Sudan’s government declares Christmas public holiday for the first time in history
Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, a Sudanese religious freedom activist and public speaker. Meriam Ibrahim was arrested during her second pregnancy for apostasy and gave birth to a girl in prison on 27 May 2014 (Photo:Supplied)
December 25th, 2019 (SSNN)—As the winds of change sweep across Sudan, the Sudanese government has for the first time declared Christmas as an official public holiday, a move aimed at ending years of religious discrimination by the former regime under the leadership of former Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
Religion Affairs and Endowments Minister Nasraddeen Mufreh said that the decision taken by the Sudanese authorities underscores the state’s commitment to promoting religious pluralism, stressing that no one will be segregated on the basis of their religious affiliations or beliefs.
Father William Deng, the Secretary-General of the Sudan Council of Churches, told reporters that the announcement of Christmas as a public holiday is a great stride towards promoting religious rights in the country.
Deng pointed out that the people of Sudan will now be more united than ever before, and none will be discriminated against on account of their religious affiliations.
“We are not Muslims, we are not Christians, we are not Arabs, and we are not Africans, we are Sudanese. And within this Sudan, there are Muslims, there are Christians, there are Africans and there are Arabs. Sudan is for the Sudanese and these Sudanese people are faithful to different religions,” Deng was quoted as VOA as saying.
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