The Model of the Sudanese Unity (2+3)

by Mahmoud E. Yousif

October 6, 2010 — There were some important examples in our history, such as the one which used to happen in the Sudanese People Liberation Movement (SPLM), where during nineties, there was overwhelming feelings among some for needs for intellectual activities parallel to the military one, we heard low talks about an intention to appoint Cdr Yousif Kuwa Makki as Secretary General for the Movement, it was though that could create changes within the intellectual stagnancy in the Movement, maybe his sickness and death never help achieving that.

Within that chucky environment, nobody could dare to make any critics or suggestions, because it will be considered entering forbidden zone, while our love for freedom was great, from this perspective came my great interests to the book written by Dr. Peter Adok Nyaba in 1998, where he was greatly censured, many things happened, but the book broke that barrier, and created an environment for some possibility freedom of thought.

There was needs to create intellectual dynamic to deepen the Movement ideology and get means to accommodate different and many contradictions particularly between unionists and secessionists, and types of political, economical and social structure that will be followed, with many issues that needs to be tackled, particularly that related to Sudan history, what happened and why? What were the positive and negative aspects in Sudanese history? If there are negativity, what was the factors that caused it? Is it possible to change that?

There are many questions needs to be answered, such as what is the characteristics of the Sudanese society or societies? Are there common links among us as Sudanese, and what is the degrees of these links? As Sudanese do we like each other’s or hate each others? What is the Africanism in us as a nation? And what is the Arabism in us as a nation? What was the level of integration that took place within these structures during the past centuries? Is cessation is good for Sudanese and why, and what is the benefits behind that? Is there positive aspects from the unity of Sudan, and what are these? What was the type of unity called upon by the SPLM/A, and what is the final objectives of it? Did SPLM/A was established to achieve that unity or as a reaction to division of South in 1983? Or just to divide the North in order to get separated regardless of what may happen in the North?

Other important questions, why Nuba, Fung, Darfurian and Northern joined SPLM/A, even with that different proportionality? What was the aspirations of those joined Movement? Did it been defined? And answered? Are these aspirations and objectives still alive? Who were those who came to received Dr. John Garang at the Green Square in Khartoum on July 8, 2005? Were they Africans? Or different constituencies of the societies? Did they wants to establish racial state in Sudan? Or they were aimed at greater Human objectives? What is the relationship between SPLM and the While Flag League? What was the While Flag League? Is it an African Revolution or collective for all the Sudanese? Who lead that Revolution? What was the coordination between the mutinied (or revolution) Sudanese battalion led by Abd al-Fadil al-Maz and the While Flag League lead by Ali Abdu al-Latif? If there is no relations as doubted by the Japanese historian Dr. Yoshiko Korina, then why the British dissolved the While Flag League? What happened after that, and why? How is that and related to representation of Sudanese at that period? We answered several of these in our previous article (New Sudan Vision, Background of the Call).

Who are the Southern currently lived in the north, what is their numbers? What is their position towards the unity and secession of the South? What is their role in the unity of Sudan in the past, present and future? As a bases for Sudanese unity, who do have the right to deny them the right to vote in the referendum?
There are many questions no body trace them, although some tried to answer them, such as: What was the objective from the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA)? Is it for NCP to rule the North, while SPLM the South? Or to unite Sudan? Or to separate the South? Or for the democratic transformation, which many were been deceived by? What is the position of both South Kordofan and Blue Nile, if South secede? Are these two areas part of the North or South? What does the two areas leaders wants? What is the desire of the two areas populations? What is the effects of both areas on the whole Sudan?

What is the number of populations of both areas in other northern areas? Are there other nations who passed through our experience or we are unique case? Can Islamic religion formed a barrier between us? Can South formed a state without Muslims inhabitants? All these questions and more required truth and frank answer, but by whom?

We can’t expect someone like Al-Tayeb Mustafa to faithfully replay on these questions, he tried replaying on some, but from Exclusionary policies he grow upon and became older with it, but the most important question, did both partners tried to make unity attractive, as hoped by the Sudanese people? What was the African role and dimension in what was happening and will happen? What was our role as Sudanese in what is happening? Are we to be driven to unwritten destiny like sheep, by groups knows nothing except hatred? Or we do have a saying and we should participate in making it, and how?
I always look to Sudan as the miniature model for human experience, regardless of difficult challenges facing different actors, the failure or success of its experience is a criteria for the ability and development of human species to adopt, change, develop and waiver for dignified life for the benefits of the coming generations. There are great amount of racial barriers, religions tried to dissolved, unfortunately it was deepened in some groups which didn’t developed by its concepts and humanity, just look at the two polar source of Judaism and Islam, to understand this fact.

