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    Understanding Egyptian Movement

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    Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri
    The law and order situation in Egypt is deteriorating as protesters refuse to accept President Mubarak's plan to remain in office until September. Clashes continue between protesters and Mubarak supporters in Tahrir Square. The international community has expressed concern over rising violence and called on both sides to refrain from violence. The protesters say they will continue demonstrations until Mubarak steps down, risking further chaos. This wave of uprising was sparked by events in Tunisia and has spread to other Arab countries, as ruling elites have been shaken and masses have become critical of countries being run as family fiefdoms. While increased public awareness of rights is positive, these uprisings could worsen divisions if long-term implications are not considered carefully.

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    Understanding Egyptian Movement

    Uploaded by

    Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri
    39 views2 pages
    The law and order situation in Egypt is deteriorating as protesters refuse to accept President Mubarak's plan to remain in office until September. Clashes continue between protesters and Mubarak supporters in Tahrir Square. The international community has expressed concern over rising violence and called on both sides to refrain from violence. The protesters say they will continue demonstrations until Mubarak steps down, risking further chaos. This wave of uprising was sparked by events in Tunisia and has spread to other Arab countries, as ruling elites have been shaken and masses have become critical of countries being run as family fiefdoms. While increased public awareness of rights is positive, these uprisings could worsen divisions if long-term implications are not considered carefully.

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    The law and order situation in Egypt is deteriorating as protesters refuse to accept President Mubarak's plan to remain in office until September. Clashes continue between protesters and Mubarak supporters in Tahrir Square. The international community has expressed concern over rising violence and called on both sides to refrain from violence. The protesters say they will continue demonstrations until Mubarak steps down, risking further chaos. This wave of uprising was sparked by events in Tunisia and has spread to other Arab countries, as ruling elites have been shaken and masses have become critical of countries being run as family fiefdoms. While increased public awareness of rights is positive, these uprisings could worsen divisions if long-term implications are not considered carefully.

    Copyright:

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    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    39 views2 pages

    Understanding Egyptian Movement

    Uploaded by

    Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri
    The law and order situation in Egypt is deteriorating as protesters refuse to accept President Mubarak's plan to remain in office until September. Clashes continue between protesters and Mubarak supporters in Tahrir Square. The international community has expressed concern over rising violence and called on both sides to refrain from violence. The protesters say they will continue demonstrations until Mubarak steps down, risking further chaos. This wave of uprising was sparked by events in Tunisia and has spread to other Arab countries, as ruling elites have been shaken and masses have become critical of countries being run as family fiefdoms. While increased public awareness of rights is positive, these uprisings could worsen divisions if long-term implications are not considered carefully.

    Copyright:

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    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Understanding Egyptian movement

    By Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri

    The law and order situation in Egypt seems to worsen by the day. The protesters
    have refused to accept President Mubarak’s contention of not standing for
    elections. President Mubarak in a nationwide address late on Tuesday evening
    announced to stay in office till September hand over power in a phased manner.
    Their major demand is that the President leaves office immediately before the
    opposition leaders come to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, the clashes
    between the protesters and the supporters of President Mubarak continue at the
    Tahrir Square in Cairo. The international community has expressed its concern
    over the rising violence in Egypt and demanded both of the Egyptian authorities
    and the opposition parties to refrain from violence. The protesters have
    announced to continue their demonstrations unless the President steps down,
    which means that more chaos and rioting is likely to happen in days to come.

    This wave of public anger originally kick started by the uprising in Tunisia which
    forced Ben Ali to leave the country, has spread through the streets of Yemen,
    Jordan, Egypt and other countries. While the ruling elites in the Arab and Muslim
    world have been shaken out of slumber, the masses in general have welcomed
    the developments. This speaks volumes about the widening disconnect between
    the ruling elites and masses who have increasingly become critical of the way
    their countries are being run like family fiefdoms. The nature of political system
    and the domination of the state decision-making and resources by the corrupt
    elite have sowed the seeds of hatred and anger among the people. Added to this
    state of affairs is the political disempowerment of masses where they are merely
    used as tools to say yes to the public policy and the facades of referendums held
    to give longevity to the dictatorships.

    While the emergence of awareness among masses about their rights is a welcome
    development, however, these uprisings run the risk of further deepening the
    divides and making situation even worse than before. In our zeal of impending
    change, we must not lose sight of bigger picture and long-term implications of our
    actions. There is a dire need to dispassionately review the entire situation as it
    unfolds and draw right conclusions. The following points are instructive in this
    regard:
    There is difference between violence and revolution. Violence leads to negative
    change and begets rioting and lawlessness. Furthermore, it is instrumental in
    changing the set of oppressors. Revolution though accompanied by violence, on
    the other hand, is constructive force, which changes the overall power paradigm
    in favour of the disempowered and the dispossessed.

    Another major difference between revolution and violence is that revolution is a


    process which seeks to implement a new philosophy. It is not an end in itself but a
    means to an end. Revolution has a strong and dynamic leadership to lead it who
    sees it through various phases. A revolutionary leader or set of leaders plans their
    movement, exercise influence on their followers and knows their limits. They
    carefully choreograph their actions to achieve the desired objective. The major
    weapon in their armory is a revolutionary program or idea which rallies people
    from different walks of life. Contrary to this, violence is abrupt, has no philosophy
    or leadership. The unending spate of violence leads to chaos and instability.

    If we go by the history of revolutions in the world, we come to know that popular


    revolutions in Europe which were indigenous in character were led by ideas. They
    had clear destinations to reach and objectives to achieve. In case of Egypt, hatred
    for one man seems to override all other considerations. While this writer holds no
    brief for dictatorship and monarchy, but the fact of the matter is that the present
    movement for change in Egypt appears to be influenced by extraneous factors.
    Those supposedly leading the movement have not offered any program or reform
    agenda. There is hardly any credible leader to command respect and influence.
    Reports suggest that the extremist elements, banned by the Egyptian
    government, have resurfaced and are in the forefront of this movement. They
    have a vested agenda to veer the movement towards their declared goals.

    If change is what is required as it should be, it must come from the internal ethos
    of people. The people have to build their capacity for change and bring about
    change in their value system, actions and thoughts so that a representative
    leadership may emerge to lead the movement in a positive direction. A
    movement without ideology and true leadership is destined to fail. We must not
    forget the outcome of fall of the Ottoman Empire whereby a Muslim empire was
    splintered into various countries which came under influence of colonizing
    powers and have had little say in their own affairs.

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