Nubian thinker: the Sudanese Does Not Speak of Himself yet
18 December, 2010
Nubian thinker Abdul Halim Sabbar, has emitted extreme outrage and dissatisfaction with the Sudanese state, accusing it of extermination the diverse Sudanese ethnic cultures and languages
In an interview to Sudanow Abdul Halim Sabbar, lamented that the Sudanese state which used to respect cultural and ethnic diversity has begun to wane eight centuries ago. He has charged that those in control of power in the were targeting the Sudanese African languages and destroying tribal culture and demeaning their languages as rutanah (dialect), although they are historically more deep-rooted refined than (pre-islamic) Arabic poetry which he said is full of lampoons and vituperation.
Sabbar noted that the Sudanese people are ignorant of the value of diversity which the Sudanese possess and is appreciated and commended by many world-wide people but "we are unable to uphold this diversity."
He cited, as an example, the Afro-Asian Studies Institute which he said pays much concern with teaching Swahili, Fulani and Japanese and fail to teach the African languages in Sudan.
"We should not sacrifice any culture," said Sabbar because, he said "it is a human right and it is one of which we must be proud because it is a source of power and richness. Anyone with a destructive disposition has to begin with himself."
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In response to a question whether Cultural diversity is a grace or curse, Sabbar said it is a factor of enrichment and beautification of the cultural reality to those who recognize and appreciate endeavour to maintain it. It is a beautiful, colourful portrait that attracts the viewer, it is enrichment rather than impoverishment, it is God's blessing that depicts in multiple ways the development of humanity, Sabbar said.
He advised the Sudanese people to listen to opinions of non-Sudanese while they are watching a Sudanese folklore troupe that he said earns thousands of US dollars from a single-night show. He noted that the United States has become aware of the importance of diversity and, for this reason, has brought in people from numerous nations through the "Lottery" system.
Sabbar said it is therefore important to upkeep the diversity and to nurture the Sudanese African languages which are threatened of extinction and to support them institutionally and financially and recognize them by making them as both objects and media of teaching in addition to establishing centers and academic institutions for this purpose.
The Nubian thinker remarked that there are between 160 and 200 languages in the Sudan which depend for sustainability on personal efforts. Citing the Nubian language, Sabbar said it is being retained by the Nubians in their multiple social centers and clubs.
He said this self-motivated effort, however, has diminished due to the poverty of the people who speak those languages.
Those people, Sabbar went on, are waiting for the state to support their languages as it does for the Arabic language which, according to Sabbar, is being granted utmost care through various centers and organizations which, the Nubian thinker believes, are on no benefit to the Sudanese people, including the Arabic Language Convention which he said has done nothing of benefit to the Sudanese people. Arabic language is not in need of such much care because "it is a local and external market language spoken by 22 nations," he noted.
Posing a question of why has the Afro-Asian Studies Institute failed to teach the Nubian and other Sudanese African languages and is teaching Hausa, Fulani, Swahili, Japanese and Korean languages, Sabbar said many people argue that those languages are not written and are only spoken, forgetting that anthropologically the speech has preceded the writing method.
In response to a question on whether his concern with heritage in general, and the Nubian, in particular, was for seeking refuge in it or protecting it, Sabbar said both views are correct. He argued that a person seeks refuge with his own people and that the Nubians have nothing to be ashamed of; they have offered a great deal for the Sudan; they have a splendid civilization and have the right to be proud of their affiliation, both domestically and internationally. Furthermore, Sabbar went on, The Sudanese community is tribal-based; institutions, politics and social activities are all based on tribalism. The same pattern applies all over Africa; said Sabbar, citing the Saaydah in Upper Egypt who, he said, believe in revenge.
Asked whether he believes that cultural multiplicity in absence of democracy may weaken the Sudanese community, Sabbar said cultural multiplicity is a source of power but absence of democracy leads to suppression and impoverishment of the culture.
He noted that the absence of democracy has led to the extinction or near-extinction of several ethnicities in West Sudan and Jebal Haraza area in North Kordofan was completely wiped out, according to a testimony by author Herman Bell who made a study on the area in the period 1918-1970.
The great multiple-language diversity has contributed to the splendor of the Sudanese people that was not focused on a single ethnicity but was, rather, a peaceful accomplishment of a single people formed from multiple tribes in the east, the Shuluk, Dinka, Nuer and other tribes in the south, Nuba in the north and the west; an achievement that has introduced to humanity the Sudanese human being about whom many people have spoken in conferences and enumerated his merits "while we fail to appreciate the diversity and strive to annihilate it," lamented Sabbar.
Death of a language, as indicated by UNESCO, is a disgrace to humanity, noted Sabbar, adding that a healthy environment is one in which language does not die nor do the insects, animals and microbes, because this will lead to the end of life itself. People are ignorant of that and are delighted for the death of these things and use insecticides and chemicals on a wide scale, he said, commending the Japanese for being opposed to hunting whales.
Sacrificing any culture is a crime of premeditated murder and failure to get tribes involved in public life and represented in power with their languages used in official transactions, as practiced by the Arabs of the center, spark rebellion, Sabbar said.
He added that religion, language and culture are human rights and if a person intends to sacrifice those rights, he should start with their own rights.
Sabbar is of the viewpoint that identity is the most important component of culture, while religion and language are less important, identifying the identity as linkage to a place at a specific period of time.
Sabbar brushed aside the notion that the Sudan is a bridge between the Arabs and Africans, saying that the Sudan can never be such a bridge because, he went on, it has internally failed to establish peaceful coexistence, and "you cannot offer something you do not possess".
The Arabs found their roads to Africa across oceans and seas, Sabbar said, adding that instead of being a link of contact between the Arabs and Africans, the Sudan has been depicted as an arena for an Arab-African conflict and clashes of all types.
He cited one of the problems of identity, the conflict in the south and the north, ended in a peace agreement in 2005, according to which Sudanese will have to vote for unity of secession. He said secession of the south, as an expected result of the forthcoming referendum, has failed so far to be a bridge of contact between the Arabs and Africans..
In reply to a question on a thin thread that links or separates politics and culture, Sabbar said it is, rather, a strong rope because, he argued politics intervene in all walks of life. The political regimes intervene in culture through different ways, including publishing, printing and education and resort to destroying and burning cultural works and to oppressing and jailing the thinkers, he said.
Those political regimes even resort to sabotaging agricultural projects as a way of placing pressure on the people and targeting their pattern of living which also implies targeting their culture, anthropologically, said Sabbar.
Responding to another question on democracy in Sudan, Sabbar said the Sudanese people are not democrats and democracy is not part of their culture, except for a few intellectuals who are affiliated to the political parties which themselves tend adopting a system of inheritance.
Commenting to a common belief that culture is a luxury contrary to a conviction by the Negritude movement of Leopold Singore that culture and legacy sustain the balance of a person in crises; Sabbar said Culture could not be luxury because he said it is an instinct born with the human being whose search for knowledge never stops. Tales, poetry and folklore puzzles and stories are tools for retaining heritage and for inspiration and for enriching knowledge and for this reason, they were documented and taken care of by many people, particularly in the West, said Sabbar.
Edited by Mohamed Osman
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