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218 CHAPTER 5The nicknames tagged onto the educated by their ishumar counterparts arerevealing. They were called the ‘Ondit’ or ‘Entoutcas’, after the French expressionson dit que and en tout cas they often used, even when speaking Tamasheq.58 They were accused of having knowledge, but not using it for the benefitof the Kel Tamasheq; or even of outright betrayal to the Tamasheq cause.Finally, they were accused of being acculturated, a strange accusation that couldeasily be inversed. On their part, the educated reproached the ishumar for beingignorant of the realities of the world; uncivilised; and pursuing an irrelevantcause: National independence for the Kel Tamasheq. Changing society wasnecessary, but not along the vague and half-conceived ideas of the ishumar. Theeducated, in turn, called the ishumar ‘Mazbuten’ from their favourite colloquialArabic expression mazbut, ‘right’, ‘OK’. 59 The animosity between both groupswould reach a head during the rebellion, when the rebels had no choice but tolet the educated negotiate with the Malian Government in their place, as therebels saw themselves unfit to do so or had been side-tracked by the Malianauthorities. In any case, in this dispute between ishumar and the educated I haveentered the arena of political debates within Tamasheq society.TanekraThe disasters hitting the Kel Tamasheq since the 1960s made it all the moreclear to the ishumar that Tamasheq independence was necessary. Some of thesecalamities would not have struck if the Kel Tamasheq had been granted theirown independence, or so the ishumar thought. The Tanekra movement was allabout regaining that independence, expressed in ideas on territory – akal – andthe Tamasheq as a people or nation – temust, or tumast. These concepts foundtheir essential expression in the Tanekra creed akal iyyan, ittus iyyan, temustiyyat: One country, one goal, one people. The slogan is awkwardly similar tothe Malian national creed ‘un peuple un but une foi’: One people, one goal, onereligion. Its similarity to the Malian slogan is not coincidental. National slogansall over the world resemble each other. The language of nationalism lacksoriginality, but this is made up for in zeal. The zealously pursued goal of theTanekra was to reunite the Tamasheq nation in a liberated independent country.Scholars studying Tamasheq society have long argued whether or not aTamasheq country ever existed as a political unity. 60 Those in defence of the585960Belalimat, N. 1996: 75.Conversation with Moussa ag Keyna, frontman and lead guitarist of the al-guitaraband Toumast. Leiden, 04/10/01.This subject dominated the debate that broke out over the political sense and nonsenseof the second Tamasheq rebellion between notably Hélène Claudot-Hawadand Mahmoudan Hawad on one side defending the rebellion and Tamasheq nation-