LAHORE - The Sudan Solidarity Committee here on Sunday staged a demonstration at Charing Cross in support of Sudanese citizens who were being denied rights.

The demonstrators demanded a peaceful and democratic transition in Sudan to end the chaos. They said that all major national and international media outlets were ignoring Sudanese people’s voices. A large number of female students of different universities carrying placards inscribed with ‘Respect Sudanese people’ gathered at the Charing Cross.

The aim of the demonstration was to pressurise the government to take a humanitarian stance, create awareness despite the media blackout and most importantly ask the United Nation to take strict action against the human right violations in Sudan.

On social media, youngsters have changed their Twitter and Instagram icons to blue to spread awareness that the media was simply blind to the crisis in Sudan.

Tensions in Khartoum, capital of the newborn country Sudan, have been ongoing and the situation got tense after Sudanese President Al-Bashir was ousted and a transitional military committee was formed with the promise of representative democracy.

The indefinite extension of this transitional committee led to civil disobedience that brought the city to a standstill, consequently bringing what we now know as the Khartoum Massacre. Sudan Solidarity Committee reports that as of June 15, 500 people have been killed, 723 injured, 650 arrested, 70 raped and over a thousand gone missing.

BBC quoted demonstrator Khalid as saying that he was shot when he tried to stop six soldiers who were raping two girls. The soldiers had left by the time Khalid went downstairs. The girls didn’t say anything; they just cried and screamed.

An ambulance driver told BBC how an injured girl was grabbed by fighters who were fighting amongst themselves as to who gets to rape the girl. Sharif explains these attacks as “not about sex” but an attempt to “kill the revolution” that demands popular democracy; a basic right.