Protests accompany erection of statue in Sudan

The Darfur Bar Association described demonstrations that accompanied the inauguration of the monument of ‘martyr’ Abdelazim Abubakr on Friday as "unfortunate".

Abubakr was killed during protests against the former regime of Omar Al Bashir on a neighbourhood of Omdurman in Khartoum state.

In a statement, the Bar called for “issuing a law to protect the rights of martyrs and casualties of the revolution and revolutionaries according to a constitutional legal basis that can be agreed upon”.

It was expected that the statue of Abubakr will be the only one in Khartoum, erected where he was killed. But hundreds of people protested against erection of the statue and expressed their rejection of it based on their religious beliefs.

The objection against the erection of the statue of Abubakr is not new; there has been a constant objection against the statue and sculptures made by particular Islamic groups. However, historically there have been statues of Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, and the pioneer of women's education in Sudan Babiker Badri (1861-1954) erected in Sudan. A statue of Osman Digna (1836-1926) was erected in Port Sudan. All have been destroyed by the former regime.

For instance, the tourism minister of the former regime said he had never entered the National Museum because it contained idols.

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