Why do Darfurians demand Darfur back into a single region?

By Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman

January 2, 2008 — The return of Darfur to its single entity as a region with its preexisting borders, some of which was carved and annexed by the Northern region, and restoring its status in 1994 has been and continues to be one of the most important

aspirations of its citizens. Furthermore, turning Darfur back into a single region was a big issue for Darfur rebel movements at the negotiating table in Abuja. Alex de Waal said the Darfur rebel Chief negotiators insisted on this to the last. Alex de Waal wrote in his article in the London Review of Books titled “I WII NOT SIGN” on the outcome of the Abuja talks and the creation of the DPA says: “In 2010 there is to be a referendum as to whether Darfur should become an autonomous region – a provision that falls short of rebel demands for Darfur to become a region with full powers, immediately”.

The move dismantled the region into three shambolic states in a chaotic quasi federal system and has completely diluted the power of the people of Darfur. History has been repeated in the Region of Darfur as Col Ja’far Muhammad Numayri, did in 1983, when he divided the region of southern Sudan into three regions, abrogating the 1972 Addis Ababa Accord, with the aim of avoiding the domination of the region by the Dinka. He then introduced shari’ah law in 1983, followed by martial law in 1984 at height of his lunacy. Similarly, Numayri’s trial to incorporate the Region of Darfur into Kordofan erupted the El Fasher uprising forcing him to cancel the resolution. The people of Darfur put pressure on Ja’far Nimeiri’s government to appoint Ahmed Ibrahim Draij as governor of Darfur region in the 1970s until 1984.

The ruling regime of NCP in Khartoum pushed to keep the Darfur region split during the protracted and bitter rounds of peace negotiations. The offer on the table at the time was a regional authority to be granted, but on a temporary basis until referendum on turning Darfur back into a single region. The infamous DPA which was rejected by the people of Darfur stipulated that a referendum on the integration of the three Darfur states into a single region will be held in 2010. The DPA was flawed, full of outstanding concerns and shrouded by mistrust between the National Congress Party (NCP) government and the SLA group led by Minni Minnawi (SLA/MM). Minni Minnawi signed the DPA under pressure from the mediators and international actors. Analysts and observers said being encouraged by the international community, the government of Sudan (GOS) has implemented the agreement’s political provisions and awarded the SLA/MM with positions in the so-called Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA). Further, in Abuja the Sudanese government’s National Congress Party (NCP), used the power sharing talks to drive a contentious wedge between the southern Sudanese (SPLM/A), on the one hand, and Darfurians (SLAMM), on the other, exploiting the fact that the SPLM opposes a power sharing deal for Darfur because it would reduce the Southerners’ hard-fought political gains under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

To answer the Sixty Four Dollar ($64) question, why do the people of Darfur demand Darfur back into a Single Region?, I thought it pertinent to provide some background information about Darfur and its peoples to take it into historical context. Going back to history to learn lessons is important because the logic and the mentality of the National Islamic Front (NIF/NCP) Government now is a continuation of authoritarianism as an integral part of its Arabised culture wrapped in the contemporary Neo-political Islam to suppress the Will of the people of Sudan in Darfur. This is done by applying hegemony tools of exploitation, intimidation, tyranny, rein of terror and the ideology of totalitarianism. With the highlights of the New Year 2008 and January the First marking the Independence Day of Sudan, it is also well worth to reflect and give it a thought about the reasons that have made our country in so much trouble during all those 52 years!

