Leave time alone to decide; either unity or secession

By Watts Roba Gibia Nyirigwa*

Mar 8, 2006 — Since day one of signing peace agreement in January 2005, there have been continuous debates and opinion piece of views on unity and secession, even prior to the healing of wounds and absolute reconciliation between south and north. As the wounds and detestation created by consecutive wars since 1955 could not be healed over a night, due to the magnitude of accumulated events for more than four decades. But rather, I would prefer if Sudanese were to start from day one of peace deal, concentrating on building what have been destroyed during the war, healing wounds, restoring trust, confidence and rehabilitation instead of trying to predict tomorrow’s color of clouds, while it is clear that the cloud itself is still at initial stage and has not yet reached its final shape!

The healing of wounds, building of trust and confidence between Southerners and Khartoum (north) will take couple of decades to heal as well as building of trust and confidence, as the conflict had taken more than four decades to reach to the current peace agreement. A complete generation was born and grown up in same misery without hope and future but absolute disarray. The South Sudanese underdevelopment and torment was due to the discriminative policy of Khartoum, and consideration of Southerners as backward people and slaves who don’t deserve better life. I have witnessed this in my childhood during the Anya-nya one war, as even some of our northern teachers used to insult and call us rebels and slaves within the classroom! Hence, how would a child form an idea about Northerners in general and about his/her teachers in particular, who were supposed to teach tolerance, coexistence and equality but not discriminative ideology! Thus, it is utterly absurd to fault Southerners for the detestation of Northerners but it is the later. If some Northerners were not accepted in south, it was due to the fact that they came to pocket wealth of south, and have negative role in the southern society as well as development, but rather see themselves superior to Southerners. The scale of destruction done to Southerners for the past decades could not be compared and has no comparison with the so-called Monday black day of 2005 where its victims were utterly from marginalized people! Those Southerners, whom conditionally flew to Khartoum from the brutality of war in south, were humiliated, tortured, harassed and reduced to nothing, the slums and ghetto residential areas at the outskirts of Khartoum could speak for that.

The row over unity and secession is premeditated incitement to deter building process in south, and to pre-occupy Southerners while Khartoum gearing its policies toward the required targets. We have to understand this strategy and philosophy; as Khartoum will never support any development projects in south, as she was aware from day one of peace deal that south stands for secession. Thus, she was not ready to spare effort and money in south Sudan, then at the end of the day secedes. But rather prefers if south wanted to secede, it could go as it is or even in absolute fragility. Yet, here we have to understand another issue, as whether Northerners are actually brothers and sisters to Southerners, as according to Islamic teachings, your brother/sister is your Muslim fellow. And that was obvious when Mujahideen came from different Muslim countries to support their Northern Muslim brothers against south. Thus, if we were being tortured or humiliated because of our faith, we have to stick to our faith and be devoted to it before anything, because at the resurrection day, we will be asked, and if the others could place their faith always first, why not us!

Here, I would like to make it very clear that, when we say Northerners, we do not mean northern regions but we mean ruling circle in Khartoum and those northerners who were claiming cultural and religious superiority and imposition of its ideology on others. And these are the very people trying to disintegrate Sudanese with their discriminative policy and by using Islamic religion as catalyst to achieve their goals. As ever since, the African and Arab ancestors have been living side by side in synchronization but not absolute assimilation, as each group has got its own ethics of living, and each group wanted to preserve its cultural and religious identity. Even the southern Muslims retained their African identity and values but not absolute naturalization with northerners. Thus, religion is for God and the country is for all, and this is the principle which everyone has to adhere to in order to make Sudan home for every Sudanese regardless of race and religion. But the current trend of extremism and adamant position of Khartoum not to separate religion from state is the true obstacle to the unity or New Sudan. The New Sudan would not be built on old and discriminative policies but on new policies where equal opportunity would be the predominant feature far from neo-imperialism and religion extremism.

There have been numerous queries, as who were actually driving and aiding separatists, whether being in south or north, and disintegration of Sudan to whom interest, and that unity will not be attractive unless there is absolute naturalization among the Sudanese nations, and unless detestation of Southerners to Northerners vanishes, as the southerners have to undergo transformation within themselves! All these speculations and queries were trying to find an acceptable recipe for Sudan’s future, but yet it places burden on Southerners without touching the core issues of the predicament. Hence, I do not really understand as what south has to do despite the fact that south has made lot of sacrifices to reach the peace deal. South has given 50% of its oil revenues and its run to north for the sake of peace, south never required compensation for the millions of lives perished during the war, burning of properties, towns, villages and gang raping. And thousands who were tortured at White house, Ghost house and Containers in Juba and particularly after Juba mutiny and massive massacre of civilians in various parts of south and around the petroleum areas. All these atrocities and calamities committed against Southerners were totally ignored, and yet today south is being faulted solitarily and required to undergo transformation despite the fact that her wounds has not yet healed, and still at absolute agony!

Hence, I presume at this juncture, there should be joint efforts and concentration on building and creation of good atmosphere for the true reconciliation, restoration of trust and confidence among the Sudanese citizens, not with aim of unity or secession but for the welfare of the country without placing burden on one side. As time alone would exhibit to us as whether Sudan is actually heading to the right direction of the true democratic transformation and equal opportunities to all Sudanese citizens regardless of race and religion! Thus, the unity of the country will not commence unless Sudan transforms itself and practical adaptation of non-discriminative policy of nationwide development.

* Watts Roba Gibia Nyirigwa is a Sudan Tribune columnist, he can be reached at [email protected]