‘Darfuris should lobby more’: scholar
The people of Darfur and the rebel movements should unify their positions in order to continue their struggle for their rights. Darfuris living abroad should to engage more actively to bring the Darfur cause into the regional and international spotlight. Dr Sharif Harir, Darfuri anthropologist and politician, told Radio Dabanga in an interview broadcasted on Tuesday, that the killing, rape, looting, torture, and burning of villages are part of the systematic warfare waged by the Khartoum regime against the people of Darfur. “The Darfuris took up arms in self-defence.” “Not only the population of Darfur is marginalised by the northern-centred Khartoum regime,” Harir stressed. “The entire population is marginalised. Sudan is threatened by fragmentation, demise, and collapse.” He reiterated his call on the Sudanese to unite and continue their struggle to topple the ruling regime, “better today than tomorrow, in order to preserve what is left of Sudan”. The Darfuri scholar added that the struggle does not require taking up arms. “Citizens can fight by protesting, striking, or other peaceful means, depending on their capacities and the possibilities.” Diaspora Harir also called upon “the thousands of Darfuris in the diaspora to exercise their right as Western citizens to engage in civil society activities, political parties, and events, so as to influence the decisions of countries they are living in, in favour of the cause of the people of Darfur”. He cited the significant role civil society organisations and international humanitarian organisations had played in the beginning of the civil war in the western region. “In a short period, they managed to bring the Darfur cause to the spotlight.” “The people of Darfur still have friends in the international community, including leading countries like the USA, the Netherlands, Norway, and Germany. They can be influenced to restore international attention to the Darfur cause.” Photo: Dr Sharif Harir during the interview (by Radio Dabanga)
The people of Darfur and the rebel movements should unify their positions in order to continue their struggle for their rights. Darfuris living abroad should to engage more actively to bring the Darfur cause into the regional and international spotlight.
Dr Sharif Harir, Darfuri anthropologist and politician, told Radio Dabanga in an interview broadcasted on Tuesday, that the killing, rape, looting, torture, and burning of villages are part of the systematic warfare waged by the Khartoum regime against the people of Darfur. “The Darfuris took up arms in self-defence.”
“Not only the population of Darfur is marginalised by the northern-centred Khartoum regime,” Harir stressed. “The entire population is marginalised. Sudan is threatened by fragmentation, demise, and collapse.” He reiterated his call on the Sudanese to unite and continue their struggle to topple the ruling regime, “better today than tomorrow, in order to preserve what is left of Sudan”.
The Darfuri scholar added that the struggle does not require taking up arms. “Citizens can fight by protesting, striking, or other peaceful means, depending on their capacities and the possibilities.”
Diaspora
Harir also called upon “the thousands of Darfuris in the diaspora to exercise their right as Western citizens to engage in civil society activities, political parties, and events, so as to influence the decisions of countries they are living in, in favour of the cause of the people of Darfur”.
He cited the significant role civil society organisations and international humanitarian organisations had played in the beginning of the civil war in the western region. “In a short period, they managed to bring the Darfur cause to the spotlight.”
“The people of Darfur still have friends in the international community, including leading countries like the USA, the Netherlands, Norway, and Germany. They can be influenced to restore international attention to the Darfur cause.”
Photo: Dr Sharif Harir during the interview (by Radio Dabanga)
and then