What is happening in Egypt – a country which has over 5000 years of very illustrative history. It is a country which has ancient civilization. The country which gave astronomy to the world. If one turns the pages of history of Egypt, it does not show that there was at any time a working democracy in practice . There always used to be dynastic rule or rule by colonial powers or one man rule.
Gone are the days when the dictators could hold under their thumb their entire population and ride on them. Improved and path breaking communication systems and various global trading changes have shrunk the size of the world. People sitting in any corner of the world can understand the difference between autocratic rule and democratic rule and their respective advantages and disadvantages.
What do we see during the last couple of weeks in the Middle East is the result of the urge of the people of that region to fight for justice , dignity and democracy. First Tunisia and now Egypt and next ? ( Yemen) or ( Libiya) or ( Jordan) or ( Saudi.). Quite a few countries of that region are standing in line to be the next. Let me not unnecessarily speculate on this aspect sitting far away from the Middle East. I know that such a people’s unrest in China had failed ( remember Tiananmen Square of 1989 ) whereas in Indonesia the street demonstration of the youth had succeeded ( in the year 1998-99 ) while in Tibet ( hundreds of Tibetan monks took to street in 2008 ) it failed .However, in the Middle East there is a wave and definite uprising among the youth of that region and that too a self motivated irresistible urge for Change.
President Hosni Mubarak is in power for the last 30 years and is now preparing himself to get elected as President in the election to be held later in this year. But as it happens with all the countries having one party rule or one man rule, the ruler becomes dictatorial and concentration of power in one man makes him autocratic. He is led by a coterie of people who hardly represent the wishes or aspirations of the youth of the country. Economy does not grow and this leads to a large scale unemployment with a huge number of unemployed youth
It is an accepted fact that absolute power and lack of accountability results in security forces abusing their powers People express outrage and unrest To keep power, the man in power has to use repressive political system to eliminate his opponents. It is said that ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’. The leaders projected by the Man in power become corrupt due to excessive unbridled power. According to the demonstrators, Mubarak was not different.
The Egyptians, especially the youth, must have decided enough is enough and they perhaps felt that they have a right to demand more from their government. The status quo is unsustainable and the result, perhaps inevitable and hence there is an explosion of protests and rioting in the streets. Most interesting part of the same is that it is leaderless. The youth, who could not suppress their anguish and frustrations came out in thousands with one slogan “ remove Mubarak †and “ give us justice, dignity and democracyâ€. It is said that they used Face Book to come together on the streets. It is reported that 85000 messages were circulated in the Face Book asking them to come on to the street. This message brought the youth power on to the street to seek a change in their system. If this is true, which I believe is true, one can understand the same from what Napoleon Bonaparte said He said “Pen is mightier than sword†One can now boldly say that “Internet is mightier than one’s armyâ€. It is said that messages were also circulated through sms. President Mubarak, from his action, one can infer, felt the root cause of unrest is the internet and mobile services and he shut down both the services!!!
Short introduction of President Mubarak is necessary. He succeeded to the Presidency on the death of Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated. Mubarak has been the President since 1981. He was a pilot, He was appointed as the Vice President by Anwar Sadat and became President on his death. He also became the Chairman of his Party National Democratic Party. He imposed emergency on becoming the President which he has never lifted. Though he announced a multi party system of election in 2005 and assured electoral reform, he did not do it. There was a very low voters turn out. He jailed his political opponent Ayman Nour. He assured other development works to alleviate the misery of the Egyptians. But he hardly did anything. The economy is in dole drum. He has tried to promote his son to succeed him.
The point is now how long Mr.Mubarak can stick to his seat. He has already appointed a Vice President which post had been kept vacant during his last 30 years of rule. He must have felt the heat but, perhaps he is arrogant. He thinks by withdrawing the police force from the streets of cities and towns, he can keep the adult members of the family behind closed doors to protect their belongings from the looters. Even this has not succeeded as can be seen from the way people defied curfew and came on the streets. They guarded the localities on their own and at the same time kept the ‘people’s protests for change’ going. That is why the people in the street say that mere changing of the cabinet or appointment of a Vice President is not enough and they want him ( Mr. Mubarak ) to give up his seat of power and position. Their slogan is “ Go Mubarak Go†If Mubarak goes, then what next?! It appears that the demonstrators are not worried what next now as they want first to remove a person who they think is a despot. Perhaps several despots in the middle east countries must have become jittery.
Let is wait and see when and how this street demonstrations all over Egypt will end.