Human Tragedy in Sudan is not different from Gaza Either Blood shade should stop everywhere
By: Dr. Mohammad Ajmal
Assistant Professor at Centre of Arabic and African Studies,
School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi
Sudan is once again bathed in blood. The scenes that have been unfolding in the city of El Fasher since last week are enough to shake the human conscience. Since the military withdrawal, the Rapid Support Forces have taken over the city and started a massacre that has reopened old wounds in Darfur. In just four days, more than 2,000 people have been killed and more than 25,000 civilians have been forced to flee. According to the United Nations, about 117,000 people are trapped around El Fasher, without food, water or medical care. The roots of this tragic situation are not modern but decades-old policies. When the flames of rebellion flared up in Darfur in 2013, Khartoum created a new militia, the Rapid Support Force, after the failure of the traditional army. The goal was to end the insurgency through rapid operations. But as history testifies, “two armies can never coexist in one country.” This militia was given resources, authority, and protection, but with it also the autonomy that ultimately weakened the state structure. Looking back, when Omar al-Bashir’s government fell in 2019, this same militia began to play a decisive role in the power struggle. The rapid forces continued to increase their influence during the transitional period of military rule. Then came the moment in 2023 when the clash between General Burhan’s army and General Hamidati’s forces pushed Sudan into full-scale civil war. The bloodshed that is being shed in El-Fasher today is actually the result of these same wrong decisions and the unrestrained use of force. Recent UN reports show that the situation in Sudan has now taken the worst form of a humanitarian tragedy. Millions of people are homeless, the economy is destroyed, hospitals are reduced to rubble, and women and children are living in fear of insecurity. But the silence of world powers is criminal. The same Western world that makes statements of sympathy for Ukraine or Israel is turning a blind eye to the burning cities of Sudan.
As far as the situation in Gaza is concerned, it is still burning after 775 days. In such a situation, should anyone ask the guarantors of ceasefire like America, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt how Israel is continuously attacking not only Gaza but also the West Bank? Trump is forbidding in the press conference that “nothing will happen in the West Bank, don’t worry” but world media is showing that permanent occupation is continued in West Bank. Occupation is going on by destroying houses, lands, olive farms. In such a situation, the advisor to the Jerusalem Governorate, Maroof al-Rifai, revealed this week that “Israel is continuing to dig secret tunnels around the Masjid Al-Aqsa in the city of Jerusalem under the pretext of research activities. According to the Arabic Newspaper, Al-Dustoor, these excavations are causing cracks in the ground which may lead to the collapse of some parts of the Masjid Al-Aqsa or weakening of its foundations. He said that these activities have also become a threat to Palestinian historical buildings, old houses and madrassas. The aim is to prove Jerusalem a ‘Jewish city’. These excavations are not being carried out on any scientific or research basis, but for political purposes, in order to erase the Islamic identity of the city and give it a Jewish identity.”
According to their self-proclaimed beliefs, the Zionists want to remove their temple from under the Masjid Al-Aqsa. Since the Holy shrine is under the administration of Jordan, they cannot do anything like this from above, so all the work is being carried out underground. According to Ma’ruf al-Rifai, most of the focus of the excavations is on damaging religious sites, especially the walls of the Masjid Al-Aqsa and the surrounding areas, so that Israel can impose its sovereignty over the Islamic and Christian holy sites of Jerusalem. Al-Rifai said that these projects are being carried out with direct financial support from the Israeli government. A large tunnel project is being built in the Silwan area alone at a cost of about 50 million shekels. This tunnel is 600 meters long and goes to the Western Wall.
Israel has been carrying out excavations under and around Al-Aqsa for decades, which Palestinian and Arab organizations have repeatedly expressed concern about. The series of demolitions of mosques that began with the Babri Masjid in India is strengthening its roots because it is no longer rational. As a result of adopting liberal values, not only the sanctity, importance, and place of relationships are lost, but all kinds of religious, and divine sanctity also become irrational, and the mere concept of development becomes the real thing. Building a new temple in place of an old mosque can increase the capital.
Discussion on Sudan Crisis is heartbreaking doesn’t look like different from Gaza either, only difference is that Gaza is being exterminated by non-muslims and Sudanese being killed by their own muslim breatherns. Alas! Indeed saddening.
When, the last week on social media, the city of Al-Fasher in the Darfur region of (Northern) Sudan was in the news. It was not pleasing at all, while the whole of (Northern) Sudan has been in the news for two and a half years. In South Asia, one will find very little coverage on Sudan. However, the scope of social media becomes global, so the news is seen on trends etc. But the last week, such horrific videos of massacres have come out that are very horrible. If it were not for these sources, believe it or not, no one would have known and the doomsday has already broken out, more destruction would have spread.
