Messiah of Darfur

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a Janjaweed to enter the kingdom of God. As is customary for the Sudanese novelist Baraka Sakin, he ventures into what is often left unspoken about the suffering of the Sudanese people. He writes about the relentless wars whose daily atrocities proclaim the triumph of gunpowder over the human spirit. In such senseless conflicts, there are no true victors; the ruling elites mobilize the finest young men under worn-out slogans whose appeal fades the moment the shooting begins, leaving death as the only undeniable reality. Like all wars, these conflicts summon the darkest aspects of human nature—hatred and racism—even among people who share the same dark skin. Among them are masters and oppressed servants, bound together by a cruel social order. Amid this chaos and turmoil, a voice emerges from Darfur, proclaiming itself a "new Messiah" capable of performing miracles. The government denounces him as a "false prophet" and an "Antichrist," dispatching one of its henchmen to capture and crucify him. What follows is a breathless sequence of events, richly infused with the unique vocabulary, myths, and traditions of Sudanese folk heritage.