Khartoum, January 18: Support for the separation of the South and the North as a solution for Sudan’s longest strife is finding listening ears among some northerners and is not longer a south-only option.
“We believe that unity is not effective…it will not solve the southern problem,” Al-Tayeb Mustafa, leader of the Just Peace Forum Party, told.
Mustafa’s party wants the Khartoum government to expedite necessary preparations for secession and supports separation as a better option for the 40-year-old conflict.
“We have tried unity which has failed in achieving peace,” argues Mustafa, an Islamist and an uncle of President Omar Al-Bashir.
“Why not try separation to achieve peace and justice among the members of Sudanese society.”
Through its mouthpiece, Al-Intibaha daily, the party propagates the argument that separation is inevitable.
“We are the voice of the silent majority,” contends Al-Saidg Al-Rizagee, the editor-in-chief of the Arabic daily, which was established in 2005.
“We have raised questions that were not addressed.
“We are raising new ideas; now all newspapers in Sudan are discussing the possibility of separation.”
Sudan marked earlier this month the fifth anniversary of the North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended a devastating 22-year war between the north and the south, Africa’s longest civil war.
But the mood has been anything but celebratory as the two sides proceed toward the 2011 referendum when southerners will choose between having a separate state or remaining as part of a unified Sudan.
Five years after the end of the war, the political situation remains tense between the north and the south.
The UN mission warned recently against a possible flare-up of violence in the south.
Shaarani believes that contrary to what the party and its newspaper are promoting, most Sudanese believe in the unity of Sudan.
Visible
Al-Intibaha is often accused by its critics of stirring hatred between northern and southern Sudanese.
“I believe it is a racist newspaper,” Mahmud Shaarani, a writer and human rights attorney, told.
“It promotes differences between northerners and southerners.”
Shaarani believes that contrary to what the party and its newspaper are propagating, most Sudanese believe in a united Sudan.
“During the civil-war, most southerners fled to the north and not elsewhere.”
But Yahiya Al-Tikaina, a journalism professor at Omdurman Islamic University, notes that the pro-separation Just Peace Forum Party has become very visible recently among northerners.
“Al-Intibaha has become a forum in Sudan to discuss unity and separation in Sudan openly.”
Al-Tikaina thinks that many northerners believe that if the south votes for unity, a new separatist movement may appear causing a new civil war, because there are so many differences that have accumulated over the years between the north and south.
Al-Hidai Ahmad, a translator from northern Sudan, is one case.
“I support separation not because I hate southerners,” Ahmad, 44, explains.
“I’ve heard many southerners advocate for a secular state and I want Islamic law to govern the country. We cannot be in the same state if the south does not want this and that is their right.”
Hassan Yusuf, 32, describes himself as pro-unity.
The IT specialist, however, does not discount the possibility of separation as a solution.
“It’s like marriage and divorce,” he explains.
“Marriage should be given a chance to work but if things don’t work out, divorce than is an option.”
-Agencies