Let the debate boil down to the referendum

By Luk Kuth Dak

May 25, 2010 — Now that there remain only about a few months before the general referendum in South Sudan, one would hope that much of the debate must now be boiled down to the aftermath of the referendum, instead of the invariable barking of some in making a dead unity attractive.

For brevity’s sake, won’t it be ludicrous for anybody- Southern or Northern- with an ounce of common sense and good judgment, to ever assume that what was not done in the half a century long and counting, of the Sudanese illusive unity can now be achieved in a matter of seven months?

That’s a legitimate question, given the mixed signals the National Congress Party sometimes sends. In recent days the skunked pit bulls of the regime of tyrant Omer al Basher have reignited their proverbial rhetoric of threats and smear tactics, that the South can’t possibly stand on two healthy feet, if it chooses to separate. “ The Sudan must not be divided under a government of the National Congress Party,” vaunted Ali al Atabani, the owner of the regime’s newspaper, al Rayulaam.

That was not all.

The regime’s strongman and Vet Doctor, Nafia Ali Nafia, an Islamist extremist and a bigoted zealot, was quoted as disparaging: “ South Sudanese are not qualified to run a village, let alone a state; We must keep this country together, that’s what our forefathers would want us to do.” He barked.

Evidently, that’s yet another example of the NCP’s government being untruthful about its true intentions towards the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), and making unity attractive, especially to the people who suffered the most. Indeed, sadly so, the only thing that these extremists have ever done in South Sudan, was none other than the divide-and rule policies, stealing of the oil revenue, and arming their sellout militias, of course, to destabilize and disrupt the security situation in the region, in order to postpone or nullified the referendum for good.

Now, we all expect these kinds of stuff from the dishonest, racist and ideological loons, but from Gen. Athor Deng, a Dinka son? That’s takes the issue to another level!!

In one of my previous articles, I argued that, for unity to have a chance, it has to be built, first and foremost, on honesty, mutual respect, goodwill, trust and most importantly, confidence. It’s more like a marriage, that you have to work on everyday to make it work. Unfortunately, those essential component of unity are seriously lacking in the core relations between the two parts of the country, at least for now.

Subsequently, if you’re a South Sudanese who happens to visit the so-called “ National Capital,” Khartoum, you will most certainly be shocked! There’s really nothing that you will see to make you feel at home. Certainly, you won’t find a single street named after a Southerner. In fact, you will be greeted with a street named after the slave master, al Zubeir Rahma Pasha!

But if you took a careful listening to the sarcasm in the invictus inaugural speech by Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit, the Chairman of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement SPLM) and President of the government of South Sudan (GoSS), then you should know that the SPLM leadership has made an unambiguous decision that the time has simply ran out for any talks about an attractive unity. It will now throw it unequivocal support behind the South Sudanese people, in their just quest for the freedom that they’ve never had. “ There’s no turning back.” Said the SPLM’s Secretary General, Pagan Amum.

Now, the think-tanks, the journalists, the writers, on both sides of the country have a pivotal role to play, in order to make the separation all the more peaceful and smooth, and not to allow the NIF Lunatics to lead us into disastrous devoice that will have lasting effects on any future reunification.

“ A lie cannot live.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1964.

The author is Vice President of the Sudanese-Americans Journalist Union, and former anchorman at Juba Radio. He can be reached: [email protected].