Darfur (Arabic ??? ???, meaning “homeland of the Fur”) is a region in the far western Sudan. It is strategically placed, bordering Libya to the north-west, Chad to the west, and the Central African Republic to the south-west. Darfur covers an area of some 493,180 km² (196,555 miles²) about three-quarters the size of Texas, or slightly smaller than France. It is largely an arid plateau with the Marrah Mountains (Jebel Marra), a range of volcanic peaks rising up to 3,000 m (10,100 ft), in the centre of the region. The North comprises a sandy desert, the South a bush forest. The region’s main towns are El Fashir, Nyala, and El Geneina. Historically, Darfur had been an independent entity ruled by different kingdoms and sultanates, usually named after the dominant tribe: Dajo Sultanate (12th –13th Century AD), Tungor Sultanate (End of 13th –Fist Half of the 15th Century AD). In the year 1445, Sultan Suleiman (usually distinguished by the Fur epithet Solong the Arab or the Red) established an independent state until 1874 when was conquered by the Turco-Egyptian force which was in turn defeated by the Muhammad Ahmad Mahdi. Under the new rule, the region became part of Sudan until the collapse of the Mahadia State in 1899 when Darfur had again become an autonomous sultanate with international relations and representation, besides being a member of the League of Nations. In view of the support Sultan Ali Dinar gave to the Turkish Empire during the First World War, the British invaded Darfur in 1916 when the Keira dynasty of the Fur people ended. Ever since, Darfur remained as one entity and governed as a single administrative unit (province) until the infamous coup d’état of the 30th June 1989 by the National Islamic Front (NIF) elements who, under their evil agenda of Divide and Rule doctrine, changed the administrative system and dismantled it by dividing the Region into three quasi federal states: Gharb Darfur (West Darfur), Janub Darfur (South Darfur) and Shamal Darfur (North Darfur) in 1994, within Sudan. This act had brought enormous enmity, tragedy and devastation among the tribal groups that made up of diverse mixture of Arab and non-Arab ethnicity. The notions such as African, Zurga or black, in reference to non Arabic tribes were unheard of in the past. The elder wise people would sigh and mumble:’ THis is not the Darfur we know!’ As late as 6 years ago, Darfurians whose estimated population is 8 million people did not identify themselves as “Africans” or “Arabs.” They referred to themselves as Sudanese and secondarily as Westerners or Darfurians. Only recently, with the National Congress Party (NCP) government waging proxy war against the Non-Arab communities that the Darfurians began calling themselves “Africans.” While ethnic tensions have certainly increased in Darfur due to the current conflict, but it is largely a result of the government’s political and military policy of manipulating ethnicity, stirring up racial hatred and using ethnic militias to fight the rebels when its own military force failed to face the bravery of the combatants from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and SLM/A on the ground. These are the tools of the National Islamic Front génocidaires. NIF has carried the northern elite’s ideology of Islamism to its logical conclusions. It established the most brutal and discriminatory regime Sudan has ever seen.

The largest ethnic group within Darfur are the Fur people, who consist mainly of settled subsistence farmers and traditional cultivators. Other non-Arab, “African”, groups include the Zaghawa nomads, the Meidob, Massaleit, Dajo, Berti, Kanein, Mima, Bargo, Barno, Gimir, Tama, Mararit, Fellata, Jebel, Sambat and Tunjur. The mainly pastoralist Arab tribes in Darfur include Habania, Beni Hussein, Zeiyadiya, Beni Helba, Ateefat, Humur, Khuzam, Khawabeer, Beni Jarrar, Mahameed, Djawama, Rezeigat, and the Ma’aliyah. Sudanese sociologists have suggested that the population in Darfur can also be divided into four groups: the Baggara (cattle nomads), the Aballa (camel nomads), the Zurga (a Darfur name for non-Arab peasants derived from the Arabic word for black), and the inhabitants of the urban centres. A more culturally-based classification distinguishes between four groups: the Arabs; the fully arabised; the partly Arabised; and the non-Arabised. The “Arabs” are the native Arabic speakers: the Rezeigat, the Zeiyadiya, Beni Hussein, and the Djawama nomads who, as a result of intermarriage with the indigenous Darfurians, look much darker than non-Sudanese Arabs. The “fully Arabised” group is made up of those Darfurians, such as the Berti, who have lost their native languages to Arabic. The third, “partly arabised” group is made up of those communities such as the Fur, the Zaghawa, and the Meidob, who have kept their native languages, but also speak Arabic fluently. The last “non-Arabised” group consists of tribes that speak very little Arabic, for example, the Massaleit, some sections of the Zaghawa, the Berti, the Mima, the Tama, and the Kanein. A linguistically-based analysis would categorise as “African” those whose mother-languages belonging to the Nilo-Saharan language group.

