Sudan's Rastas Fear New Crackdown But Vow To Fight On

Khartoum, Dec 1 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Dec, 2022 ) :With his distinctive long dreadlocks and slouchy beanie, Abdallah Ahmed has always known his choice of lifestyle means trouble in Sudan, where long-oppressed Rastafarians say they are being targeted anew.

Ahmed, 31, has for years been enamoured of the Rastafari tradition which emerged in Jamaica last century and for him represents "telling the truth, being courageous, fighting for rights".

The number of Rastafarians in Sudan is unknown, and the community had largely lived underground under the autocratic rule of Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in April 2019 following mass protests against his regime.

"We were very enthused after Bashir's fall," said Ahmed, a long-time Bob Marley fan also known as "Maxman", at an art exhibition where he was performing reggae music with his band.

"Musicians and artists flourished," he said, donning brightly coloured head and wrist bands.

But a brief whiff of freedom did not last as a post-Bashir transition to civilian rule was upended last year when army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led a military coup.

Rastafarianism considers former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie to be its Messiah, but like many followers in Sudan, Ahmed told AFP that he saw it "not as a religion" "It's a lifestyle, and it's me." Under Bashir, community members were regularly harassed, had their heads shaved and faced persecution under stringent public order laws restricting how people dress or behave in public.

Ahmed said he had been arrested for drug possession in 2017 while performing music in public, and was flogged 20 times.

Followers of the Rastafari tradition have always been "easy targets" for security forces due to their looks, said Ahmed.

"It however never stopped us from growing our hair," he added.

"Some of us died while holding on to our personal lifestyle."