Khartoum, Sudan – Thousands of Sudanese came to the street once again in order to commemorate the anniversary of the mass turmoil that led to the toppling of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and to oppose the military’s ongoing grip on power.
Rallies were occurred in Khartoum and outside the capital on Wednesday to mark al-Bashir’s removal and show the public’s anger at a military coup in October that derailed a two-year transition period to civilian rule in October Sudan.
The economic and financial situation in Sudan worsened since the military grabbed power in Sudan, with hyperinflation reaching 250 percent per annum.
According to one of the protestors, ‘Yousif Abdallah, 34, “We are going out today as we promised our saints that we will satisfy the civilian state.”
Abdallah further stated that the civilian state, with its diversification that… is the exact thing that we are looking for at the moment, a member of Sudan’s activist “resistance committees” network that mobilised against al-Bashir’s rule.
Police again spread tear gas on protestors in Khartoum, and the military headquarters in the capital was sealed off by the army, razor wire, and hundreds of military vehicles.
In 2019, Protesters had gathered at the headquarters for months two years back, and it is unclear whether activists will attempt to stage another sit-in.
Nearly hundreds of protestors were killed in a bloody crackdown by security forces in June 2019 when a large pro-democracy sit-in was organised against a military council that seized power after ousting al-Bashir.
According to Sajida al-Mubarak, a 22 years old medical student that she is doing protest just to say “no” to the military: “No to partnership and no to recognition of the army.
She further stated that “We will tell the army that they should go back to their barracks and leave the politics for the civilians.”
While critics accuse the resistance committees of being unrealistic in their demands, members of the activist networks say that they believe the military coup must be resisted.
According to the spokesperson, ‘Mohamed Tahir, ‘ “We can only continue fighting; whenever they repress us, we just resist.”
“This is a situation in which you weather to die for what you believe in or win, he said.
Aside from the removal of al-Bashir as a result of the 2019 protests, April 6 also celebrates the day in 1985 when Sudanese people took to the roads against former President Gaafar Nimeiry, forcing him from power.
