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My first political experience was with Mao Tse-Tung on 1968-69. That political experience occured in Sudan not in China! I could possibly see right now some surprises on the faces of my valued readers.

That was exactly before the second Sudanese military dictator Ga'far Numeri took over power through his coup d'etat in May 25, 1969.

I was at the final level of my intermediate school and about to receive the results of the high secondary school examination that time.

I read a lot of Mao's Red Books during the second democracy in the Sudanese history.

It was called democracy, but I was not sure if it really was!

I always have a lot of DOTS in our Sudanese way of understanding DEMOCRACY and practicing it, because the three periods of what they call democracy in Sudan led to dictatorship. So, what's the odds?!

Well, early in that year of my age in the intermediate school, I had much respect for Mao Tse-Tung so I wore one of his Red beautiful Medals on my T-Shirt just over the heart.

I came this way one evening to the school and found my class-room door closed. Just before I put my hand on the doorknop, I heard the heavy steps and the voice of the headmaster coming along the corridor. I pushed the door open and entered the class-room to hear some of the students singing and to see one of them dancing.

At that specific moment and exactly while I held my index finger over my lips saying "shhh", the headmaster entered, glanced like an eagle and captured the full "prospects". Everything, even the small details. He was a "rightist" member of one of the top governing parties.

The student who was dancing was a son of a well known Islamic figure in the town. And I who carried Mao's thoughts am a son of a well known unionist member. The majority of my comrades were from the middle class, except few who were aristocratic.

So, when the headmaster heard the music, saw who was dancing there and fixed his eyes on Mao Tse-Tung on my chest, he got crazy enough to pull Mao until my T-Shirt came into pieces on his fat hand.

I was not afraid at all although he gathered all the school next morning to lecture the students about that event and to punch us. He slashed everyone of us very hard 30 times in front of all the students.

It was happened in the second turn of what they call democracy in Sudan!

So, for this reason and other logical political points I say: Sudan knows no democracy since what's so called independence!

We've got up to this moment right there two political categories consist of: 1- The Military Dictatorship! and 2- The Civil Dictatorship!

And since the Civil Dictatorship built up its mechanical majority dependent on the climate of illiteracy, it still influences the very simple and traditionally Muslim Sudanese people by an alleged Islamic emotions.

So it gave the army its "climax" three times to bring those militant adventuerers to power. The army took over power not to correct this situation but to be more and aggressively fundamentalist.

Nowadays the third military dictatorial regime plays the political game very wise, by importing the same Islamic emotions and using it against the innocent Sudanese people, its neighbors and the World.

Author Copyright'2005 Khalid Osman