Egypt Wins Freedom: "Tyranny Begins Where Reason Ends"
17 March 2011By
Mahboob A. Khawaja, Ph.D.
Egypt is people, nation, culture, history and
civilization, the progressive and conscious
combination unparallel in human history. Not too many
knew in the modern world that Egypt can generate a
momentous history of freedom from man-made evil and
oppression. First, the Western media described the
Freedom Movement as "unrest" as usual in the Western
corporate owned news media's portrayal "unrest" is
always colored, not white. Then it upgraded its status
to "Egyptian Uprising." After persistent sit-ins at
the Tahrir Square, it was defined as "People
Revolution." If Islam was the system of governance, it
would have been a consequential outcome of the
people's movement for change and reformation of the
old and obsolete governance. Across the Arab Middle
East, the former European colonial masters ensured
continuity of the systematic linkage to exploitation
and institutionalized corruption planned and managed
by the few neo-colonial rulers loyal to the Western
imperialism. Dominating the culture of ruthless
authoritarianism is the strand of interwoven emotions
of fear and hatred. The new proactive generation of
Egyptians has proven the irrelevance of the cult of
fear and came out in thousands and thousands to demand
freedom, justice and human dignity. Any critical
analysis would have pointedly exposed the helplessness
and political and economic miseries endured by the
people for ages. Egypt's people movement has
compelling similarities to the African National
Congress (ANC) movement against the white apartheid
Government in South Africa. The 10% White Rule was
financed and supported by the World Bank, the then US
governments and British and other European interests
in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was charged and jailed
for almost 20 years on bogus treason case. Upon
freedom from illegal captivity, the African leader
strives for a new age of reconciliation. The West
glorified Sohartu, the Indonesian military dictator
for thirty years. Indonesia was defined by the IMF
economists as role model for economic and social
developments. General Sohartu became billionaire as
did Hosni Mubarak with the blessings of the Western
financial institutions and accomplice politicians.
When Indonesians raised the voices of REASON and
challenged the tyranny of military rule, the Sohartu
regime fell in disgrace as did the Mubarak regime, and
it is said that the ordinary Indonesian people were
searching garbage for their daily foods and survival-
the type of economic progress planned and pursued by
the IMF loans.
Cruelty knows no bounds. The Western political masters
install evil and corrupt people into political
role-play to do the business as usual. Hosni Mubarak
was one of those selected dummies found to be useful
to promote the modernity in Egypt. Mubarak lacking
leadership and any intellectual capacity was used by
his masters as rubber stamp wherever needed. It is
reported now that he is worth $40 Billions to $75
Billions all acquired through commissions of foreign
contracts, fictitious real estate investments and
other illegal activities. With strong political and
military support from the US and Europeans, nobody
imagined that Hosni Mubarak will be ousted so soon.
While the Egyptians cried for freedom from political
and economic cruelty and bled at Tahrir square, the US
leadership preferred a wait and see attitude, willing
to unbelief that Mubarak could be removed from the
powerhouse. The political changes are not part of the
US economic plan for the Arab world. For half a
century Egypt was ruled by military dictators against
the wishes of its people. Authoritarian rulers never
develop institutions or people except material things
to maintain the status-quo of ignorance and
indifference. The complex dynamics of change were
never considered relevant to the Egyptian landscape.
But when Allah wants to bring change, human beings
have no conscious to sense how the change will come to
materialize. President Obama publicly acknowledged
that the young people of Egypt have "inspired us" and
that he is witnessing the process of "history-making."
One would wish if Obama and Hillary Clinton were part
of the history making rather than being spectators and
supporters of the Mubarak regime.
Undoubtedly, the young entrepreneurial generations of
Egyptians have made the history for freedom- a role
model articulated for other besieged people in the
Arabian Peninsula. The process entailed all factions
of the Egyptian panorama, whether young or old,
liberal or conservatives, Muslims or Christians, all
have made sacrifices to further the cause of human
freedom and a new political future in the making. This
is called People Revolution. The pain and sufferings
of the masses were known to them- the ordinary folks,
not to the outsiders. Egyptians are mindful of the
foreigners who have ruled them for ages under various
forms and shapes of political cruelty. History as it
unfolds; nobody thought that the Mubarak regime will
collapse within three weeks. There are reportedly 39
banks in Egypt, out of which 24 banks are owned and
managed by foreigners. Those foreigners with vested
economic interests backed the slow process of change
over many months to ensure continuity of political
repression and to safeguard their investments. Not so,
when Allah commands something, it happens right away
without any lapse of time. Against unthinkable odds
and living Pharaohs, Egyptians have won the freedom.
