It Just Goes to Show, Anything is Possible.
"The Movement was the embarrassing pink elephant making its debut dance on the international stage and no one but those with regional affiliations, knowledge and direct interests wanted to know of the plight of the Sudanese people." 16 July 2012 By Awak Bior* (Gurtong published July 16, 2012)-On this first anniversary of the Republic of South Sudan’s independence as a nation it is difficult not to reflect upon the long history which has brought the nation to where it is today. The many stories from people who fought on behalf of the marginalised peoples of Sudan are an integral part of the joy being celebrated on this day, 9th July 2012. Without these stories there would be no historical day to celebrate and no future like that dreamed of by the millions who now celebrate the independence of the Republic of South Sudan. Since returning to South Sudan in 2008 one of my favourite pastimes has been the history lessons given to me by the nation’s many great men and women whose stories gleaned from elephantine memories are more enthralling than the best of novels and silver screen movies. I have learned that a few decades ago, the today that we now celebrate was hard to grasp, but that the idea of liberating a long suffering people kept the dream of freedom alive. Whether in the 1950s, the 1980s, the last decade, politically, diplomatically, militarily, at home or in exile, my respect for and awe of those who struggled for liberation is immeasurable. On the 9th July 2012, a year on from the declaration of the Republic of South Sudan’s independence, my history tutors were gentlemen who were exiled in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and were amongst the first Sudanese people abroad to present the case of the people of Sudan to the world. In the early 1980s these gentlemen found themselves far away from the home that they knew; they were young diplomats and graduate students living abroad and working hard in their respective professions with the intention of eventually returning home to Sudan. They did not know then that it would be decades before they would see peace in their homeland. On the one hand these were young educated men with the world as their oyster and infant families to care for. On the other hand they were men faced with a deeply troubled home country which oppressed and neglected many of its citizens. Their gargantuan task was to support the armed rebellion taking place in Sudan by bringing the world’s attention to the suffering of the Sudanese people. This rebellion against the Government of Sudan was not a choice. It was a prerogative in the interests of justice, necessary to secure the future of those who would one day look to them and ask them what they did when they realised that the short-lived peace of the 1972 Addis Abba agreement would not last. In today’s history lesson I learned more about the early years of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM/A). Although I knew that the SPLM/A initially received no support from western governments, it was only today that I understood the absolute terms in which the objectives of the SPLM/A were rejected by nations who today state themselves to be great allies and friends of the Republic of South Sudan. I have long since known that the assertions and rights of Sudanese political refugees in the United Kingdom had once been categorically rejected by the British Government such that most exiles in the UK were forced to live for years in legal limbo, especially those who were working on behalf of the SPLM/A which was then considered as a “terrorist” organisation by several western governments. The Republic of Sudan was at that time viewed as a victim of these apparent belligerents and so to grant the “rebels” of Sudan political asylum was politically undesirable. In March 1984 when the SPLM gave its official launch at the Africa Centre in London the event was attended by a band of sceptical journalists, many of whom are now veteran journalists still covering the two Sudans. Reflecting the general view in the west at that time, the journalists asked patently hostile questions to challenge the objectives of the nascent SPLM and its military wing, the SPLA. The Movement was the embarrassing pink elephant making its debut dance on the international stage and no one but those with regional affiliations, knowledge and direct interests wanted to know of the plight of the Sudanese people. In the 1980s, celebrity causes were still the future and so it was up to the Sudanese people to approach foreign governments themselves and seek support. In those early years the SPLM’s representatives in London and elsewhere worked hard to raise the issues of the Sudanese people, approaching British institutions like the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, politicians and officials to request their support. In that peculiar Orwellian way, Nimeri’s Republic of Sudan was in those days a friend of the west, the SPLM/A a mere irritation to the existing cosy relationships. When SPLM representatives approached the ODI and British Government representatives to inform them of the SPLM/A’s objectives and to request their support they were told that “It was inconceivable to even consider the request” and that it would be “incomprehensible for anyone in the British Government to think otherwise.” In the end it took many years of lobbying by individual British parliamentarians and the South Sudanese people themselves to have their grievances recognised, receive protection under international refugee law and to build pressure against the successive governments of Khartoum. The same was true in most western countries in which South Sudanese people resided during their decades of exile. As I watched the Republic of South Sudan’s independence celebrations taking place on television, the many overseas guests from the west proudly supporting the new Republic and accompanied by their diplomatic missions in the Republic of South Sudan, I chuckled to myself. I thought of George Orwell’s great novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four which illustrates that, politically speaking, the world is as those with power choose to make it. We now see that all those nations who once blatantly rejected the cause of the Sudanese people - as it once was, a cause for a united Sudan with a new socio-political order - have now recognised the Republic of South Sudan and her ability to geo-politically influence the theatre of nations. Today the Republic of South Sudan has proved to the world that in reality, history is as we – both those with and those without recognised power – choose to make it. Within the context of the work of the SPLM/A there is an important message to the people of South Sudan; “friends” will not always be friends and “enemies” sometimes choose to see justice. The tide is ever changing. Therefore, the only thing to rely upon is your own conviction and the hope that what you believe in is right and will prevail if only you hold true to your ideals. As South Sudan welcomes the second year of its existence as an independent nation, it is important to reflect upon the challenges ahead. There are many who say that South Sudan’s success is impossible; “Look at how terrible things are already”, they say. But one only has to look to history to know that the messages of doomgloomers will always eventually be put to right. All it takes is time and right effort, mixed with hopes and dreams for a better future. On this day, as we recall the terrible suffering and great achievements of the people of the Republic of South Sudan, one must also keep in mind the liberation struggles of others around the world, with especial thoughts to those in the Sudanese states of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan for whom there is no respite from state sponsored terror and bloodshed. It is my hope that the people of the Republic of Sudan will not also have to die in their millions and wait for decades in order to secure their rights. I hope that they will not spend generations in exile screaming for justice, receiving foreign humanitarian aid in refugee camps or living as internationally protected refugees far away from home yet without political recognition of their call for dignity. I hope that they, too, know that anything is possible. However long it takes, history always favours justice. May the Republic of South Sudan always be blessed. May all of her people, both the "big" and the "small", be responsible in collectively taking good care of the nation they chose to create, remembering all the while that creation is an endless process. The job is not yet done. *Awak Bior owns the "Leaves" bookshop in Juba located at The Roots Centre Posted in: Opinions -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. 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