My association with the word Sudan goes a long way back. I was in Dublin in 1990, my first trip abroad and the first “foreign” man to proposition me was James and he was from Sudan. A refugee, he had fled from Juba in the South and come to Dublin to study. That is another story that I won’t go in to here. Dublin was also the place that I had fellow students from other African countries Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zaire. And then I met Fahima Hashim in India, a Sudanese woman working with Jagori a women’s organization in India. We often spoke of working together and my coming to Khartoum to work with the organization she founded. Seemed like an impossible dream, until now. As I write this, I sit in the most expensive hotel in Khartoum, the Al Salam Rotana Hotel.
The years between 1990 and 2007 has seen Sudan in the news much more – famine, the civil unrest in the South and Darfur. The latter being one of the greatest human tragedies the world has witnessed and ignored. But that is all I heard about Sudan. And then an old school friend of mine came back into my life and she had many stories about Sudan. She had worked here as a doctor and had dire stories of being abducted by the rebels. But more importantly, she was the friend of Emma, the British aid worked who came to Sudan and married Riek Machar, the SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) zonal commander for the Upper Nile province who then eventually broke away (you can read more about this in Emma’s War, written by Deborah Scroggins). She told me many stories about Southern Sudan and the work that she did here. And those stories also spoke about a war torn land beset with innumerable problems.
So given this background, I set forth for Khartoum a little scared and some what excited too. Not sure of what to expect, I scoured the net for information on Sudan, the tourist sites that I could look at, the hotels I could stay in and the handicrafts that I could buy. I must say that the net search was the most unrewarding. There were hotels mentioned but the ratings were terrible. The tourist sites were limited: the camel market in Omdurman, the old city; Jebel Marra – a volcano in Darfur which was now out of bounds and pyramids in the north. Of crafts there was no mention. In terms of hotels, there were a few mentioned and of all of them Rotana was new and rated a little higher than the others. Fahima had also suggested this place, so it seemed to be the place to be in. The net showed me a fabulous place, very plush and expensive.
I read upon Sudan and all I could find was stories of the conflict, testimonies of rape and violence, the embargo by the US, reports by UN personnel on the tragedy and so on. Nothing about people’s life in Sudan, the women’s movement or any thing else. And that got me thinking. Don’t countries with a history of armed conflict have anything else happening there? Are they no stories that talk of resilience and fighting back? Has there been no movement for rights in this country?
I land in Khartoum and am met at the airport by Fahima. The flight from Doha was full of Sudanese families and all the women were weighed down by gold of the likes that I have not seen before. It was even more than what I imagine Malayalis returning from the Gulf brought back into the country. There were Indians on the flight too – which flight does not have? The one Indian woman I met had been here with her husband for a year and she had nothing good to say about the country. She talked about how expensive everything was and how there was no social life. We drove down to the hotel and as the car passed through the city, all I could see was big buildings, a building that housed Oriflame, a billboard that screamed “Fair and Lovely” a whitening cream that I was familiar with in India, Afra- a large mall that catered to the expat population and then the hotel loomed large. Many, many cars on the road Mercedes, Daewoo, white land rovers with UN emblazoned on them. Women and men were driving these cars. And then the hotel loomed large. Very important looking and gigantic, comparing with the best five stars. Was kind of intimidated by the space and the people that I saw inside. Many suited men and women, all looking very important and hurrying about. All foreigners and the local people were the staff and the few others who seemed to be there to pick up the hotel guests. This hotel has all that other hotels have – swimming pool, fitness centre, food that can be had in any other part of the world, notices that point towards the gift shop that does not exist, mention of a book shop that has not begun as yet. Life in the hotel is like that of a kingdom. One could live here and never know of the world outside. It’s a bubble that covers you completely and nothing affects you – the heat, the stories of war, FGM – nothing! Why would it, everything is so antiseptic and perfect. A good way to forget all about real life!
Conversations with Fahima have been fascinating. There is so much that we have spoken about. The wars, Islamization of the country, the women’s movement, education systems, donors, the Sudanese diaspora who are now returning. All vignettes, but all interesting.
Khartoum has many buildings contributed by many different governments – the Friendship Hall built by the Chinese, a building for young people built by the Koreans (not sure whether North or South), a hideous space ship look alike hotel that is coming up kind courtesy the Libyan government – scheduled to open on September I, to commemorate the Libyan revolution ( the other side to this story is the fact that the Sudanese government owes money to Libya and so has allowed them to build this hotel); investments by the Saudis, Omanis, and other countries from the Middle East, and of course Indians.
Shariah law was imposed in 1983 and Islamization began. Red light districts closed at this time, driving prostitution underground. Many of the women in jail at this moment have been arrested on grounds of prostitution, adultery and for being drug carriers. Men are also in jail for adultery. Many women arrested for brewing alcohol. These women are from the South and for them the brewing of alcohol is not “haraam”. They brew and sell since that is their only form of income generation. Interestingly, the English newspaper Khartoum Monitor had an advertisement for Alcoholics Anonymous – if Khartoum is a dry state then where would the alcoholics be, if there are alcoholics who was selling the liquor ,many questions…
1991 a Public Order Act was passed that defined appropriate Islamic conduct at the public level and addressed appearance and public interaction. Meant to guard against immorality. Islamization of public spaces. Incidents very similar to what happened in Iran happened here with the police dragging women off to the courts and lashing them for exposing their hair or not being dressed properly. Women of Afhad University, a private University, found the police waiting outside the gates since the University did not insist on them “dressing appropriately” in University! And now in 2007, one of the Universities in Khartoum has a woman leading the students union. Apparently, it has been difficult for her, but she is there.
The government also wanted a law enacted that would have ensured that women could not work in public places, which included gas stations, hotels, etc. There was a huge mobilization amongst ordinary women not just NGOs and the government was forced to change the law. Education for women has also ensured that they are questioning customary law.
Islam came to Sudan approximately 500 years ago and there was always Christianity in the country. Coptic churches existed. With the passing of the Shariah law, many of the Copts fled. There were also a large number of Greeks whose main business was alcohol. With Shariah law they fled, since alcohol became prohibited. Apparently, some of the best Greek food stuff was available in Khartoum earlier.
Politics in this country is shaped within the context of Arabization rather than Africanization.
US plays an important role here. Sudan is seen as the training ground for the jihadis and Osama had spent time there.
An amazing country and one wishes there had been more time to explore it. There is the war in the south, in Darfur and yet there are weddings, and dervishes dancing to Sufi music, young girls who wish to be film makers, incense to make the women more alluring to the men, perfume that is made from crocodile nails, the meeting place of the Blue Nile and the White Nile…a history that needs to be written about and talked about more. Inshallah, may be one day I will be able to do that!
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