Abdel Wahid Movement Lowers Sudan’s Flag, Bans National Anthem

The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid Mohamed Al-Nur has barred pupils and students in areas under its control from chanting the Sudanese national anthem, after lowering the national flag from school flagpoles and replacing it with the movement’s emblem. Pupils and students at the primary, intermediate and secondary levels have traditionally chanted the national anthem at the start of each school day during morning assembly.

A number of school principals in areas under the control of the Sudan Liberation Movement told Darfur24 that the movement instructed pupils and students at all educational levels not to chant the national anthem during morning assembly. They noted that the move to prevent pupils and students from chanting the national anthem sparked widespread controversy among students and parents.

The principals said the movement’s decision included lowering the national flag from school flagpoles, where it was replaced with the movement’s emblem.

In October, the education official of the civil authority affiliated with the Sudan Liberation Movement decided to resume the educational process in areas under its control in Central and North Darfur states.

One school headmaster in Tawila told Darfur24 that the decision to ban the chanting of the flag anthem or the Sudanese national anthem came after a tour conducted by a delegation of the movement’s leadership to all schools in displacement camps in December last year. He explained that the delegation instructed school principals and teachers to prevent students from chanting the flag anthem, before obliging them to chant the anthem of the Sudan Liberation Movement and raise the movement’s flag in schools.

The movement controls Jebel Marra, which extends over a vast area in South and Central Darfur, in addition to Tawila locality in North Darfur.