Tidings of the Arab autumn Tapan Chatterjee It’s early autumn in Cairo. Mercury is yet reigning high – as if in competition with the army – betraying none of the mercurial mood swings. Cairo has seen peaceful vibrant times in the past though it was born amid fire, brimstone and bloodshed. The name itself carries that imprint, unmistakably. Present events only go to prove the thousand-year-old given name’s indelibility on this historic city. Cairo err…Al Qahirah means “the Victorious” or “the Conqueror”. Surprisingly, the name was given by a man-of-religion from Tunisia after his sword-wielding army had overrun Egypt or Masr to establish the new Fatimid regime. It’s bloodshed again; in fact a bloodbath by any modern norms! Around Rabba-al-Adawiya mosque and at the Nasr Square took place the maximum massacre faced with most fiercely defiant protestors with a one point charter, ‘Release Mursi!’. Nasr also means – by coincidence or otherwise – victory. Nasr area was built under personal supervision of Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had taken over Egypt in 1952 in a military coup headed by Neguib. It was a trail-blazing world event. That coup had led to the enunciation of an arguable formula that success of a military coup depends on how soon the military leader and junta can shed his (their) uniform and don ‘civvies’. Once again, this coup in Egypt has enunciated a new and debatable formula that for a military coup to succeed it must have a civilian face. Tweedledum – Tweedledee differentiation about niceties of a mask called ballot box is rendered powerless before the blazing guns if only to earn Mao yet another brownie point. The present bullet spraying did not start at the Cairo University, where a speech with olive branch in hand had made just-become-President-Obama a Nobel Laureate for Peace. After this bloodbath, another Peace Nobel Laureate (Elbaradei) has resigned from the military-led interim-government that is annually fed by the US government with $1.3 billion. This huge amount nurtures Egypt’s military-industrial-complex, but, more importantly, nurses Egypt’s peace with Israel. Muslim Brotherhood (MB) was not alone in protesting in support of the removed-incarcerated President Mursi. MB had moved in to the mainstream when the Arab Spring had sprouted at Tahrir Square two years ago. Likewise, this time, in the autumn, alongside the MB, several other groups, including the Salafists, have also entrenched themselves at Nasr Square and at several points in Cairo and at other cities. Much has been happening ever since the MB-led government came to power a year ago through their earlier-underground-but-already-much-organised institutions. Confident of the Islamic take-over of Egypt, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Al-Qaida leader had in October (2012) in his 2-hour video asked Mursi to explain his policies on Israel, Egyptian Coptic Christians and Sharia law, besides passing an edict to abduct Westerners. His focal point was to exhort the establishment to ensure Sharia law in multi-religious Egypt and in the face of 10 per cent strong Coptic Christians. For Zawahiri, an Egyptian himself, it was nothing new. After all, he had led the Egyptian Islamic Jihad movement before joining Osama-bin-Laden and the Al Qaida. In fact, it was in Egypt that the Jihadist doctrine was re-born in modern times at the hands of Sayyid Qutb, who was imprisoned by Nasser in 1954. In prison, Qutb had read the book ‘The Four Expressions’, which had deeply impressed and influenced him. This book was written by none other than Indian sub-continent’s (read Pakistan’s) Abu el A’ala Mawdudi (Madudi), who had opposed partition of India since his Jamat-e-Islam’s objective was to receive back power in the hands of Islamic Muslims from the British; and then turn India into a Islamic state, a goal that Moghuls had attempted with disastrous consequence. Antecedents apart, the alarm bells must have rang very loud with the post-Osama exhortation by Al-Zawahiri in recent times. The real threat to the Muslim Brotherhood getting overwhelmed by the Al Qaida so soon in the day after Mursi’s assumption of power must have cast the die to act boldly, with firmness. The MB was repeatedly asked to leave their sit-in sites. On their own or at the prodding and provocation by other associate groups, the MB did not opt for flight if only to fight on another day. Without a final war cry, the morning red-sky was reflected in the reddened soil, gory in several patches and places in Egypt. The Egyptian Army, however, would not suffer the syndrome suffered by Lady Macbeth. For one, Arab-land would have an endless supply of perfumes to sweeten. Besides, it’d be merely another coat of blood on its hand, perhaps a murkier one this time. Hence, there’d be no irksome ‘damned spot’ to deal with. But they’ll surely be left with the paraphrased thought, ‘who would have thought these protesting people to have so much blood in them’. For the time being, they’d go to their beds, thinking: ‘What need we fear…when none can call our power to account?’ Recall 6 October 1981, when First Lieutenant Khaled Islambouli had killed Anwar Sadat reviewing a victory parade for the oppression of Muslims, imprisonment of Muslim clergy and Camp David peace treaty with Israel. Victory day anniversary apart, in 1981, it was the day of Eid-el-Adha, the day of sacrifice in the Islamic calendar. Six months later, with three others, he was executed by a firing squad and then buried. Many thought this as ‘Banquo’s buried; ‘he cannot come out on’s grave’. But he has. And several times too, variously named, especially as the Al-Islambouli Brigade of Al Qaida. All the same, that day of Sacrificial Eid – when President Sadat was assassinated has remained a turning point in Egypt’s history. This coup-cum-bloodbath would be another turning point. The first ever popular election for the President has been flung out into the quietly flowing Nile. Only the future will tell if the dictum ‘what’s done cannot be undone’ could be reversed; or, if more Islamboulis would spawn in the Blue Nile. The writer is a freelance journalist. He can be reached at tapanchatterjee40@yahoo
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 18:57:37 +0000
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