As the world changes, many issues come and go. Some situations are made known to the entire world while some countries suffer through wars silently. Why is that the most life threatening situations taking place in the world have not found its way to the media as much as it should? Why is it that as a society we are ignoring it? Many of us in this world are selective activists or ‘fake woke’ as we would like to call it. We shed light upon certain matters but refuse to acknowledge others. We choose to cancel an individual but let another escape. We allow our love and support to go to one individual for something they’ve done, but when another does it? We shame them terribly. It isn’t mandatory to talk about every matter actively but a little bit of recognition goes a long way. So, why must we remain quiet about some of these controversies?
Let’s take it back to the incident that took place in Paris on April 15th. When the famous cathedral of Paris broke out into flames, the world sent prayers to France. This tragedy was announced on every news channel and posts, concerning it, flooded social media. In a few days, about 1 billion dollars was gathered and donated to help rebuild this cathedral. There was so much media coverage despite the fact that no lives were lost and very few were injured. However, barely any global response has been given concerning the massacres in Sudan. This is due to the fact that not many people really know what’s going on in Sudan or where exactly is Sudan. This, in fact, is the power of a first world country. To be able to receive a great amount of support and love from the world no matter how small or great the incident is. When it comes to other countries, though, the world falls silent.
So, what exactly is happening in Sudan? Sudan is a country located in Northeast Africa. This country is the 15th largest country in the world and the 3rd largest country in Africa. In late December, a series of protests began against the President, Omar Al-Bashir, due to the increase in cost of food and shortages of fuel. These protests became a nationwide movement demanding the president to resign from his position. In April, the wishes of these protestors came true as Bashir was finally overthrown. However, these wishes came soon to stop at a dead end when the generals, ruling the country, sent Rapid Support Forces (Janjaweed) to attack the protestors and tear apart the revolutionaries’ grip on the streets.
Since June 3rd, the military have been trying their best to shoot down and eliminate any form or sign of resistance. The protestors did not want to back down from this fight either. The first day after Eid, the revolutionaries called a strike to make the country ungovernable. As a result of wiping out any form of resistance, more than 500 individuals died, more than 723 persons were injured and more than 50 persons were raped. In addition, 650+ individuals were arrested and more than a 1000 persons are missing. Dead bodies are being dumped into the river Nile as well.
The military has used violent means to hurt the protestors and things such as tear gas. New emergency laws and night time curfews have been introduced and classes at schools and universities have been suspended across most of the country. To make matters worse, the military shut down most of the internet in the interest of preventing protestors from reporting what’s going on inside the country on social media. The future is uncertain at the moment. If a compromise can be made, then the crisis may be defused. If not, this fight between the unarmed protestors and military will continue causing the lives of many to be lost through it.
As an outsider, the best we can do is to spread awareness concerning this matter until there’s great coverage concerning this situation by the media and until other countries are willing to join on this matter and assist. Many accounts across various social media platforms have been changing their profile picture blue to display solidarity with the protests in Sudan. The color blue was chosen in memory of one of the protestors who died during this massacre, named Mohammed Mattar, as his favorite color was indigo blue. Through this color, many people are able to stand with Sudan during this tragedy taking place and spread awareness. Help can also be provided to Sudan through funds. There a various organizations that have set up links in which persons can donate through. This crisis deserves all the attention that it can receive to help the individuals suffering and hopefully resolve it, one day. In memory of those who lost their lives, their loved ones, a part of themselves, who have had to seen this crisis with their own eyes, hide in fear, and run away to save themselves, we stand with you.
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