Middle East Eye: Sudan's "coup"... Demonstrators rely on the experience of generations to resist military coups

The

British

website published a

on the protests against the military takeover of power in Sudan, in which it says that the Sudanese have accumulated experience over generations in resisting military coups, and that the protesters are currently relying on it.

The report pointed out that unions in Sudan have always played critical roles in political change, and in the current uprising as well.

In October 1964, opponents used civil disobedience to overthrow the military rule of former Sudanese President Ibrahim Abboud, in the country's first revolt against military rule.

Proven Tactics

Other uprisings in Sudan repeated the same tactic, along with strikes and demonstrations, to bring down one government after another, and the last goal was the current power of Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who overthrew the civilian government and its Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok last Monday.

The report quoted Youssef Sir Al-Khatem, 72, who participated in the overthrow of the Abboud government, as saying that every generation learns from the previous generation, adding that the current protests, and with people rallying again around the slogan "freedom, justice and peace" against the military rulers, the experience has reached accumulated to a climax.

The report referred to the massive campaign of arrests carried out by the army and the Rapid Support Forces against dissidents, former officials and journalists since Monday.

similarities

The report also quoted Khaled Hussein, 52, a Sudanese railway worker who participated in the April 1985 uprising against the government of former Sudanese President Jaafar Nimeiri, as saying that he saw similarities with the current situation.

Al-Asam: Throughout their history, the Sudanese have amassed a powerful set of tools to defeat (European) dictatorships.

Hussein said that the protesters in 1985 used old means of communication such as the telegraph, the postal authority and trains to send messages from one city to another in order to connect unions, political parties and activists, and in the current uprising opponents are using the same basic tactics, with the addition of modern technologies such as social media and mobile phones.

A prominent member of the Sudanese Professionals Association, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said that organized work was the main means of expressing the people's demands during the 1964, 1985 and 2019 uprisings, and that Sudanese unions and their alliances can always bring down dictatorships.

Civil Disobedience

Following the announcement by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, last week, the Sudanese Professionals Association called for general disobedience across the country to defeat the current military "coup".

University professors, doctors, engineers and most employees of the various public sector institutions have already gone on strike amid widespread paralysis of the public sector and the closure of markets and public transportation.

The leader of the Sudanese Professionals Association, Muhammad Naji Al-Asam, said that throughout their history, the Sudanese have gathered a powerful set of tools to defeat dictatorships, calling on the demonstrators not to respond to the provocations of the army and security services that seek to drag the revolutionaries to violence.

"Our unity as pro-democracy demonstrators, peaceful protest, civil disobedience, and political strike, are all our decisive tools to defeat any coup attempt," Al-Asam said in a speech in front of a gathering of demonstrators on Airport Street in the capital, Khartoum.

Barricades used by Sudanese protesters to disrupt the movement of police and regular forces (Anatolia)

barricades

Demonstrators set up barricades, which they call locally (barricades) in different cities, blocking neighborhoods and even main streets amid large-scale clashes between protesters and the army.

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, one of the groups active in leading the protests and strike, urged doctors to stop working in hospitals, except for emergency units, and to withdraw completely from military hospitals.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, political parties, civil society organizations and resistance committees called for a million-strong march tomorrow, Saturday, to overthrow Al-Burhan's authority.

Mohamed Badawi, a senior analyst at the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies in Sudan (

), said protesters should use the tools of civil disobedience particularly wisely as the economic situation deteriorates.

He added that they saw these battles from 1964 until now, and he believed that despite all the "aggressive" tactics used by the armies and regular forces, the protesters are getting more ground each time due to the accumulation of experience of the pro-democracy demonstrators.