Osman Mirghani Said, “This is Science Fiction of My Own,” and No One Believed Him (1-2)

(Unintentionally, Osman’s article tested the despondency of anticipating the rise of Sudanese civil forces with a national will to end the war. If the global community laments the disconnect between warring parties in the heat of battle, it will not rejoice in a civil society living in a state of post-Babelism, as Jonathan Haidt described.)

The American social psychologist Jonathan Haidt found a parallel between the story of Babel from the Book of Genesis and the fragmented reality of America during Donald Trump’s era. The people of Babel agreed to build a tall tower reaching the heavens, but God disapproved, confusing their tongues until no one could understand the other. As a result, construction of the tower ceased, condemning them to live in a state of perpetual miscommunication. Based on this story, Haidt described America as living in a post-Babel era where anger is the pinnacle of masculinity, performative displays outweigh competence, and platforms like Twitter dominate traditional American media. In this climate, stories only gain traction as fragmented bits, and truth no longer achieves widespread acceptance.

Last week, Sudan became a stage for this post-Babel era—an era defined by a pervasive state of mutual incomprehension. The protagonist of the incident, which disrupted communication among people, was Osman Mirghani, editor-in-chief of Al-Tayar newspaper.

Osman’s words last Saturday inadvertently tested, as the saying goes, the waters, to see whether we could rely on the civil national will we place our hopes in to end Sudan’s war. He wrote a statement attributed to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Chairman of the Sovereignty Council. In this fabricated statement, Burhan allegedly invited all Sudanese forces to a conference in the Arkwit resort in the Red Sea State. Arkwit, a town in the Red Sea mountains, was once a British summer retreat, then a honeymoon destination, and later a venue for scientific and political conferences.

The purported decree stated that these political forces would convene to discuss a single agenda: the formation of a legislative council, from which a cabinet would emerge based on terms and proportions agreed upon by the attendees. Burhan allegedly asked the forces to finalize this council’s formation within a month, aiming to make 2024 Sudan’s final year of sorrow and paving the way for a brighter future. The proposed legislative council would be tasked with forming a Supreme Peace Authority—or a similarly named independent body—to manage peace processes under a law passed by the council defining its powers and operations.

Burhan also supposedly suggested, though without imposing it, that representation in the proposed legislative council be allocated to sectors such as lawyers, armed forces, political parties, educators, herders, and farmers, among others. To ensure the conference’s success, Burhan allegedly guaranteed political immunity for all attendees, suspending legal actions previously announced by the Attorney General against certain politicians, activists, and journalists. Finally, the Sovereignty Council would invite representatives of select countries to the conference’s opening session to affirm Sudan’s desire for a new partnership with the international and regional communities.

Osman prefaced his article with the words, “This is science fiction of my own,” but this did not prevent political rivals in Sudan from “colluding” to treat it as a genuine statement by Burhan. Even Burhan did not address this fabricated story directly. Instead, he merely denied it in a speech at the East Sudan Women’s Conference last Monday, saying, “There is no political settlement with any group. What is being spread about this is completely baseless.” Of course, Osman’s fabricated statement was not something Burhan could refute, as it was admittedly false from its inception.

Ironically, some forces labeled as “progressive” celebrated Osman’s fabricated statement, treating it as credible despite his clear disclaimer: “This is science fiction of my own.” One commentator even quoted Osman verbatim, only to add, “Can the illegitimate Sovereignty Council produce anything legitimate? I believe this is one of the Islamists’ fabrications.” Another dismissed Osman’s statement as “nonsense,” accurately recognizing it as such.

Despite Osman explicitly labeling his words as fictional, some critics preferred to exploit the fabricated statement to oppose Burhan. This sparked renewed comparisons to Sudan’s dark Inqadh (Salvation) regime, which critics claim Burhan is reviving as a “tool of the Islamists.” Academician Nour Hamad argued that Burhan’s alleged invitation for inclusive political dialogue resembled the failed Wathba Dialogue of former President Omar al-Bashir in 2015—a dialogue that many parties boycotted, while some participants later disowned its outcomes.