There were painful experiences accompanied changes in racial concepts after the second world war, it used to be touched in schools to emphasized and deepened its meanings as a human experience. Unfortunately, these were not absorbed from the perspective of repetition of human experience, writers and Sudanese thinkers failed in analyzing many negative aspects existed in the Sudanese society, which takes tribal and ethnic shapes, except a little whose voices were not listened due to louder politician voices,
Isn’t strange to have tribal clubs in the national capital, and since sixties? That was part of heritage behaviors of some conservative, to protect racial, cultural and behaviors perceived purity, because these clubs were not frequent by other tribes, I remember on October 30, 1974, we went to watch the famous match between Muhammad Ali Clay and George Foreman at Kinshasa, Zaire, in one of these tribal clubs in Dum Alshargia (Eastern Dim), although the club was near to Khartoum Institute College (currently Sudan University), but there was a feeling of great distances parting us, it was mid seventies, and came the salvation, these became a num, the tribal feelings overcomes the national belonging, within such environment, human backwardness signs start appearing!

Recently a friend from Abyei asked me, why there are no Philosophers in Sudan? I told him, we used to have giants, like Alsalmabi, Prof. Alnzir Dafalla, .. to Dr. Francis Deng, unfortunately we were dragged backward and credit to our politicians, till the field is crowded with lousy, while the talented are working to fulfill living!

Human experiences have proved, there is a distances between thinkers from one side and politicians and militarism on the other end of the spectrum, unfortunately this distance is very small or don’t exist in Africa, except in rare cases, like the late Nigerian hero Ken Saro – Wole Soyinka, and our great late Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, and rare others!

Let us see sample of African intellect towards the CPA, particularly the Pan Africanists, what was their role in making unity attractive in Sudan?
Sudan with it is geographical location, and diversities is the suitable place for smelting differences. In Sudan many ethnicities were dissolved, from the east came Ethiopians, Eretria’s, from North East, came the Arabs crossing the Red Sea, From the North the Egyptians, North West came the Libyans, the Moroccans and the Mauritanians, from the West came the Chadians, Nigerians, Niger’s, Mali and many others, from the South West came several tribes from the Central African Republic and Congo DRC, from the south came the Ugandans and Kenyas in south east.

All these countries do have racial and intermarriage relations with Sudan, where the phenomena produced, factors which help to create environments of tolerance and many common elements, which was the bases for the formation of concepts through which Africans personality and Union could have been build. Let us only compare popular and official relations that link Sudan with above mentioned countries till eighties (Eretria didn’t exist), and compared it with what link Europeans after the second World War, in less than fifty years they leap over many barriers, to live in more human society! While we retreats in Africa and Sudan, and on the verge of defragmentation, what is the benefit of African Union if it can’t work to strengthen and deepen such ready structural elements of unity such as Sudan? Then what unity dose African Union works to achieve? If it failed to achieve such simple unity, then it better named “African Laceration”!

The CPA stipulated making the Unity attractive in Sudan? It stipulated that, the interim period should be given to make unity attractive, this role is not to be carried out only by Sudanese and their government, Africans do have great role in that, more than the Arabs, IGADE partners, it is not only for presidents and countries, not only by bringing money and investments, there are other things which are more important than these, things that were linked with concepts and values which had emerged during the past centuries, from different common relations that dominated among the Sudanese.

Most of Southern tribes, such as Dinka, Nuer, Shiluk, Baria, etc .. thinks to originate from Kush Kingdom, does these tribes retreats as one unit? Or it left groups, heritages, cultures, and concepts behind, to become part of present composition? There was attempts to get ride from these components which becomes part of Sudanese personality. The supposed major role for African intellect was to study the Sudanese case, to bring up different positive and negative aspects which formulated relations between north and south, for better understanding of the Sudanese case, and the degree of strength that tie them together, and what diverge them apart, then when the voting for self determination comes, every Southern will be on full awareness of what he will vote for, and the danger and benefits of that on his live?

By Mahmoud E. Yousif

The dominant concept about Southern hatred towards Sudanese unity is the evilness of Galaba and their intellects! But a question could be asked, are the whole northern Sudanese structure consist only from this Galaba?

Mulana Mohamed Oman Al-Mergani, Dr. Hider Ibrahim, Amir Abdulla Khalil, Mohamed Osman Saleh, Afaf Saleh, Mohamed mutasim Hakim, Dr. Ali Kogali and Bashire Ahmed Salman, these are samples from the north and non SPLM members, but became known to many SPLM/A members in Kampala, Nairobi and Cairo, they stood with justice concepts, and equality till the end, many of them participated to achieve these, and they with many others paid dearly, but did SPLM leaders reacted positive towards that? And does African intellects knows about that?

