Identitarian practices in post-colonial Sudan: Exclusivity vs Inclusivity(1-2) by Mujtaba Arman

02:04 PM May, 26 2015
Sudanese Online
مجتبى سعيد عرمان -
My Library at SudaneseOnline



In the first part of this article, we stated that the ruling-class in post-colonial Sudan in order to maintain its socio-economic privileges and political dominance have had tried to assimilate the other social groups into what so called " the melting-pot" policies that are based on Arabic language and 'Islam' as a means to political gains. As a result, other ' non- Arab' features in the formal media disclosure were not fairly represented in the state-owned T.V and other forms of mass media. Only a one-sided- view of the country is shown i.e., Sudan was/is depicted as an 'Arab' country, any observer of the Sudan T.V programs could easily discover the ' space' given to the what so called ' Arab cause' represented by the Israeli- Arab struggle over Palestine, not only the Arab issues but also the Muslims in Bosnia.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's dictionary defines identity as: "who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group which make them different from others.
The first generation of the Sudanese elite perceived themselves as an ' Arab' and had worked very hard to deny any suspicion of being non Sudanese. Interestingly, in his memories, Khider Hamad, one of the founding figures of the Graduates Congress which was a political platform that spearheaded the call for Sudan independence, Khider narrated his experience in the ' Hagg' pilgrim to Mecca by stating that: " in the ' Hagg' there was a sensitive matter which we tried very hard to make very clear in the holy places of Mecca and make it known to our brothers there which is the fact that there is an enormous difference between the Sudanese and the ' Takarna' or people who come from Nigeria through Sudan and are considered ' Takarna' by the people of the Arabia to be Sudanese. He went on saying: Sudanese are Arabas and speak only Arabic language and only six thousands arrive annually to the pilgrim. We are very keen that our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should know that the Sudanese are something and the ' Takarna' are something else. Indeed, Sudanese are pure ' Arabas' and only speak Arabic language and only believe in Islam and this mixture between them harms us a lot (we the Sudanese). Muzakirat ' Memories of Kidder Hamad- pp-. 197-198)
Similarly, In Kurita’s view 1987, the conflict that took place among the members of the Sudanese league as a political organization which was established to resist the colonialism, the conflict has an identity dimension. Kurita narrates that incident by stating that: “In the autumn of 1923, as part of the activities of the league of the Sudanese Union, Sulayman Kisha collected the poems which had been recited on the evening of the Prophet’s Mohammed birthday, and published them in the form of a book. He prefaced the book with a forward, which he began with the words “Noble Arab people”. Then, ‘Ali ‘Abd-al latif (from African origin) came to him, protesting that he should have written “Noble Sudanese people”. As a result, the league of Sudanese Union was split in two groups. (Yokisha Kurita-The Concept of Nationalism in the White Flag League Movement p. 24).
To be continued.








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• Identitarian practices in post-colonial Sudan: exclusivity vs inclusivity (1.1) by Mujtaba Arman 05-15-15, 03:26 AM, مجتبى سعيد عرمان
• Sudan's political scene: Post a pseudo election by Mujtaba Arman 05-04-15, 05:01 PM, مجتبى سعيد عرمان

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