We know that development of different regions, provinces and counties will shape their particular traditions and results into sustained economy, cultural integrity and administrative autonomy. Moreover, different regions can take specific roles within the State. If we take European countries as example, we find that before the First World War and in the time of the Weimar Republic the various German provinces (Landes) obtained considerable autonomy, which they still preserve as members of the Bundesrepublik. Similarly, there are distinct economic and political regions in Great Britain (the historical countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), in Austria (the previous hereditary provinces), in Italy (the provinces) and in the newly decentralised Spain (Catalonia, Basque County which is one of the most industrialized regions of Spain, Andalucía), even in France wherein despite the traditionally strong central power, more and more important governmental issues are treated by the local governments of the traditional provinces. It is a generally known fact that in Switzerland the principle of regional autonomy is wide-spread, that is, the smaller regions that are called cantons (equalling the counties and districts in Hungary) arrange their internal affairs through powerful local governments. This approach is derived from the ideal of the historical community of European nations as well as from the actual unification of Europe. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, state structures became far too powerful (and exclusive), consequently the overpowering state administration suppressed society, traditional communities, particularly in Central Europe, hence dangerously limiting spontaneous processes within economic and cultural life.

This Northern Riverain Sudan region elite’s Islamist hegemony has been effectively challenged by the marginalised majority who continue fighting for a united democratic and secular Sudan. Dr. Adam M. Abdelmoula in his article “Islamism, Politics, and the Constitution in the Sudan” says the popular revolt in October 1964 was a landmark of protest against domination. Sudan’s political landscape had witnessed the emergence of power of the marginalised Regions of Darfur (Darfur Renaissance/ Development Front), Kordofan (Union of the Nuba Mountains), Eastern Region (the Beja Congress), and Southern Sudan (SANO and Southern Front). Initially, these were pressure groups established by educated persons who maintained strong ties with their grassroots (mainly tribes). Over the years they have accumulated a wealth of experience and some of them have already transformed themselves into parties. However, the most fundamental development in this regard is the emergence of Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/SPLA). Since its inception in 1983, it has fought for a united democratic and secular Sudan. In many respects the SPLM/SPLA represents a more sophisticated (and armed) expression of the same cause that led to the creation of the said entities, to fight for equality and justice.

The People of Sudan should consider applying an extended form of federalism with most powers devolved to autonomous Regions. Importantly, citizenship should be the basis of enjoying all rights and freedoms and forbade discrimination based on religion, ethnic origin, and affiliation to a certain region or gender. The bulk of power and resources that devoted to the Arabised Riverain Northern elites by the Anglo-Egyptian colonials should cease to continue. The pattern of economic and political marginalization after the independence of Sudan achieved in 1956 should come to an end if united Sudan remains an aspiration of the majority. The future of Sudan should not lie in the hands of members of the hegemonic northern elites who inherited the state of Sudan when the British colonial government left the Sudan
in 1956.

Lastly but not the least, we ought to worry about our currently Failed State of Sudan under the rein of the National Congress Party (NCP) to disintegrate in the manner of Somalia. The story of Yugoslavia which tore the country apart is still vivid in the living memory. Some hope may be expected for the people of Sudan if the crisis in Darfur resolves, rule of law prevails, civil liberties, human rights and fundamental freedoms restored. Free and fair Democratic elections which increase the likelihood of a peaceful transfer of power could finally “emerge the country from the fragility of collapsed failed status.” The International Community needs to bear in mind that attempts toward partial solutions to problems such as the case of the one in Darfur today would lead to further deterioration of the situation and escalation of the crisis. The DPA is a good example of partial solution imposed under increased pressure by international actors.

Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is the Deputy Chairman of the General Congress for Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). He can be reached at [email protected]