In my previous article (4-1) I slightly touched some burning issues in order to politely stimulate the readers’ curiosity, insights and feedback for a constructive dialogue. I raised the issue of the ongoing war and its equal negative impacts on us in comparison with the previous wars which had disproportionate and imbalanced negative impacts on the entire geographical parts of Sudan. I, as well, touched those who are still reluctant to pull their heads out of the sand and encounter the reality. I went further to intentionally shake the so-called sacred national pillars “the taboos” and the red lines which are not permissible to be crossed. I also raised the issue of the acute distrust among the Sudanese citizens. I also slightly touched the issue of the Sudanization Committee of 1954 and its negative impacts then I concluded by saying that we are in an urgent need of a peace that accommodates our interests and that we have to get united to acquire that peace.
When some parts of the country get the short end of the stick when the wealth and resources of the state are divided whereas certain parts of the country get the lion share of these resources, this is, by common sense, a clear and official invitation for insurgency and rebellion. When insurgency took place, peace and stability would be at stake. This is a simple equation that doesn’t need an evening class to be understood. The peace that we are in a desperate need of is the peace that no one is left in the cold or behind. The peace that we need is the home-made peace, a peace of our designing and making that carries our flavor and taste. Home-made peace usually carries within itself the necessary ingredients of its existence and survival while imported and outside-made peace usually carries in-built viruses of its extinction and vanishing.
Peace from within necessitates a genuine national will and determination. Sadly, we lack that genuine will. We, since we gained the easy-earned political independence in the year 1956, have continuously been in short supply of a true national will which could have paved the ground for a true sustainable peace. Sudanization Committee members of the year 1954 had a rare and golden opportune to made this Sudan a better place for all of us. Sudan could have been a homeland that could accommodate all our diverse backgrounds, but greed, sectarianism, tribalism, favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism that were adopted by that committee totally refused to give any space to that Sudan to be a true Sudan that accommodates our diversity. Unfortunately, the peace that we need has been victimized and scarified since that time. The sins and negative repercussions of that infamous Sundanization Committee have been trickled down on the entire structural systems and institutions of the country. What we are suffering now is highly attributable to the yields and outputs of that notorious Committee.
If these historical realities remained intentionally unchecked, and these structural injustices kept, as well, wittingly unrecognized, painful memories of the past would continue to get rekindled time and time again.
In order to make the giant leap from the peace that we want to the peace that we need in a smooth manner, we need to change our level of thinking in a way that suits the current context. The old level of thinking has shackled us within the context of the notorious process of the Sudanization of the administrative and military posts that took place in 1954.
Unfortunately, no one single Sudanese individual has courageously dared to shed any light on that notoriously infamous era. more than 800 administrative and military posts had been monopolized by the North and only few handful (6-9) had been allocated to the Southerners whereas the rest was greedily consumed by the North. It was in that era of the so-called Sudanization of the posts of 1954, that justice and equity was brutally scarified by the Northerners.
The negative repercussions of the Sudanization process that took place in 1954 are still tirelessly haunting our nations through its insidious creeping into our public and private sectors and institutions. Sadly, Sudanese historians, as usual, intentionally avoid talking about this process of Sudanization in a clear and frank manner because such a talk will widely open a chapter that will hardly be shut again. Sustainable peace that we need has a cost and that cost has to be paid immediately and without any delay because the patience of the sustainable peace that we envision is getting exhausted and eroded.
Historical structural injustices reformation is, literally, pinpointing to such historical deformations and deficiencies which have been clearly manifested in Sudanization process that took place in 1954. Sudanese people eagerly or impatiently want to know these 800 plus posts and the names of the people who occupied the positions of those administrative and military posts and their ethnic backgrounds. It is unfortunate that Sudanese historians, intellectuals, and academics, have miserably failed to go into details about that particular process of the Sudanization. Sudan will never be at ease as long as such practices are still going on. Sudan will never recover as long as these deadly and lethal viruses of the Sudanization process are still alive in our national structures and government institutions.
Is going into details doesn’t accommodate certain interests of certain Sudanese ethnic groups or what? This is not a provocative question that aims at inciting any sedition or indignation of any kind but rather a curious question that aims at trying to know the naked truth. Knowing the naked truth is a cornerstone or a prerequisite for the sustainable peace that we are in a desperate need of.
Hiding the heads in the sand will not help any longer because Sun will doubtlessly rise and when it reaches the Noon it gets hotter and hotter and the sand becomes unbearable for the heads that have been hidden in it. It is advisable for these heads to be pulled out now before it is too late.
I have kept reiterating time and time again that Sudanese History books have not allocated enough space or pages for myriads of true historical heroic events of other Sudanese ethnic groups to truly reflect themselves. History books shouldn’t be allowed to be written by individuals. A history that doesn’t reflect the true realities of the nations that compose that a specific country is a misleading history. Such a history will not contribute in building the peace that we need. Nations’ history should be written by the nations themselves through an agreed upon National Project. Writing a history is not a doctoral theme to be written by an individual or student, it is not a one-person task but rather a joint task, a nation-task. All Sudanese nations, through their representatives, must be engaged in writing their history, it is only then that they will begin to respect that book. What applies to the writing of Sudan History book applies, as well, to the so-called Sudan National Anthem, the so-called National Flag, and the streets and bridges named after the so-called national leaders, heroes and heroines. All aspects of life in Sudan must be revisited and revolutionized in order to be in alignment with the true interests and aspirations of the Sudanese nations. This naked truth must be listened if we are in a real pursuit of a real sustainable peace that we need.
War is known, in its nature, to be a bad phenomenon, there is no any doubt about this fact, but this particular ongoing war has its advantages, it has opened our eyes a bid wider to see what was unseen in the past. It has equipped us with the necessary courage to say what was unsaid. This brutal war has clearly demonstrated the invaluable value of peace as well as notoriety and brutality of war. I strongly believe that this current war will be the last war of the Sudanese wars and the coming peace will be the ever-lasting sustainable peace in the country. It is fortunate that the number of those beating the drams of war is diminishing whereas the number of those carrying the olive branches and white flags of peace is increasing. A day will doubtlessly come when all of us will be for peace and will be pulling in the same direction.
No for this Futile and Brutal War, Yes for Sustainable Peace.
Stay Well and Tuned.
To be continued.
Mahjoub Saleem
Kampala