The Islamic Movement Storming the SCP HQ in Atbara
Will it undermine the long-established Communist-Islamic alliance?
Ibrahim Matar
The spell quickly backfired, and a force from the Brotherhood’s Security Service stormed the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) headquarters in Atbara, an incident the Party leadership deemed as “blatant aggression.” The Party leadership complained that the “political symposium that was held inside the headquarters had been halted and the premises evacuated,” by order of the State Security Committee. The (SCP) believed that the incident “constitutes an infringement on freedom of expression, opinion, and activism, … etc.” It also promised -a promise the Party leadership knew it couldn’t fulfill- to “work to regain our full rights.” In a country where communists witnessed the blatant disregard of the people’s right to life, as innocents were slaughtered on the streets, “in accordance with legal and legitimate means,” according to the Party statement. This is a country where a law is enacted for Strange Faces and implemented within the bounds of the city of Atbara itself, while communists remain seated. They have yet to utter a word in that regard, as they’ve traded the Party’s conscience for Brotherhood Security favors that were limited to allowing them to hold activities inside their headquarters without prosecution.
As a result of the current Party leadership’s alliance —which has become virtually declared— with Ali Karti group within the Islamic Movement, communists weren’t stripped of their public service positions after the war, nor were they persecuted, tortured, and killed at Military Intelligence headquarters, as was the case with other Party members. They weren’t prevented from traveling, while the Islamic Movement pursues even activists in Emergency Rooms and communal kitchens, arresting, torturing, and killing them.
Previously, we included an excerpt from a lengthy article by Dr. Ahmed Al-Barqawi —a university professor, intellectual, and Syrian leftist critic— in which he monitored the left’s repeated and deadly alliances with extremist religious militias. He addressed the alliance of the communists with Grand Ayatollah Imam Khomeini against the Shah of Iran, as well as the insistence of the communists in Lebanon on an alliance with the extremist religious militia Hezbollah. The result of such alliances was the complete elimination of the Party in Iran after it was trampled underfoot by the Supreme Leader, rendering it “a thing of the past.” Iranian leftists themselves became as rare as chickens’ teeth.
Al-Barqawi’s article reads: (A few days after Hussein Mroueh was assassinated by Hezbollah, during a meeting at the home of Dr. Tayeb Tizini, attended by the beloved Marxist philosopher and poet, Mahdi Amel, the latter was asked how his relationship with Hezbollah would develop after Hussein Mroueh’s assassination. He replied: We must ally with them. We are in a difficult battle with Israel. I told him: Whoever killed Hussein Mroueh will kill Mahdi Amel. I fear for you. Mahdi smiled his childish smile and replied: Don’t worry about me. A few months after Hussein Mroueh’s assassination, Mahdi Amel was assassinated in 1987.) A few years later, Hezbollah eliminated the Lebanese National Resistance and, after the assassination of its leaders, the Lebanese Communist Party was rendered to a “spherical state,” which can be noted during annual and seasonal celebrations. They fill the horizon with their drums and banners in a three-minute video every year, then disappear.
The alliance of leftist parties, in general, with extremist religious groups is a long-standing one, and the Sudanese Communist Party was no exception. Its ultimate fate will be no better than that of its fellow leftist Parties that fell into this trap. This could be due to a misguided emotional assessment of the leaders, as in the case of Mahdi Amel, or the leadership itself being swamped by elements of the Security Services, as in the case of the Sudanese Communist Party, with its current, dubious leadership. Since the architect of the Sixth Congress election fraud, Al-Harith Al-Toum, is in control of the Central Committee and Political Bureau of the (SCP).
A justifiable sense of schadenfreude gripped the majority of those who read the news regarding the Brotherhood’s Security Service Storming on the headquarters of its secret, declared ally. The Party’s statement, reminiscent of “Eid cookies,” received no sympathy, given that the Party paid its credibility as a price for a “granted” security that is taken away whenever the benefactor wants to reclaim it. This false cover-up, however, is something the Brotherhood can expose whenever they feel like it. There’s no denying the Brotherhood of the Devils. As for the Communist Party, it is enough to denounce itself through its constant evasion of confrontation, choosing to ally with those who shed blood, divided the Sudanese, and preach the call of ignorance. May Allah’s curse be upon the hypocrites.
