Yemen Times/Fajr Alganoob/Rebounds
SANA’A, Jan.12— Southerners have been converging on Aden governorate since Sunday to mark the eighth anniversary of Reconciliation and Tolerance Day on Tuesday.
Radfan Al-Dubais, a spokesperson for Southern Movement protestors at Al-Arood Square in Aden, said preparations were “in full swing for the anniversary” and that the square was already teeming with people.
The event is being organized by the Supreme Supervisory Committee, a body formed by the Southern Movement during its October protests at Al-Arood Square in 2014.
One of the committee members involved in preparations, Abd Al-Raoof Al-Sakkaf, said a strong showing at each anniversary “signals [southerners’] unwavering desire to forget the past and build their future. It also demonstrates that southern people are one hand and share the same fate.”
“On Tuesday, we will organize a march calling on the international community to listen to our demands. The National Dialogue Conference has failed and the Gulf Initiative is no longer guiding the political transition in Yemen,” Al-Sakkaf told the Yemen Times on Monday.
The Reconciliation and Tolerance Day was launched in 2006 by the Radfan Charitable Society, a philanthropic organization based in the Radfan area of Lahj governorate and founded by Mohammad Hassan. It is funded by southern expats and works to improve basic services and infrastructure throughout the southern governorates. The society began celebrating the day of tolerance with the intention of bringing southern people together and helping them overcome past disputes—in particular the civil war that ravaged South Yemen in 1986.
Conflict broke out on Jan. 13 of that year following tensions between former Southern President Ali Nasser Mohammad and others within his Socialist Party, which had ruled South Yemen since the British withdrawal in 1967.
“Subsequent struggles have pushed southerners to unite and put aside their past rifts,” explained Al-Sakkaf. “This occasion reminds us of our past mistakes and motivates us to unite for the sake of southern independence.”
Ali Al-Sarari, a member of the Socialist Party’s political office in Sana’a, does not support the idea of southern independence, but welcomed Tuesday’s festivities. “The southerners have shown that they remain united in the struggle. The Socialist Party gives its full support to the celebration. We cannot afford to have division in the south,” he said. “Those were dark days, we should overcome the past and be open to the future.”
Organized groups from Shabwa left for Aden on Monday. Mahdi Al-Khulaifi, a member of the organizing committee in Shabwa, told the Yemen Times that participants will begin congregating in Ataq, the capital of Shabwa, before joining with others from the governorates of Lahj, Abyan, and Al-Dhale for celebrations in Aden.
“The first gathering point will in Al-Arm district in Shabwa. The second gathering point will be in Shuqra of Abyan governorate, and the third gathering point will be on the outskirt of Aden. We’ll reach Aden before sunset,” said Al-Khulaifi.
Previous anniversaries have been marred by violence, as in 2012 when three were killed and at least 13 injured as government forces dispersed crowds. Abdul Rahim Al-Awlaqi, a member of the Supreme Supervisory Committee, told the Yemen Times the celebrations are intended as a peaceful event focused on enhancing southern cohesion, and are not being directed against the government.
Khalid Al-Karimi (author)
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