But who are these Galaba, and how many does they represents in the Sudanese society? Generally what is the percentage of Northern at upper Sudan? And what they represents in comparison to the total population of Sudan? Are they 10% or 15%? Then what is the percentage of Galaba among them? And what does they represents to the others 5%?

Isn’t Dr. Johan Garang who said “even the Dinka can become Galaba”! Didn’t he?

The most important question is, with whom Southern will live in the united Sudan? Did Southern hate people of Nuba, Fung or Darfurian? Those people lived together with Southern during the war in the South, in Nuba, in Blue Nile and even in Darfur with Hilu-Bolad, even northern lived with southern in South during the war in areas controlled by SPLM/A in Totit, Kapuita, Yei, Rumbek and Maridi, as many Southern lived even in Eastern Sudan, and they became part of these places.
Those from the extreme North whom I mentioned and many others, represents the core towards building Sudan of justice with human face. They were not running after financial gains in the South, rather it is that feelings of belonging to this country which the Nuba greatly participated in establishing through military establishments and civil rights struggles in different era, more than the people of North, they were the fighting force, keeping law and order during the Turkish and in Mahdist, where they were promoted to high ranks, and they were the bulky of the Anglo-Egyptian force till 1924, and many other input which can be disclose, if not the current cloudy environment.

Someone may say there are many deformities in the ruling Sudanese establishment, yeas everyone agree with that, even the president Omer Hassan Al-Bashire, said at Naivash on December 31, 2005 “Tonight Sudan got new Independence”, these words carried deep important meanings, first it is recognition of past negativisms, the chance was great for SPLM to make that great transformations where Southern may find himself in, before others!

But what is the ideal character or personality of Southern that SPLM leaders are thinking to formulate from the current Southern populations? Or in another way, what is the shape of Southern, supposed to be formulated after some decades?

Replaying to this required us to asked, “what is the ideal personality aimed to by humanity?”, this question is related to the perceived type of life, exhibited by degree of happiness and happy life? Is it the Ugandan example? The Kenyan? Ethiopian? British? Or the South African example?
There are specific qualities that exist only in Sudan, such as: generosity, nobility, supports for weaker, tolerance, liberality, popular direction, social supports, generosity to neighbors, respects to elders and others which only existed in the Sudanese society. These values are the one ignited 1964 revolution in consolidation with the cause of people of the South against the military junta of November 1958/64, it is the one which lead to the upraising of April 1984 for the cause of people of South among others, they are the values of the voiceless groups, who got out welcoming Dr. John Garang on July 8, 2008. Are Southern values doesn’t existed within these values? did SPLM leadership thought of that?

Till mid eighties, there was a big sign posted in the United Nations square in Khartoum written on it the followings:

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

– to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
– to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
– to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
– to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

These words participated in the formation of many concepts which been destroyed, Sudanese used to think the Movement will restore these concepts, it is among the reason they came out in millions welcoming Dr. John Garang, in order to restore these values, that could have participated in the building of Sudanese personality including the Southern.

Let us take a country like South Africa, many doesn’t know about Nelson Mandela greatness, that he refused to be given his personal freedom in exchange of recognizing the Apartheid regime, he refused a racial South Africa that could be control by Black Africans, his human dimension is the one behind the present Rainbow Nation, it was not the others values, all of us remember the tragedy of Africans migrants, particularly the Zimbabweans, how many were they, while facing Mugabe at home?

These happened in an advanced economical country like South Africa, which has African debts of sympathy and supports during the struggles! Take the Sudanese, in early eighties, there were more than one million Africans in Sudan, we all knows Ethiopians and Eritreans houses in Gadarif, Kassala, Port Sudan, even at areas of Al-Grief and Deum Al-Shargia in Khartoum, did any of them was killed, because of their economical activities? There was the Congolese in Yei, Ragaf and Maridi, they even reached Khartoum and competed with Sudanese Watchmakers, and Fishermen in Juba and Charcoals Traders in Ragaf, did any of them been chased? The Chadians were another story, they entered lived and returned to power twice, Habri in 1982 and Debi in 1990, and they are still living in different cities of Sudan! The Ugandans, when Amin was defeated in 1979, they were given agricultural lands at Keit (60 miles on Juba Nimoli road), and Tori (40 miles Yei Maridi road), many doesn’t know there were many Kenyans who took refuge in Sudan between 1958/60, one of them was King Machari he studied in Sudanese education establishments, and graduated as a medical doctor, but prefer to work in Sudan till he died (I think in nineties), God bless him, other Kenyans took refuge after the failed coup in 1982, they were not chased nor forbidden from works, non was killed, it is characteristic all of us should be proud of, from Nimoli to Halfa, from Port Sudan to Al-Ginyna, because it is a Sudanese, it was not for interests or gains, it is for humanity, where can you get this?

