Celebrate the 47th anniversary of Sudan’s October 1964 Revolution
By Mahmoud A. Suleiman
October 19, 2011 — Friday 21 October 2011 marks the 47th anniversary of the Glorious Sudanese rebellion that provided living proof that the alliance and the determination of students, trade unions, civil servants, professional bodies, people from marginalised regions, civil society organisations, youth, women’s organisations and political parties nationwide were capable not only of toppling the military junta led by General Ibrahim Abboud, but also of enabling themselves to build new democratic institutions and declare a bill of citizenship rights. Moreover, the October 21 1964 revolution inspired and offered a groundbreaking opportunity for the marginalised people of the Sudan from Dongola to Nimule and Port Sudan to Geneina to form their own political forums. It was the first instance in Sudan’s political landscape for the country to witness the emergence of the power of the marginalised to fight for equality and justice. The Beja, in the eastern region formed the ‘Beja Congress;’ people in the Southern Sudan region set up ‘SANO and Southern Front;’ individuals such as the late Father Philip Abbas Gabboosh and his fellow compatriots put together the ’Union of the Nuba Mountains’ in Southern Kordofan; and the Region of Darfur witnessed the birth of the Darfur Renaissance/Development Front.
Observers say that the Sudanese people, amid the calamities blighting them, seem to have neglected the great goal set by the October 1964 Revolution. They add that the extreme humility of the Sudanese people’s cultural background might be a contributing factor for this. Whereas political analysts and experts in Sudanese affairs believe that it is due to the deliberate attempt by the successive military junta regimes to disregard the largely unsung events which could spark an uprising for their survival. It is more timely for the oppressed people of Sudan today than any other time to remember that day to commemorate the remarkable event and to make it happen again. The Sudanese people should talk of the October 21 1964’s glorious revolution with pride. That revolution sparked in Sudan almost half a century earlier than the ‘Arab Spring Uprisings’ of this year.
All the factors for the return of another glorious Sudanese revolution are prevailing in the current political atmosphere in which public freedoms have been confiscated, mouths are gagged, corruption is widespread, accountability is in abeyance, absence of rule of law is rife, and racism and cronyism have become the ruling NCP daily practice. Poverty, famine, illiteracy and disease are rampant. The National Congress Party/National Islamic Front (NCP/NIF) military regime that has assumed power after a military coup d’état on June 30th 1989 has spread and waged wars causing atrocities and heinous crimes all over the Sudan, including crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, mostly among the marginalised majority in the Southern Sudan, far Northern region, Eastern Sudan, Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, South Blue Nile region, and the region of Darfur. The unrepentant fundamentalist Islamism-Arabism claimant NCP regime headed by the fugitive ICC indicted criminal Omer Hassan al-Bashir has committed the most serious and evil crime through making unity an unattractive and impossible concept for the Sudanese citizens in the then south of the country, resulting in their secession and formation of their own free state, the Republic of South Sudan. Thus the former largest country in the African continent called Sudan (one million square miles) is reduced by a third in size and has lost 8 million of its citizens.
The October 21 1964 spirit continued to inspire the marginalised majority in rural Sudan resulting in the emergence of Darfur rebel movements of Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), as an extension of the great October Sudanese Revolution to achieve the citizenship rights in a country dominated by small minority of inept elites since independence of Sudan in 1956.
Whereas the October 21 1964 Revolution was sparked by the longing of the Sudanese people for freedom, the next Sudanese revolt/uprising has, in addition, exploitation of the Islamic religion for evil purposes, tyranny, systematic corruption, injustices, exclusion of others, summary extra judiciary killings, torturing of opponents in the infamous ghost houses, looting the resources and capabilities of the country, theft of public money, nepotism & establishing the principle of ‘loyalty before competence,’ neglect of national sovereignty by leaving neighbouring countries annexing Sudanese land and committing heinous crimes of rape, genocide etc as precipitating factors. It is thought that the Sudanese Youth Organisations and the rest of the public that include the Allied Armed resistance forces formed in Kauda by the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement North (SPLMN), the Justice & Equality Movement (JEM), Sudan Liberation Army Minni Minnawi (SLAMM) and Sudan Liberation Army Abdel Wahid (SLAAW) along with the Sudanese Front for Change (SFC), the Broad National Front (BNF) and the Sudanese Political Parties, Women Organisations as well as the Nationalists in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) who chose to side with the national agenda, all would target the common arch enemy to bring about the regime change and uproot the NCP government once and for all and throw its pitiful isolated elements into the dustbin of the history.
The people of Sudan have learnt the hard way that absolute pardon for the crimes committed by despotic regimes and the phrase ‘let bygones be bygones,’ are no longer be considered. Such naïve public attitudes in Sudan have encouraged the military dictators to venture forth to commit further crimes against the ever-forgiving Sudanese people. There is something else of equal importance worth considering and keep in mind, and that is, to be aware of the opportunists who tend to come after the success of the revolution to pick up the fruits for their own advantage; knowing that they did not participate with the rebels in the revolution. This is what happened in the glorious October 1964 Revolution and also in the 6 April 1985 popular uprising, which ousted Marshal Jaafar Mohmed Nimeiri and removed the despotic abhorrent regime of May 25th military coup d’état.
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]