Women and politics in the Sudan
DOES ANY BODY KNOW WHO ALTAIA IS ?
A Tribute To a Sudanese Woman !
By: Alfatih Abdelkarim
DOES ANY BODY KNOW WHO ALTAIA IS ?
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A Tribute To a Sudanese Woman !
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By: Alfatih Abdelkarim
Altaia outraged by the killing of her fellow student. Killing at a night when he was surrounded by libraries full of books (all sort of books, science books, religion books, history books, art books and more books), university teacher's offices, lectures theatres, laboratories for research and experiments, and above all that, peace !!
Her fellow student might have held his own views of life, which might had differed from other's views in life. He might have had a pen in his pocket, a lecture notes in his hand, and knowledge on his head, but he did not carry a weapon of killing.
In the morning when every one heard the news of a fellow student has been stabbed to death, every one was outraged and saddened by the news, but few who did not. Some of these few gave him a label to justify the killing. He WAS a communist they said, as if that is enough reason to kill some one. Not many people recognised his name, but the circumstances of the killing made them feel as if they all do know him.
Pain started building up, felt by many people. The pain was mainly coming from the fact that every one has felt the sense of crises we are living, the crises of boys resolving their difference by violence. The universities are really one of the civic platforms of the nation, which graduates tolerant, democratic and peace loving people, not people failing to resolve their differences in peace.
Pain was growing in the insides of every one. Because in a free speech ground, there is no need for killing any one, after all it's a peaceful place, there was no need for that peace to be disrupted in this way. It is not a killing ground after all. It is not a war zone.
The pain was growing in every one's heart, because the killer is not known, rumours' spreading but no real investigation been made to restore the peace, or no one heard about an investigation been made. The pain grows in every one's heart when they think of his friends, brothers, sisters, parents and how they are coping with his loss, in this kind of circumstances.
The feel of insecurity that incident gave every one at the university, a murderer in the loss. A murderer who carries the death sentence on his hand to prosecute whoever he feels guilty not following his preaching. A peaceful place had been erupted in violence way.. What a shame !!
Altaia is one of many who wanted to know what had happened, that ugly night and also why it has happened? Who to look at for help, peaceful help after all it is a university not a war ground. Fellow students are powerless to know the truth. The university heads are the one to go for, for help. Many students gathered in front of the administration office. Simply they asked if justice would take place. Unfortunately the university heads were as helpless as every one else. The a dvice they gave the students was to go and ask the government's heads.
Altaia among others decided to listen to the advice given by the university heads. In a peaceful demonstration, every one went filled with sense of outrage, hel plessness, sadness and great loss. But also with the hope that justice will take place in the end, and that is a good cause to fight for non-violently.
Altaia was training to be a teacher for the future generations of the Sudan, she was training to teach the future generations the message of justice, courage, fearless, progress, freedom and helpfulness among other good values and useful knowl edge, to build a great Sudan.
Altaia looked like an ordinary Sudanese woman when you look at her, not tall, no t short medium built and carries blooming look of youth. At the time she wore a one of the traditional Sudanese women dress, Altob Alsudani. It was a white To b, she was wearing when she went in the front line of the peaceful demonstration to ask the simple question, if justice will take place.
Altaia she had a face of a Sudanese women. Filled with a gentle smile, beneath it you can see covered the courage, support and helpfulness among other good values. Altaia never stopped discussing her outrage about what has happened among her fellow students, she was listening as much as she was expressing her self, in modest Sudanese manners. She was not fanatic at all of her own ideas how true and real they were to her and others.
Altaia in her endeavour to ask for justice, she shined like a twinkling star. Wh at made her to shine were her politeness, her strong sense of right and wrong an d her respect for others. Her passive but powerful weapon, her strong feminine v oice.
The demonstration made its way to the Governments heads offices. Leaving the hel pless university heads to dwell in their helplessness. The slogans at the time w ere all asking for justice and how important justice is.
The peaceful demonstration had been faced with showers of bullets, when leaving the university premises, into the university street (sharia AL gamaa). It was a moment of truth, a true test to justice seekers. People started to panic. It was a surprise reaction, some of them on the floor either shot or shocked, some ra n for their lives, some just changed the tone of their voice and slogans. The sl ogan the students were saying has been replaced by the sound of rifles. It was n ot a fair exchange of sound or messages.
All these scary moment has not moved altaia's heart an inch. In fact she started shouting louder and louder to silence the guns, Foag Foag Sudana Foag ( high, high our Sudan goes high) not ran away, not went on the floor just as yet. The ch ange in the tone of her voice and the change in the words of her slogan were ver y powerful. The criminal, who carried the gun at the time, did see the shining s tar, and shot Altaia on the chest.
The criminal did not know that altaia does not fear the death, for her cause. Al taia has opened her heart for justice before his bullet.
Altaia has got a message for our future generations to deliver, after all that what she was committed and training to do and what she felt her message was. Alt aia is prepared to die for justice, equality, peace and human values of her peop le. Altaia was brave, Ataia from the creed of Mihaira Bit Aboud.
Altaia's chest started to bleed, The blood Altaia carried was on the floor, and the tense expressions on her face started to change gradually. And her sense of justice finding started to flow into her follow student, as if she was spreadingsweets of life.
Altaia's white tobe started change colour. Her cleansed blood started to paint h er reality, but that did not scare Altaia. She was still shouting to silence the gone, her voice was getting faint, but powerful. She could not stand the injustice, and now she could not stand on her feet any more. Also, she can not stop tr ying to silence the gun. Her brothers and sister were begging her not to die. An d they were screaming. please do not die, she was calm.
Altaia's soul has risen up above us all, her body remained. Her body had gone th rough a ritual of reviving. The time did stop for the departure of Altai's soul, at least on the heart of her nation. The sad voices of her fellow students, the sound of the guns of the enemy of peace, made the surroundings for the rituals.
Her fellow students away from peace enemy have carried her body. Every one was r ushing to carry altaia's body as if they were rushing to touch a holy shrine. Al taia's hair was not covered any more, her Tob is all covered in red, and one of her shoes has fallen of in the ground, no one to pick it up. Altaia's body been carried towards the university main library passing the faculties of law and art , her body been rested there as part of the revival rituals, away from the ugly sound of the guns and into the silence of the library books.
Altaia's body then carried towards the river Nile, that where \she had got drunk from in the past. Then passing between the faculties of science and economics he r body been passed to the river Nile bank to say the last GOOD BYE, and the river responded by a gentle breath GOOD BYE. The trees on the riverbank danced GOOD BYE, our tears drooped our heart sunk GOOD BYE. Altaia, your lessons are great l essons, we hope we learn them and pass them our further generations.
Altaia till hear last minutes in this life, was trying condemning violence, the poison which ended her life and her fellow student life. Altaia has carried the seeds of a Sudanese Ghandi on her. Altaia is one of our prophets of peace who ye t we killed.The lessons of ironies in Altaia's life or death, I have no doubt had been chose n by her for us, she is the Martyr of peace for all of the Sudan.
My heart bleed for you Altaia,
Will your lessons be learned ?
Will your name be saved ?
Will your voice be heard ?
Will we be able to tell our children about you ?
Will we be able to teach your story in our history lessons ?
Will we be able to remember you forever ?
Any body knows who Altaia is ?
A tribute to Altaia's murder been convoyed by myself, my apologies if I missed telling any of your lessons Altaia.
Fatih.