Egypt Rising

Everyone is talking about Egypt these days. I thought it was so obvious why people should be so concerned over the protestations in Egypt. It dawned on me very recently that the importance of the events in Egypt was not so obvious to most when my brother asked me why I was “wasting” my time reading about a couple of people shouting slogans in some other country. That is when I decided to pen down my thoughts in a reasonable manner for all to understand.

So what exactly is happening in Egypt? Well, to put it lamely, most Egyptians do not like their president, Hosni Mubarak, anymore and wants him to quit but the fellow will not quit. That is what all the raucous is all about. On a more serious note, Mubarak has been literally ruling Egypt since 1981. He used to be an air force officer and became trusted associates of both Nasser and Sadat, who were in power before him. He has survived six attempts on his life and has been ruling like a dictator ever since 1981. The government under him is corrupt and no attempts at reform have been made. The economy of Egypt has not crashed but wealth has been concentrated in very few hands with the number of poor and unemployed rising every year. Mubarak, in the spirit of a true dictator, did not allow any criticism or opposition. The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the main oppositions, was also banned. But matters became critical after allegations that a recent election in Egypt had been rigged by Mubarak. The frustration of the people burst forth this January, having been influenced by the events in Tunisia (where protestors forced their president, Ben Ali, to quit office). Events in Tunisia had a domino effect and protests erupted in Cairo and other cities of Egypt, aided by the media. The army refused to get involved and the protestors are still shouting slogans to force Mubarak to quit office. We are still waiting to see what happens next.

So what? How does this matter to anyone other than those Egyptians? Well, for one, the events in Tunisia have started off a domino effect with protests erupting against dictators and kings in various countries of the Middle East, like Jordan and Yemen. If Egypt falls tomorrow under the pressure of the common people, the rest will follow soon, bringing a change to the area which is regarded as the centre of Islam and accused of being the heartland of terrorism.

Egypt has been a major leader of the Arab world. With a fascinating history, it has a tradition of pursuing an independent policy as opposed to the other Arab countries who try to emulate Saudi Arabia. Interestingly, Egypt was the first country to proclaim a parallel Caliphate that challenged the authority of the Caliph in Baghdad. It was also in the forefront when it came to reducing the violence in the region by negotiating a peace treaty with Israel in Camp David. It also showed its grit by successfully opposing the military takeover of the Suez Canal by Britain and France. Many Arab countries look up to Egypt for inspiration.

Many scholars argue that Mubarak is responsible for the stability of Egypt. While other Arab countries have floundered, the economy and society of Egypt has remained stable under his ruthless regime. So, these scholars are scared that without Mubarak to hold everyone together, Egypt will decline into a chaos which will be exploited by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, which will try to create a Koranic-regime as opposed to the secular regime of Mubarak. This might be true but there are other possibilities we need to look at.

The protests in Egypt is spontaneous and being led by the common people and the civil society activists and not any religious fundamentalist leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. They may be instigating protests at some places but as a whole the agitation is largely leaderless. This shows the frustration the common man feels and how far they can go. They are desperate. If they are able to successfully oust Mubarak, they will be hungry for something better. Any attempt at reigning them by the fundamentalist policies of the Muslim Brotherhood would result in renewed protests, much more vigorous than at present. The onset of democracy in Egypt will also inspire people in other Arab countries to aspire for it. There will be a domino effect. But if the people lose today, the dictatorial and princely regimes in the region will clamp down on the common people much more tightly than before.

The Egyptian people have come a long way to think of consequences now. They just need to stand their ground and see that their demands are met. Viva La Revolution!!! Viva La Egypt!!! Change is at hand…