During the recent World Cup on 18 June 2010 at 7:30 p.m., Aljazeera English channel interviewed Holland supporters, one of them traveled to South Africa by land, they passed several countries, he spoke about the trip saying, one of the best countries he passed through was Sudan, “Sudanese are good people, everywhere they welcome us to their houses and insisting we are to eat”, it was good talks about us as a nation, at that time I felt proud as a Sudanese, this is not an Arabian or African culture, it is a Sudanese resulted from interactions of many cultures and civilizations.

In sixties, and nineties Southern teachers and students were taken to the North for educations and works during the closures of schools in the South, the impressions of all of them were very good, and it is a long story.
I talked in depth about Religions with brother Yousif Kuwa, particularly Islam, he was equitable and believed in the rights of every person in faith through personal conviction, and worship according to these convictions, for that reasons and as the Patron of the New Sudan Islamic Council (NSIC) he applied to Mulana Mohamed Osman Al-Mergani, for the membership of the International Islamic Council, that was on 14 August 2000 (I have a copy of that).

The greatness of a state based on Humanity, aimed at by perfect soul, is to satisfied every material and spiritual requirements of all individuals, and our relations with Metaphysics is too complicated for any person to judge righteous and wrong of any religion, but the perfections state is the one which provides the elements to create compatibility, internal mental and psychological balance in personality of each citizens, this can’t be attained except through believes in general principles of Human Rights, and to transform this into civilized behaviors, as some of which used to exist in seventies.

A friend from the South, who grow up in Latin America, asked me one time, “Sudan is a large country, why people can’t stay together?”, I don’t know what to replay except saying “Maybe we need to bring the Chinese whose numbers are large and staying in small area, to teach us how to manage staying together!”, this area which can bear more than 4 billion in Chinese standards, isn’t it capable to bear only 40 millions, and to transform it into heaven? What a shame!

Back to African efforts, last year an International Sudan Studies Conference was held under theme “The Future of Sudan to 2011 and Beyond : African Dimensions of Peace, Stability, Justice and Reconciliation”, at the University of South Africa, Pretoria between 22-26 November 2009.

Regardless of papers presented, no paper tackled the future of the three areas, their expectations, the interim period, during which efforts supposed to be exerted for making unity attractive, or at least giving it a chance, unfortunately there wasn’t a paper about making unity attractive or at least giving unity a chance, rather all concentration was on the referendum and what may result from it.

The conference was a good African chance to exert some efforts, particularly when the Conference final communiqué mentioned the following among others:

“We are fully aware that the Sudan is facing serious challenges in its political stability, national integrity and sovereignty and that the country is heading towards a bleak future unless serious and genuine measures are urgently undertaken to defuse the prevailing tensions and help promote and maintain justice, peace, security, reconciliation and unity — conditions vital to development and to the serious amelioration of the condition of women, children, internally displaced people, and refugees”

It also included a strong appeal for CPA parties to the, IGAD and the troika (the USA, UK and Norway), to the African Union and the United Nations, and to all political forces and civil society in Sudan, to put in place measures that will ensure that credible elections and referendums are held in accordance with the CPA and the Interim National Constitution and the Constitution of Southern Sudan.

It was mentioned that, Sudan is facing many challenges, and it call for the work to help promote and maintain justice, peace, security, reconciliation and unity, but how? While many are convinced with the ideas, that elections and referendum should be carried out peacefully, till South is disconnected, and here appear the most important question, did unity been given a chance by both parties? And did the others tried to achieve that? Or everybody just surrender to that defeatist status, which is to be imposed on Sudanese?

As we mentioned, we will try to answer some of these questions, with great hope it will represents a positive participations for reviews, so that people may know something about our background as Sudanese, and what may brings us as African with the greater Human society, which I with many like me, were convinced it was the main aim of SPLM/A.

Mandela said “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony……It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

He also said during the opening of the first democratic elected parliament in South Africa “The government I have the honor to lead and I dare say the masses who elected us to serve in this role, are inspired by the single vision of creating a people-centered society. Accordingly, the purpose that will drive this government shall be the expansion of the frontiers of human fulfillment, the continuous extension of the frontiers of the freedom.”

The time span for Mandela speech was three decades, during which human dignity was achieved in South Africa, for both the white and Black, can we know some secrets of life between the two quotes? The question is, did the distance that separates us as Sudanese greater than that used to exist in South Africa? If Mandela did it, is it impossible for us? Particularly with some hopes from statements by regional and International Organizations to works towards making unity attractive, as stated by the CPA, of course the Sudanese people of Southern Sudan are the one finally to determined their own destiny, I hope they will do that with great awareness knowing their background. But where is Darfur within all this vortexes? We will continue.

The author is an Independent researcher. He can be reached at [email protected]