The recognition and registration, which is the equivalent to
Incorporation, is a vital step forward for the Faith in both these countries,
and represents a double victory in each case due to the difficulties which
preceded these registrations.
In Chad, where the number of believers in the capital, Fort
Lamy alone, had reached more than one thousand, application for registration
was submitted during 1970 and was rejected by the authorities on the grounds
that no new religion had been registered since the country became independent.
As an appeal against this decision, the Baha'is in Fort Lamy immediately began
a proclamation campaign by presenting the case and Baha'i literature to
different ministers in the Government, many of whom were most sympathetic and
receptive to the Faith. However it was found that the matter would have to be
submitted for a final decision to the Head of State.
Early in January, at the request of the Universal House of
Justice, Dr. Aziz Navidi, international lawyer and pioneer for many years in
Monte Carlo and Mauritius, flew into Fort Lamy to assist the Baha'is there by
presenting the world-wide character and international status of the Baha'i
Faith to the authorities. After nearly two weeks of constant effort, the
recognition was finally granted and the By-laws registered and published in the
official government journal.
The achievement of the same goal in the Central African
Republic was even more dramatic. An application for recognition and
registration had been submitted by the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of
Bangui in October 1969, but a whole year passed without any reply being
received in spite of the constant efforts of the Assembly to obtain legal
status.
Then, during the celebration of the Birth of Baha'u'llah on
the evening of November 11th, the believers gathered for the meeting were
arrested for suspected subversive activities. They remained under arrest for
four days while an extensive enquiry was made into the Faith and were finally
released when the true character of the Faith became apparent and the suspicions
were found to be without foundation. However, since the Faith had not yet been
given legal status, the believers were prohibited from teaching, holding
meetings of any kind without prior permission, or from distributing Baha'i
literature.
The application for recognition was again brought before the
authorities and it was decided that the application must be submitted to the
Council of Ministers for final approval.
After three months, the Baha'is application had still not
been placed before the Council of Ministers, and so, on completion of his
mission to Chad, Dr. Aziz Navidi flew into Bangui to take up the application
with the highest authorities.
A file of documents presenting the principles, the
world-wide recognition of the Faith, including its being granted consultative
status at the United Nations, and appreciations from non-Baha'i authorities and
individuals was prepared and submitted to the President of the Republic,
General Jean-Bedel Bokassa. After studying the file, the President had it
presented before the Council of Ministers. On 13th February, in a special
session called for that purpose, the Council of Ministers at last approved the
registration of the Faith in the Central African Republic.
Immediately following the meeting of the Council of
Ministers, a radio communique was prepared at the Presidency and broadcast in
each news bulletin thereafter for twenty-four hours, in the national language,
Sango, as well as in French and English. The radio communique gave a brief
history of the Faith and its principles, its non-political character and
insistence upon loyalty to Government, the basic statistics of the Faith
throughout the world, its status and membership among the United Nations
Non-Governmental Organizations and establishment in over sixty major sovereign
states in all continents.
Thus was the Faith first proclaimed far and wide throughout
the country, and was brought, not only to the attention of the Head of State
himself and his Ministers, but also to the entire population of the country by
radio for the first time in the Central African Republic.
(Baha’i News May, 1971)
