Reminder: The heartlands have their knights

Tahir Satti

:: He lied — and yet he spoke as if telling the truth. The battle is far from over, contrary to what the leader of the Al-Daqlo terrorist militia said in his recent speech. Had he, his militants and mercenaries in Kordofan and Darfur known the force and steadiness the Knights of Dignity are preparing for them, they would have fled to Chad, the Central African Republic or Libya — just as they fled Khartoum, Al-Jazirah, Sennar, Al-Rahad and elsewhere.

:: In a matter of days the decisive phase of the Battle of Dignity will begin: the earth will quake beneath the Janjaweed’s feet as the valleys of Kordofan and the plains of Darfur are cleared of the knot of Al-Daqlo’s remnants. Then we will hear the shouting, the wails and the accusations of attacks on civilians and of so-called “protective communities” — a fabrication used to hide behind human shields.

:: What they call “protective communities” is Al-Daqlo’s last commodity, and they will not succeed in selling it. They already failed to sell the narrative of fighting the Kizan — because they are their product — and because their frontline is a motley mix of populists and nationalists led by Hasabu Abd al-Rahman, al-Basha Tabaq, al-Fateh Qurashi and others.

:: The Janjaweed of Al-Daqlo failed to market the rhetoric of opposing the “State of ’56” or the “djellaba state” and other racist, regionalist slogans. They could not sell that product despite the murder, displacement, rape and looting they carried out in Dar Masalit and other peaceful communities across Kordofan and Darfur.

:: They also failed to market the language of democracy, freedoms and civility — terms they cherry-picked and used superficially like “Hamouda the university barber,” that is, without real understanding. They failed to sell that discourse despite encouragement from activists of the moment and UAE clients hiding behind a mask of neutrality.

:: Thus they failed to market all their goods; the merchandise spoiled and became useless for political use. They exposed themselves to the world as a paid terrorist militia of the UAE, beholden only to a patronage base of collaboration — an affiliation their own political backers are ashamed to acknowledge. Truly, the disgrace is repudiated.

:: Soon, having failed to sell all those other goods, the Al-Daqlo militia will try to market the targeting of social anchors — the social heartlands of Darfur that everyone knows: the custodians of ritual, the keepers of the Kaaba’s cloth, the sultan, the elders, the courtyards of values and noble manners. These will not be sanctuaries for killers, thieves and rapists.

:: The communities of Kordofan and Darfur do not honor the Janjaweed and the “ksaba” — as their leader called them. They are proud of the champions of Nyala like the hunter Hussain Judat, of Fares Babnusa Hassan Darmood; indeed, since the start of the battle more than one hundred newborns in those lands have been named after him — congratulations for all that love, O hero!

:: It suffices Kordofan and Darfur to boast that they have gifted the nation with the genius of planning and execution: Adam Haroun; with Air Eagles commander Adam Ibrahim Madbo; with Omdurman operations knight Ibrahim Al-Jali; with Bahri knights’ commander Abdul Aziz Adam Abkar; with Mobile Unit commander of the White Nile Crocodiles Ibrahim Al-Dukhairi — and many more.

:: A torrent of knights, across every corner of our country and along the axes of dignity, offer sacrifice and service. They were suckled on truth, courage and love of the homeland in their communities; they drank from the factory of men and the lair of lions the meanings of devotion. Wherever they are, they are guardians of the land, defenders of honor, and flames against the enemy. With them and their comrades the mother of phases begins: the phase of purging Sudan’s heartlands in Darfur and Kordofan of the filth of Al-Daqlo.