Sudan has been in the news lately, with a dispute erupting between the military and the civilian government led by Omar al-Bashir, who was elected by the people in 2021. The conflict has led to several days of fighting between the two factions. On April 28, 2023, it was reported that 3,862 Indians were evacuated from Sudan by 17 air force planes and five naval ships, as part of “Operation Cauvery.”
On social media, there have been claims that Sudan has become the first country to get freedom from Islam. One user wrote on Twitter, “Congratulations to Sudan, the first country to break away from Islam.”
The user, Vivek Pandey, is reportedly the chief of the National Hindu Mahasabha and the secretary of the Greater Delhi Farmers’ Movement.
Tweet Archive Link
The tweet has been retweeted almost 1,500 times and has received more than 9,000 likes.
Many other social media users too shared the same claim
Tweet Archive Link
Tweet Archive Link
Fact Check:
To investigate the viral claim, DFRAC team searched on Google and found several media reports. According to an article by Navbharat Times in September 2020, Sudan had ended the 30-year-old Islamic rule after a year-long protest and had decided to separate religion from governance.
Former Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and Abdul-Aziz al-Hilu, the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), signed an agreement on Thursday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
At the same time, this historic event has also been covered by the newspaper Punjab Kesari. The Wikipedia page also states that in September 2020, Sudan has become a constitutionally secular state after accepting a separate religion from the state.
The Times of India also reported that there are 57 Islamic countries in the world where Islam is the state religion, but there are many countries where Muslims are in the majority, and they follow the principles of secularism. Indonesia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are included in secular Muslim-majority countries. After the Second World War, Turkey declared itself a secular nation.
Conclusion:
This fact-check by DFRAC shows that Sudan has become a secular state, but it did not break away from Islam. India is also a secular state. The claim made by social media users is false and misleading.