A bloody, terrifying, inhuman, shameful war is going on in Sudan, which is called a civil war because it is being fought between (military) groups formed between two peoples of the country. In name, both are Muslims. The dead, the killers and all are Sunni Muslims. That is, there is no issue of sect or school of thought, and the force that is fighting them is also Muslim. 69,000 martyrs have been recorded in Gaza in two years, but in northern Sudan, more than 200,000 Muslims have been unjustly shed in two and a half years. This is a number that has been carefully estimated, because there are no media outlets like those available in Gaza.
Sudan is a very important and strategically imperative country on the shores of the Red Sea in the northeast of the African continent. Before partition, the entire Sudan had an area of
After becoming an independent state from Britain and Egypt in 1956, religious, ethnic, and regional differences arose between the north and south within Sudan, which led to further civil wars. Sudan was divided into northern and western Sudan under an American conspiracy in 2011. South Sudan is rich in oil and North Sudan is rich in gold reserves. North Sudan is not a separate country on the map, but is written as Sudan.
Darfur is a large region located in the western part of Sudan. The main city of Darfur is Al-Fasher. According to reports, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have taken control of the city, after which at least two thousand innocent Muslims have been reported killed in this city alone. The oppressors have made up videos of massacres on social media, similar to Israeli brutality. In the context of this humanitarian crisis, about 250,000 Muslims are still trapped in the city, where half of the population is children, while more than 6,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition and are at risk of death. All this situation is a manifestation of the gross violation of human rights and international humanitarian norms in Central Darfur.
Sudan has seen military rule since independence in 1956. Omar al-Bashir seized power in a military coup in 1989 and ruled the country for almost 23 years. On October 25, 2021, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took control of the country in a military coup. He also justified the coup by saying that “political chaos and threats to national security” were increasing in the country, so the military had to intervene. It should be remembered that in 2011, Sudan was divided into Sudan and South Sudan. South Sudan had a Christian majority as mentioned above.
In 2013, Omar al-Bashir gave the rebels the official form of the RSF, another army, to end the rebellions and civil war in Darfur, a part of Sudan. Omar al-Bashir left power in 2019 after public protests and military intervention. The head of the army took power. Then the matter continued for four years. The head of the RSF was Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hamidati), who was also made the vice head of state. From April 2023, the RSF opened a military front to occupy the whole of Sudan and as a result, the genocide of ordinary Sudanese Sunni Muslims began. According to international organizations, about 2 million Muslims have been severely affected and displaced. One should note that the people apparently have nothing to do with this matter. Neither the people have voted for anyone, nor have they come to power by asking the people, nor do the people care about anyone. According to experts, the gold mines under this land have become a financial base for non-state colonial powers, which has fueled both internal conflicts and external interests.
The most important thing is that Arab analysts in the world media and on many social media have argued for the UAE’s support and funding of the RSF in this matter. The RSF is a group of extremely brutal killers who were actually rebel militias before. Everyone knows that any military rebel group in any country operates with the funding and financial support of someone or the other. What happened between 2021 and 2023 that such a war for land acquisition started there? Social media is full of this content. Some of the important are mentioned below:
- The United Arab Emirates wants control over food supply and production. It wants to create a new ‘maritime empire’ by capturing the important ports of the Red Sea.2. There is a plan to exploit the fertile lands, valuable minerals and important coastal areas of Sudan. This is why you notice in all the news that ordinary Muslims are being massacred and forced to migrate in their own country. Occupation of the land and rule over it, is somehow ok, but expelling the people of the area unconceivable? The only answer to this question is that they want to occupy the land and the minerals under it. International Holding Company and Jenaan Investment have already occupied more than 50 thousand hectares of land in Sudan. A $6 billion project of UAE to develop an additional 162,000 hectares of farmland in Abu Hamad.3. Before the civil war, i.e. 2023, the Sudanese government had rejected the Emirati projects as unfair and the people concerned with the land had raised their voices against them.4. Seeing this resistance, the strategy was changed, that is, from trade projects to direct military intervention and seizure of power. The plan to bring power to the RSF militia by making it a weapon.5. This is the way to gain control over Sudan’s gold, land and agricultural production. The reason is also that the Emirates’ oil reserves are rapidly decreasing, so now it is also adopting a completely colonialist approach for its own interests.
The problem is that the world, and even the entire Islamic world, is watching all this silently. When America needed oil, it divided Sudan into two. Now the Emirates has also learned this, so it is also in the same race. Not one of the more than 50 Islamic countries has stepped forward and established peace in Sudan. The toxic effects of nationalism have become very frightening. The disengagement from Gaza also sent the same message, similarly, Sudan, Burma, Syria and other examples are sending the message that the concept of the Ummah has been completely lost.
The tragedy of Sudan is not just one country, but here too, global indifference is clearly visible. When two centers of power are established within a state, when power becomes subordinate to personal interests, when international powers become captives of their political agendas, such situations arise. At this time, Sudan urgently needs a ceasefire, impartial humanitarian access, and a comprehensive political process, which includes the army, rapid force, and civil society. The international community must also now decide whether it wants to remain a mere spectator or truly adhere to the principles of human rights.
