TONGA rightfully declares, "KOE OTUA MO TONGA KO HOKU TOFI'A."



There is a saying, "That all things happen for a reason." God allows bad things to happen to us to make us seek and find Him, and to know Him as a loving Father who is willing to bless us, His children. But we must understand our nothingness in the overall scheme of things, and that He is the Almighty God. I hope we will find a reason to believe in God's power to deliver us from our bondage (Ex 6:6) instead of trusting in the arm of the flesh (Jer 17:5). Black Thursday is our way of saying we believe only in ourselves and we frown on God's ability to deliver us from our bondage (1Sam 8:4-8). All Tongans, even those for democracy and those for the government, all of us must come unto Him in humility and without guile like unto Nathaniel (John 1:47). Both sides must repent of their sins and reconcile their differences by following the examples of Jesus Christ. We will allow the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to be written in the "fleshly tables of (our) heart" (2 Cor 3:3), so that we don't dictate to God how He should run the world He created, but rather subject our will unto HIS WILL (Matt 26:39).

May God Bless Tonga.

Venisi Uata.

uatavenisi [at] yahoo [dot] com