Opinion

The Illusion of Guardianship: On Shattering Idols and Ending the Era of Dominance Through Lies

By Dr. Amjed Farid Al-Tayeb

“Men are known by the truth, and not truth by the men. Know the truth, and you shall know its people.”

— Ali ibn Abi Talib

Sudanese political elites, the self-appointed gatekeepers of public discourse who then proceeded to appoint each other as the eternal and sole representatives of the Sudanese people—as if preordained by fate—were recently shaken with fury. This anger was sparked by what they perceived as a “transgression” by some Sudanese citizens who dared to address the United Nations Secretary-General in a public letter dated June 13, calling for the replacement of his personal envoy to Sudan. The letter was signed by 103 individuals and entities.

But what truly stunned them was the counter-response: a letter signed by more than 260 Sudanese men and women rejecting this political blackmail, which served nothing but personal interests and foreign agendas. These so-called “inspired leaders” had seemingly assumed that addressing the international community and the UN was a divine right reserved solely for them—as if they were a chosen lineage of Sudanese!

What compounded their outrage was the fact that the reply letter boldly revealed the very truths they had long tried to obscure. It exposed that the original letter to the UN Secretary-General was influenced by non-Sudanese interests, particularly discomfort with the Algerian nationality of the envoy, Ramtane Lamamra—given Algeria’s known tensions with the UAE, the primary patron of these political elites.

The original 103 signatories included aspirant politicians seeking power via militia alliances, associates of former Prime Minister Dr. Abdalla Hamdok and his UAE-based research center, employees from the office of General Abdulrahim Dagalo (second-in-command of the Rapid Support Forces), retired human rights defenders, paid journalists, and uninformed friends unaware of the distinctions between personal envoys, UN envoys, and international missions—“But it’s all the same to Arabs,” as the saying goes.

The elite’s fury focused disproportionately on me, believing I authored the counter-letter. Whether seen as an honor or an accusation, I make no claim nor denial—my name is indeed among the 260 Sudanese signatories. Yet they proceeded to leak this as if it were a classified secret, announcing with misplaced pride that the letter had been formally submitted from my email—exposing their sources and tactics in the process, just as they had done previously with false claims about RSF’s capture of the Engineers Corps, attributed to “credible Western sources.”

Their latest baseless claim? That the counter-letter was directed by Sudanese military intelligence—as if Sudanese citizens had no agency beyond their chosen elite class.

We, however, fight our battles in the daylight, not from the shadows of deceit. We do not whisper in corners or manipulate in secrecy. We walk in the footsteps of those who marched with pride and purpose, guided by the motto: enter the storm if it leads to the honor of your country.

Given the history of this group—comprising security service informants, RSF-affiliated operatives, and mercenaries for various foreign states—it’s no surprise they can only perceive political positions as instruments of external agendas. One judges others by the measure of one’s own deeds, and so their accusations only reveal their own habits of paid political service, wherever the money flows.

If their “national alliance” is headed by someone who openly works at a research institute funded by a state accused internationally of fueling Sudan’s war—arming, funding, and enabling mass displacement, rape, and looting—then what more evidence is needed of misplaced loyalties?

(See the public remarks of Dr. Ebtesam Al-Ketbi, head of the Emirates Policy Center, boasting of the UAE’s “muscle” in Sudan to protect its billion-dollar investments: [YouTube link].
Also note Dr. Hamdok’s celebratory signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the same center during the 10th Abu Dhabi Strategic Forum: [Twitter link])

Truth is not the property of political elites to shape at will. A national stance aligns with those suffering war on the ground—not with those who manipulate the legacy of the December Revolution to craft a reality that suits their egos.

Power—any power—doesn’t fear truth as much as it fears unpermitted voices speaking it. But these elites, drunk on their imagined monopoly over revolution, statehood, political work, and even “civility,” see themselves as Zeus atop Olympus—flanked by gods of eternal righteousness and absolute truth—while foreign diplomats dance to their whisper campaigns, setting their countries’ policies accordingly.

But reality cannot be rewritten by lies, nor history bent by privilege. They cannot fathom the idea that more than 260 Sudanese, from across the country and every walk of life—activists, artists, athletes, writers, professionals, and ordinary citizens—could dare to disagree with them in the very arenas they claim to own.

They delude themselves into believing that multilateral organizations are their personal domains, offended by any differing opinion as though it soils their privileged status.

No matter…

I will not dignify their character assassination campaign with defensive rebuttals. If condemnation comes from such mouths, no response is required. But let me say this:

Those who currently work with Sudanese military intelligence or its army to defend their homeland from militias and foreign sponsors are a thousand times more honorable than those who serve the interests of the UAE—cheerleading it as a “sister nation” while its bombs fall on Sudanese heads.

If you were sincere in urging the international community to end the war or mitigate the humanitarian disaster, you would not have allied with known militia supporters—from party heads to propagandists praising a “peace-loving” warlord who eats cookies for breakfast, as they absurdly claim.

If your commitment to ending the war were real, you would not defend the UAE, while even U.S. Congress members (see statements by Rep. Sara Jacobs and Sen. Chris Van Hollen) declare that its ongoing support for militias is the primary reason the conflict endures.

If you truly stood with the Sudanese people, you would not stay silent while the UAE arrests Sudanese over political opinions, coerces collaboration, and blackmails youth volunteers forced to seek refuge within its borders—demanding they stay silent about RSF crimes.

If your concern for civilian protection were genuine, you would not remain mute while pre-justifications for bombing Zamzam IDP camp circulate among your own organizations, claiming it had become a military base.

In the end, your tactics of slander, lies, and intimidation will not silence us. Between us lies the truth and political integrity.

As long as you continue to play both sides—refusing to clearly oppose the RSF’s institutional role in Sudan’s future for the sake of foreign interests or your own ambitions—we will continue to expose your disgraceful bias.

Your fantasy of monopolizing Sudanese civic voice, and your recruitment of international allies to discredit opposing views, will fail.
Truth needs no lies to support it.
Your relentless lies are proof enough of which side of history you stand on.

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