North Sudan to become fully Islamic state if South secedes
President of the Republic, Omar al-Bashir said that those who protested against the flogging of a woman by the Sudanese police shown in a YouTube video were atheists who need to pray to seek God’s forgiveness, instead of asking to investigate the offence that the police are accused of. The president said this during his visit to Al-Gedaref State in Eastern Sudan, where he attended a harvest festival on Sunday 19 December.
The President further promised citizens of the largely muslim State that after the referendum, if the South chooses to secede, the current Interim National Constitution will be amended and an Islamic constitution will be drafted, in which Islam will become the State religion while Arabic becomes the official language of communication.
He bemoaned secession of Southern Sudan from the North, saying that it is like removing one part of the human body, which is always painful. He said Northern Sudan has more oil reserves than the South, although he did not indicate where exactly these oil reserves are located in Northern Sudan.
The move by the president to turn the North into an Islamic State is refuted by some circles in the North, who for the last five years of the interim period granted by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), have experienced relief from the Islamic Sharia law.
This (sharia law) is a big problem for us, the women and the youth.\"
Mufdia Mohamed Jafar, a female human rights activist from Khartoum, feels the return of Islamic rule (sharia law), which was eased after the signing of CPA, will be a major challenge to the youth and the women because the law targets especially their freedom. This is a big problem for us, the women and the youth, as sharia is all about us”, she said.
Jafar further highlighted that before the signing of the North-South peace agreement, which made the Islamic Sharia law less strict, there was no freedom for women. For the last five years women’s rights were better respected, evident when a female candidate ran in the presidential elections in April this year.
A senior official from the Sudan People\'s Liberation Movement (SPLM), one of the parties in the North advocating for a secular rule, said president Bashir cannot decide over the will of the people of Northern Sudan without consulting them. If the Northern Sudanese want Islamic rule let them choose. It is not him to decide for them, we need democracy”, the official who requested for anonymity said.
Blue Nile State Governor in Northern Sudan Malek Agar, who is also the deputy chairman of the SPLM, told Islamic leader Hassan Al-Turabi last year in the South Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA) that the inclusion of religion to the State forced him to go to war with the Government in Khartoum.
Bishops in Northern Sudan had earlier warned that should Southern Sudan secede, minority Christians in Northern Sudan will face challenges in practicing their faith.
