TODAY IN HISTORY: 59 Years Since Torit Mutiny. #SouthSudan The Flag is hoisted in Torit. The Flag of Johns Army, we will take it to Juba. Our New Sudan.... (Alam akääc Torit. Alam ë Jɛny ë Jɔn, ka bukku lɛɛr Juba. Thudanda Jediit...) So sang the SPLAs Red Army (Jesh Amer) brigades and battalions in the late 1980s in Ethiopia. Such is the reverence and admiration reserved by South Sudanese of all walks of life and across all political spectrum for Torit and the events that unfolded there 59 years ago. Torit, a leafy town in the shadows of the majestic Kimatong Mountains cemented its place in history and in the hearts of Jenubiin in 1955. On the 18th of August, the Arab Commanding Officer of Equatoria Corps Comapany 2, in a fit of rage took out his pistol and shoot dead one of his own soldiers, a Southern Sudanese. The CO was enraged that the soldiers had refused orders to transfer to Khartoum in the North fearing that they may be disarmed and demobilised as Britains departure date was closer. Southern Sudan at that time was characterised by tension and Khartoum was fearful that Southern Complaints might metamorphose into violence. Hence it resolved to quietly disarmed most of the Southerners in the army as the British got ready to leave. However, the execution of Company Twos soldier accelerated events faster than Khartoum had expected. The reaction among Southern troops in Torit Barracks was immediate and spontaneous. They quickly secured arms depots and dislodged all the Northern soldiers in the barracks in pitched gunfights. The town went into deadly riots and some Northern merchants were killed and others were sheltered by the Catholic Church as anger towards Northerners was palpable. As news of events in Torit spread, unrest spread to various towns all over Southern Sudan before then Prime Minister Ismail Azharis Regime brutally crushed protests and unleashed Northern hordes leading to massacres of Southerners such as that of Ngok Dinka in Abyei. Nevertheless, the genie was out of the bottle and it was hard to bottle it again. Torit had sparked something in Jenubiin which eventually led to the First War of Independence later waged by Anyanya I. Copyright 2014 NC/Talk of Juba The National Courier and Talk of Juba pay tribute to Torit, the Veterans of Torit Mutiny and Anyanya I for their sacrifice.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 08:03:59 +0000
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