Burning Egypt: When Will the Fire Satiate?

By Anavil Jaiswal:

What began as an uprising on 25th of January 2011 gathered to be the Egyptian revolution and witnessed the overthrow of the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. He resigned and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The protesters’ grievances were related to various issues like lack of free elections, soaring corruption, high unemployment, etc. They are not satisfied with the army rule too as the generals are accused of implementing oppressive measures and maintaining a similar situation as before. On 2nd of May 2012; eleven people were killed in clashes which added fuel to the fire.

The presidential election is on the cards and while the protestors demonstrated two days later against Egypt’s ruling generals, more than 370 people were injured along with the death of a soldier which caused the violence to escalate. The ruling generals are even involved in a power struggle with the Muslim Brotherhood, who had called for a rally on Friday, the 4th in Tahrir square in central Cairo. The protestors with raging emotions chanted slogans, pelted stones and reached the defence ministry, breaking down the barbed wire fence. They were used water cannons against as they were already warned not to do so. The military promised to hand over power to civilian rule before the end of June’12, but the latest mayhem, if not quickly contained, could derail the process. Despite the optimism surrounding the election, several critics have expressed concerns about the hazard of increased power and influence for Islamist forces in the country.

If we look at the whole scenario, people have lost faith in the army personnel and believe that they have evil intentions of favouring their candidate, while using him as a dummy and to continue to rule from behind the scenes.

What they should do is to be calm, maintain peace and wait for the election to take place in which they can cast maximum votes to the candidate of their choice. After all, they have got freedom from the encumbering rule of Hosni Mubarak. What begins in anger; ends in a loss. A considerable amount of property and numerous lives have already been lost.

The protestors should try to bring an end to the issues by resolving them through a proper way, let the bygones be bygones as nothing can be won back by the infuriating anger. On the other hand, the military officials should not be harsh on the people and initiate proper communication with their leaders, gradually winning their confidence in them. They should also establish a constructive way to respond to the legitimate aspirations of the citizens for democratic reforms, leading to national stability.

The revolution has affected other nations, too. They are concerned about how commercial and economic stability will be affected by an unstable Egypt. The global prices of oil and gold are soaring on concern the instability would spread. The world curiously and hopefully awaits the election to be successfully held for their own fore deals, while the Egyptians pray the new government to be better than ever.