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| Dubbed "Kandaka", or Nubian queen, Alaa Salah has quickly become an icon of Sudan's protest movement (AFP Photo) |
Khartoum (AFP) - A Sudanese woman propelled to internet fame earlier this week after leading powerful protest chants in the capital told AFP Wednesday that women are key to the uprising against President Omar al-Bashir's iron-fisted rule.
"Sudanese
women have always participated in revolutions in this country," Alaa Salah
said after footage went viral of her standing on a car, singing and conducting
crowds outside the army headquarters in Khartoum.
"If
you see Sudan's history, all our queens have led the state. It's part of our
heritage."
In the
clips and photos, the elegant Salah stands atop a car wearing a long white
headscarf and skirt as she sings and works the crowd, her golden full-moon
earrings reflecting light from the fading sunset and a sea of camera phones surrounding
her.
"I'm
very proud to take part in this revolution and I hope our revolution will
achieve its goal," added the engineering and architecture student at Sudan
International University.
Dubbed
online as "Kandaka" or Nubian queen, she has become a symbol of the
protests which she says have traditionally had a female backbone in Sudan.
Her
new-found fame pushed her to set up her own Twitter account in which she
thanked everyone "from the bottom of my heart. The struggle for a
democratic and prosperous Sudan continues".
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Women have
been at the forefront of the protests in Sudan (AFP Photo)
|
'Sudan is
for all'
In another
tweet Wednesday she says she "wanted to get on the car and speak to the
people... speak against racism and tribalism in all its forms, which affects
everyone across all walks of life.
"I
wanted to speak on behalf of the youth. I wanted to come out and say that Sudan
is for all."
Supporters
celebrated the young protest leader across social media networks, calling her a
"hero" and an "icon".
"This
image from Sudan will be in the history books," wrote one user.
But late on
Wednesday she tweeted that she had been receiving "death threats"
after her footage went viral.
"I
will not bow down. My voice can not be suppressed," Salah wrote.
Demonstrators
have been camped outside the military complex for days asking the army to back
them in demands that Bashir step down.
 |
Salah says
she has taken part in the protests since they first erupted on December19
in
response to a government decision to triple the price of bread (AFP Photo)
|
Women have
made up a large part of the demonstrators that since Saturday have thronged
outside the sprawling army complex.
Braving
regular volleys of tear gas, the crowds have been the biggest yet to rally
against Bashir's rule since unrest broke out in late December.
"In
such movements, women are widely participating not only for their rights but
for the rights of the entire community... there's no difference between women's
rights and community rights," Salah told AFP.
"Women
of Sudan always encourage their youths to fight. This is part of the history of
Kandaka," she added.
Salah said
she has taken part in the protests since they first erupted on December 19 in
response to a government decision to triple the price of bread.
The unrest
quickly morphed into a nationwide campaign against Bashir's rule with rallies
held across cities, towns and villages.
The
longtime leader has remained defiant and imposed a slew of tough measures
including a state of emergency across the country.
Officials
say 49 people have died in protest-related violence so far.
A Sudanese woman who propelled to internet fame earlier this week after leading powerful protest chants in the capital told AFP that women are key to the uprising against President Omar al-Bashir's iron-fisted rulehttps://t.co/QyaLsUm5oe pic.twitter.com/XTuNJ3ovef— AFP news agency (@AFP) 10 april 2019
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