There are more critical challenges ahead: how best to
transform this change process and newly gained freedom
into substantial work of planned political
institutions, maintain unity of people and purpose and
to establish people-based participatory democracy
under proactive civilian leadership for the good of
people and nation. Many foreign observers are allergic
to the name of Muslim Brotherhood- the masses rooted
best organized political entity in Egypt. The Muslim
Brotherhood subscribes to the welfare state concept
dedicated to serve the interests of the people, not
the rulers. It will be up to the people of Egypt to
make their free choices in a future election and
facilitate the new civilian governance with competent
leadership.
The oil-producing Arab rulers survive on borrowed time
and opportunities facilitated and managed by the
US-British intelligence and security services
apparatus. The Arab secluded palaces are not equipped
with the phenomenon of change. There are critical
problems of knowledge-based governance, lack of public
institutions and proactive visionary leadership,
political imagination, absence of freedom and human
dignity. Over 60 years of the neo-colonial governance,
the Arab rulers have not planned nor developed any
institutions to cope with problems of social justice,
political conflict management and human development.
They rely on foreign myths and hired expertise. Those
living in distant palaces have no sense of the people
and issues of the streets - be it bread, butter and
social justice- that Islamic governance ensures to all
its citizens. Islam is missing and modernity
flourishes as a replica of consumerism- highways,
cars, airports, sky-high buildings and shopping plazas
unknown even in the Western economies. The Arab people
have one identity that is of Islam. The contemporary
oil exporting Arab states and rulers have embraced
modernity- consumerism to replace Islam and to sell
cheap oil to the Western industrialized nations in
return for safeguard of security and authoritarianism.
In view of the successful People's Revolution in
Egypt, the fearful rulers have called the Arab League
into an emergency session. Strangely, what can an old
colonial dominated organization do to deal with the
challenges of change and reformation of the repressive
regimes? Most likely, the Arab regimes will call upon
the CIA and the European security agencies to buy
protection and individual safety. Being ignorant of
the current affairs, the repressive regimes view
things one way in trade-ins, buying all with petro-dollars.
There is lot in human affairs that can not be bought
with paper money. The Arab rulers are belittling
themselves by refusing to plan for change and
reformation of their own thinking and priorities. They
NEED educated and intelligent Muslim scholars to plan
for change and make positive things happen for the
best of Arabian masses. The storm is at the door but
they are in deep slumber and unwilling to listen to
the voices of the people and make navigational
changes.
Politics is the game of pretension, fear and hatred,
and like Egypt millions are recruited in secret police
establishments to watch the herd and keep the
authoritarian rulers in palaces. This has been the
blueprint of the US led Western collaborative
relationships with the tyrannical rulers of the Arab
Middle East. Now the blueprint is shattered, the
Western think-tanks could not have imagined seeing it
happened in their lifetime. They were all egomaniacs
who cherished the sensation of power and cruelty to
enjoy good life. But recent developments make us think
what was unthinkable, that when a people want to
strive for their rights and freedom, despite many
difficult hurdles and mountains of obstacles, nobody
can stop the process of change and freedom from
oppression. Like the Roman rulers, Arab
authoritarianism has not learned to inhabit the world
of imagination. There are fatal deficiencies in the
Arab authoritarian soul- behavioral sinking, an
obsessed insensitivity and literal mindedness to
continue to forge history of crime and violence
against the people, not knowing what the future holds
for them in accountability. With active support from
the US and its allies, the Arab oil exporting rulers
perpetuate a coercive self-image and to go on
committing aggression and violence to safeguard the
tiny sheikhdoms and splendid palaces built with stolen
fortunes of the people. Sooner or later, the castles
built on moving sands will collapse and the egoistic
rulers will take asylums elsewhere as the people's
movement and voices of REASON grow louder and louder
across the Arab Middle East landscape. Like the USSR
collapse, it occurred suddenly and out of the scope of
the NATO or Western strategic plans. President Obama
do seems to share some sense of rationality and
history that the Egypt people's revolution has
"inspired us." Wael Ghonim, the Google marketing
manager and one of the architects of the People
Revolution, imprisoned and tortured by the Egyptian
secret police without any crimes, today stands high at
Tahrir Square and proclaims courageously that after
half a century of bondage "Egypt Wins Freedom."
(Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in global
security, peace and conflict resolution with keen
interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and
civilizations, and author of several publications
including: "Muslims and the West: Quest for Change and
Conflict Resolution", University Press of America; How
America Lost the War in Iraq and Afghanistan and
Mujahideen Won, VDM Publishers, 2009; To America and
Canada with Reason, VDM Publishers, 2009; "President
Obama – War is War, Not Peace", 2009; " Global Peace
and Conflict Management: How the Arabs-Israelis and
the West Duped the Humanity?" "The Arab People Look
for Peace and New Leadership.", and "President Obama
and the US Generals in Search of Navigational Change"
, "Palestine Looks abroad for Rational Understanding."
Comments are welcome at: kmahboob@yahoo.com).
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