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| Sudan's place in the world: Khartoum, capital of Sudan sits at the confluences of the White and Blue Nile. Despite protests against the austerity measures, Khartoum infrastructure and economy has been booming even with the crushing structural adjustment programs by the IMF. |
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| Corridor in Omdurman market, Sudan. Photo from Al Jazeera. |
While the world's attention is currently focused on Iran's protests and tomorrow's summit between the two Koreas for the first time in two years, Sudan has been experiencing its own bread protests. Students from the University of Khartoum, multiple universities in Omdurman, Khartoum Bahri as well as the non student wider society in various Sudanese cities Atbara, Geneina, Wad Madani, Kassala, El Obeid, Delling and Karima have kept up the pressure on the Sudanese government over austerity measures. Like Iran, Egypt, Greece before it and Nigeria, ordinary Sudanese have grown fed up with government's economic policy that has devalued Sudanese pound, raised inflation to some 300% against the US dollar, the egregious exchange rates for local business people and shops. It is not just bread and economics. The protests are part of a continuation of the 2013 austerity protests that began in Omdurman the largest city in Sudan and also a suburb of Khartoum and spread to the rest of the country. Long before the current protests, Sudanese with the help of groups such as Girifna and concerned citizens had joined the 2011 "Arab Spring" to call for the end of the regime of Omar Al Bashir and his corrupt government cronies and rickety and violent military. Their demands for the 30 year old Bashir rule to end was met with excessive force and brutality by the local police in the same manner as Sudan's northern neighbor Egypt demanded Hosni Mubarak and Yemenis called for Ali Saleh's fall. Throughout the ongoing protests, the Sudanese police continue to use excessive force and blame external influences including South Sudan as encouraging and inciting people to protest and clash with the police. The IMF and World Bank has been pushing Sudan to economically reform especially now that the sanctions have been lifted. Neoliberal shock doctrine is a live and well with the slow motion cracking of the Sudanese economy, continual price hikes, closing of newspapers critical of the government including online media.
It's about marginalization: Closing down newspapers and selling off public lands
As mentioned in a previous post, the Sudanese government has been cracking down on critics who have long complained of government negligence towards nationwide infrastructure development, ongoing corruption, the strength of the Sudanese security state to make critics disappear, marginalization of the peripheral cities and regions. South Sudan and Egypt are blamed for indirectly arming Darfuri and Nuba rebels. In Sudanese political representation Darfur is seen as a rebel stronghold or dare say "rebel insurgency" that needs to be crushed militarily according to the government. Nevermind that civilians are bearing the brunt of constant excessive bombings and air raids. As a result, the ordinary Darfuris including children even the non political and non supportive people are collectively punished for any actions taken by JEM and Sudan Liberation Movement. Even when the groups legitimately fight back against the government for the ongoing bombing of Jebal Marra, a strategic dormant volcano home to one of the only known crater or massif lakes in Darfur, the civilians are collectively labeled rebel sympathizers. A few months ago, the Sudanese government began a disarmament program across Darfur mainly focused on disarming the various Darfuri rebel groups, local militias to halt ongoing violence as the regional war has ebbed into a war of attrition and a lopsided low intensity war where the government treats any sympathizer of Darfuri human rights as public enemy, Beja in Port Sudan and Red Sea state, the Nuba people being isolated from the center of power both physically and by literal distance. The critics range from street activists to the higher ups in political offices. Not content with attacking dissidents students, opposition party members and leaders, human rights activists and anti war critics and anti government authors, business people and advocates including lawyers, the National Intelligence Security Service aka NISS has closed down multiple independent and private newspapers across Khartoum. Bashir has grown paranoid much like many dictators do after being consumed with unlimited power and using fear and force to keep the majority of society silent. .
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