---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 1:12 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fwd: The early years of the war To: Group <[email protected]>
I circulate this not because I necessarily agree with all of it, but because it is a useful reminder of some of the dynamics of the war. Few expatriates involved in Sudan these days can even remember the war, let alone its early years, and names which were on everybody's lips in those days are now virtually forgotten. The insurrection started before 1983, as the writer says, with Nuer fighters going to the bush in the late 1970s - indeed a few may never have left the bush after the 1972 agreement. The actual war is generally agreed to have started in 1983, but in the early years there was no single liberation movement and much of Greater Upper Nile was Anya Nya II territory. It was some time before SPLA was able to claim dominance. All parties often used brutal tactics. After the 1991 split, a fresh wave of brutality erupted, and the writer correctly states that tens of thousands of Nuer and Dinka civilians were killed and displaced as a result of the fighting. Eye witnesses can still be found who walked amongst the fields littered with dead bodies. Ethnicity became an issue, driven by political and military leaders in the south (assisted by Khartoum with its divide and rule policy). The last three paragraphs of this article are a timely reminder of the need to overcome hatred and tribalism and, in particular, not to allow politicians to exploit them. John BEGIN Nuer-Dinka Animosity: How it Began By: Lok Franco Kok, South Sudan FEB. 24/2011, SSN; Tension between Nuer and Dinka is nothing new. There has always been disagreements between these two tribes. The hatred has grown substantially between them for centuries. >From the beginning, these two major ethnic groups of southern Sudan were actually very similar, inhabited the same areas and follow a related culture and traditions. For centuries these two tribes shared the same ways of living, traditionally farming and rearing cattle. There have been many intermarriages between them and because of the nature of their historical pastoral and agricultural roles, these two tribes tended to live as good neighbors. The conflicts between them were only about grazing land cattle raiding, as they all keep cattle, that were the main causes of disputes between them in the past. No kind of brutally killing of women and children. A wedge was driven between them at the aftermath of the collapse of Addis Ababa Agreement. In late 1970s, half a decade after the Addis Ababa agreement, many politicians and military high ranking officers deserted from Sudan armed forces and went back to the bush after they realized that Jaffar Mohamed Neimeri's regime violated the Addis Ababa peace agreement. Samuel Gai Tut, Abdallah Chuol Deng, Gordon Koang and many others were among those who left to the bush, and formed a military camp in Bilpam. When Southern Sudanese were inspired by the spirit of struggle they started leaving for the bush until 1983 when our late hero, Dr. John Garang, Kerbino Kwanyin, William Nyuon and many others joined in. As soon as it became apparent that the southern Sudanese got united, they came up with the decision of forming a movement leadership militarily and politically with Dr. John Garang as the leader of the movement. There was a disagreement within the movement were Dr. John Garang, Kerbino Kwanyin, William Nyuon and others were on one side and Samuel Gai Tut, Abdallah Chuol, and others on the other side. Dr. John Garang perpetrated violence against those opposing his leadership. Then Samuel Gai, Abdallah Chuol and their followers were driven out of Bilpam and set-up their camp in Thiajak, a village some hundred kilometers west of Bilpam. The war between SPLM/A and Anyanya II, as Samuel Gai's followers were eventually called, was sparked by his (Samuel Gai) death in an armed attack organized by Dr. John Garang to capture those deserted Military officers and he swiftly achieved a series of victories. The war began instantly. When the curtain covering a list of hidden agendas was pulled aside to reveal the the tribal and dictatorship plans which filled the mind of our late hero, Dr. John Garang. In the aftermath of the war, Abdallah Chuol began to develop plans to move westward to the heart of Nuerland where he opened military training centers to recruit young men around the areas of eastern Nuer and planned to retaliate the death of his comrade, Samuel Gai Tut. Abdallah Chuol himself was killed in late 1985 after having carried out many retaliatory actions against SPLM/A. His successors followed the footsteps of their late leaders and carried out the same vision of Anyanya II. In August 1991, SPLM/A split into Nasir and Torit Factions. Many SPLM/A high ranking officers accused Dr. John Garang of being a dictator and of mishandling the Movement as his own property. The breakaway commanders came together and formed South Sudan Independent Movement/Army (SSIM/A) led by Dr. RiaK Machar. Dr. Riak integrated Anyanya II forces into his army, as hatred of the Bilpam Disagreement of 1983 was still in remembrance. Anyanya II leaders mobilized their soldiers to carry out their revenge. Then they took the case as between Nuer and Dinka which was not really the motive behind the strategy, then the killings began in the early 1992 around all Dinka-Nuer areas of greater Upper Nile and greater Bhar-el-Ghazal. The situation deteriorated around the areas of Upper Nile and Bhar el Ghazal. A great wave of chaos commenced which caused the lives of thousands from both sides. These invasions were eventually followed by brutal killing of civilians, children and women. The fighting caused the displacement of thousands of people to refugee camps in neighboring countries. Despite strong and mighty opposition from the growing hatred, the factions failed to come to a solution until the end of Khartoum peace agreement when SPLM/A joined forces again. Not surprisingly, throughout all those years of chaos, hatred was one of the principal weapons that caused the loss of the lives of thousands. Politicians learned to interpret hate as an exercise they can master, overcome and empower. Everywhere the simple civil society is the main victim of politics; whereas politicians themselves keep a good distance from dangers while they are the root cause of chaos. We are always the victims of this nasty politics of tribalism and racism, which is now practiced by those pre-mature politicians in Southern Sudan. Without a doubt, one of the biggest time and energy killers is anger. The most time you spend indulging in it, the less time you have to live a happy, productive and enjoyable life. On one hand it can be the cause of tremendous pain and suffering. It can turn into hatred or violence in the blink of an eye and destroy everything we love and care about; or it can turn inward and become bitterness and despair. Evil can not be driven out by evil. Only feelings of patience and forgiveness could allow any body to rise above. Let's give ourselves a chance to let hate and anger out than to bottle it up or to demand for retaliation which is the cause of all mess in our beloved Southern Sudan. Everybody wishing good fortune to his offspring should work hard to make this land a golden future to our generations. The writer lives in South Sudan and is reachable through [email protected] END ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor Sudan Ecumenical Forum [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.co.za/group/sudan-john-ashworth -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
