Background:
The tensions between Muslims from the North and Christians from the South of Sudan have resulted in the Southerners talking about self-determination. Bishop al-Zubaīr, Catholic Bishop of al-Kharṭūm and Bishop Roreig, Anglican Bishop of al-Kharṭūm, are interviewed and asked to share their views on the Southerners’ desire of independence. Both bishops, as opposed to the Muslim former Prime Minister of Sudan Ṣādiq al-Mahdī, are in favour of interfaith dialogue in order to come to a consensus or at least a ceasefire and stop the endless fighting going on between the two sides.
Furthermore, Dutch priest Father Alphons is active in offering support at the Dār al-Salām refugee camp on the outskirts of al-Kharṭūm. He is asked to share his experiences on the living conditions of thousands of children, which according to him are terrible, where education, food and water are very scarce.
Side A:
Bishop al-Zubaīr advocates existing discrimination going on between the Christians and the Muslims of Sudan. According to the bishop, Christians are forced to pray out in the open as there is a lack of churches present for Christians to pray. Although there are a few in the capital of the country, most Christians live in the outskirts and are in need of churches there. Sudan allegedly has the funds to build churches, but al-Zubaīr wonders why they are not using it for that. The difference in number of churches and number of mosques is large and al-Zubaīr argues that such neglecting of alternative religious practices only enhances the tensions between the religions further.
Besides the aforementioned points, Christians do not feel at ease or secure because they feel as though anything could happen to them at any given time. Such hostile feelings result from the building up of unjust practices towards the Christians, according to the bishop. In principle, Christian youth can be taught in schools secularly, but in practice most education is Islamic in nature. There is no consideration for the Christians causing many Christian students to fail classes (such as history or Arabic) due to their absence of an Islamic background. Moreover, Islamic groups such as al-Daʿwah al-Islāmiyya offer support to the Christians, but are accused of putting pressure on them to convert to Islam if they want to receive help.
Bishop al-Zubaīr is asked about the recent rounding up of Christian refugee children from the streets of al-Kharṭūm who are sent to camps allegedly run by the government, in order to receive Islamic education. He objects to this practice as many children who are collected have family or a permanent residence which they are forced to leave behind, however, he argues that if the children are vagrants it is not that much of an issue. Non-vagrant children have their parents to decide for them whether they will practice Christianity or Islam, the bishop argues that vagrant children are perhaps better off at the camps where they will receive education and perhaps better living conditions. Although, on the other hand al-Zubaīr does mention a few stories of escaped children who argue that the living conditions are in fact terrible; he did not confirm nor dismiss such stories.
Due to all these factors, Christians feel discriminated and insecure in their own country. The bishop also argues that economically speaking, they are treated unfairly as Christians, who are in need of resources are deprived of them by the mosques because they are told that they do not contribute to society, when in fact the bishop argues that every Sudanese citizen, regardless of their religion knowingly or unknowingly pays al-zakāt (Islamic tax) which is taken of their regular taxes.
Bishop Roreig and Bishop al-Zubaīr share the same view on interfaith dialogue, whereby they stress the importance of shared meanings of the word ‘freedom.’ While Muslims claim that Christians are free, Christians object and argue that they are not. Such arguments display the lack of shared understanding of the word freedom and the bishops argue that a shared understanding is critical for peace talks to take place.
Side B:
The issue of Islamisation, according to Bishop Roreig, is not an issue at all because there is no Islamisation taking place. When asked about the Christian judges being replaced by Muslim judges in the South, the bishop refers back to the colonial times when Christians were deprived of education and this is the reason why there is a lack of Christian judges and it is not so much due to the implementation of Islam.
Furthermore, he argues that the large number of Christians converting to Islam is not due to Islamisation, but rather an issue of weak faith. He argues that the tensions between the North and the South are not religious in nature, but rather the South is dealing with a political identity crisis.
Father Alphons states that the children at Camp Dār al-Salām receive only one meal a day, due to lack of finances. In the interview, he joyfully shares that on his return from the Netherlands, he received several generous donations of essentially 40,000 guilder to help out the refugees at the camp. Water is one of the biggest issues there, as it is often contaminated or there simply is not enough of it. Father Alphons believes his mission is not necessarily to baptise everyone at the camp, and in fact does not differentiate between Muslims and Christians but aims to improve the living conditions primarily.
