On the 9th September 2001, the three Nuba political parties inside Sudan namely: the Nuba Mountains General Union (NMGU), Sudan National Party (SNP) and Sudan National Free Party (SNFP) held an important meeting in Khartoum and decided to form a Charter for Coalition. This is in response to the current political developments in the Sudan.

By Sudan National Party (Cairo Branch)

The Sudan has been suffering throughout its modern political history from the dilemma of government systems. The active political parties could not crystallise any clear-cut principle. It is true that some political powers had called for democracy as a system of government, but they failed to define the true democracy and the way to practice it. Furthermore, they did not have efficient competence to run the country’s affairs democratically, besides the fact that they did not attempt to create any sort of culture nor an ongoing democratic know-how to grasp the complexities of the real situation going on in the Sudan. The political parties never believed in institutionalisation in their internal structure, and consequently this had an adverse effect on the political structure of the civil state.

While watching Sudan satellite TV I was attracted by a programme called ‘Sudanese Wrestling’ in which Nuba traditional wrestling has been transformed in a way that distorts its uniqueness.

Instead of the familiar scenes of wrestlers in their traditional dress inside the wrestling ring surrounded by sabaras dancing and singing songs of triumph, the television shows wrestlers wearing trousers, a referee with a whistle in the middle of the ring and an audience who paid money to watch the event. A situation which is more like a football match than the traditional wrestling contest. Instead of hearing the wrestling familiar names like kura’a aljamal (camel’s leg), arba’a hamir (four donkeys), and Jebel Kuwa, we were told that the match was between aldababeen (militia formed by the government to fight in the South and the Nuba Mountains) and Hilal aljibal. Is it an attempt to modernize the Nuba’s ancient tradition or is it another form of cultural assimilation which has been directed to the region and its rich cultural heritage by the successive national government especially the one currently in power?

By Daniel Lupinski

Young girl in the Nuba Mountains,
Young girl in the Nuba Mountains knows nothin about war.
Young girl in the Nuba Mountains,
Young girl in the Nuba Mountains her mama don’t speak anymore.
Young girl in the Nuba Mountains,
Young girl in the Nuba Mountains her body shattered and torn.
Young girl in the Nuba Mountains,
Young girl in the Nuba Mountains she don’t walk anymore.

Young boy in the Nuba Mountains,
Young boy in the Nuba Mountains lost his family in this war.
Young boy in the Nuba Mountains,
Young boy in the Nuba Mountains he don’t smile anymore.
Young boy in the Nuba Mountains,
Young boy in the Nuba Mountains carries a gun and sleeps on the floor.