Berlin Wall falls again

By the time Nelson Mandela finally came out of prison, after more than a quarter of a century, he had become a god-like figure for his countrymen and the most respected statesman and freedom fighter for the whole world, for leading the titanic struggle that ultimately dismantled the inhuman apartheid system. It took him another four years to become South Africa’s first black president. If he had so desired, his people would surely have proclaimed him life-long president, a title which he earnestly deserved. But being a man of dignity and integrity, he stepped down voluntarily and honourably only after five years and since then, he has been leading a calm and happy life among his own people who still treat him with utmost reverence. Contrary to the noble example set by Nelson Mandela, there are those despotic rulers, who come to power not by any public support, but by sheer trickery, brute force or chance; and once they are in power, they cling to it as long as they can and use the worst form of terror and tyranny to eliminate their opponents. But at the end of the day, all such autocratic rulers are forced out of office, in utter humiliation and disgrace.

Let us, therefore, have a closer look at it, from its birth till the present moment.The Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamic organisation based in Egypt, which seeks a greater role for Islam in government and society, was founded as a small social group in 1928, by an Egyptian school teacher Hassan Al-Bannah, who aspired to promote an Islamic system that would gradually reform the civic, social, family and educational institutions which according to him had been torn apart by Western secularism and materialism. He wanted to replace the existing system with the unified Islamic community or Ummah which existed several centuries ago. He did not advocate the immediate overthrow of government but regarded as enemies all those persons or groups who opposed his views. His ideology coupled with Egyptian nationalism inspired a large number of college students and young professionals over the next two decades.

Meanwhile, the presence of thousands of British troops further reinforced the anti-Western sentiments among the Egyptians and by the year 1948, the Muslim Brotherhood had about half a million members, including some secret guerrillas who fought against Israel. Although Bannah’s approach was gradual, fearing his organisation to be a state within the state, the Egyptian authorities banned it and assassinated him in 1949.

In 1952, Gamal Abdel Nasser legalised the Brotherhood but banned it again in 1954. The Brotherhood retaliated by trying to assassinate him. In response, Nasser launched a major crackdown against it, killing and imprisoning a large number of its members. A senior Brotherhood writer, Sayyid Qutb, who stated that Egypt was in a state of pre-Islamic ignorance and needed to be given true Islamic knowledge, was also hanged by Nasser in 1966. This suppression brought a period of quietness for the Brotherhood. But it re-emerged in 1974, when President Sadat encouraged it in the hope of reducing the influence of his leftist opponents. But some of his reforms and his Camp David Accord with Israel infuriated some young militant members of the Egyptian army, who assassinated him in 1981, paving the way for Hosni Mubarak to come to power.

In the 1980s, Muslim Brotherhood began integrating itself into the mainstream politics, by distancing itself from the radical elements and concentrating more on grass roots organisation and working with the poorer communities. In 1984 and 1987, its members, though contesting independently or with the help of other political parties won seats in the parliament and professional syndicates. It was a positive gesture which should have been appreciated. But Mubarak, his Western allies and Israel always remained afraid and suspicious of Brotherhood’s growing popularity and blamed its members for being behind the attacks on Egyptians and foreign tourists in the early 90s. Using such attacks as a pretext, several of Brotherhood’s members were arrested and imprisoned, but such tactics only added to its popularity and its members contesting independently or with other parties, won 17 seats in the legislature in 2000.

Later, in the 2005 elections, while it was still a banned party, its members won an unprecedented victory by capturing 88 seats in the parliament. But Mubarak’s attitude remained unchanged and instead of promoting the Brotherhood’s integration into politics, by means of an allegedly rigged referendum, he reinforced the ban on religion-based political parties and arrested a large number of Brotherhood leaders and activists who were likely to win seats in the next elections. Time and again, the Brotherhood members demonstrated that they were willing to take part in the country’s political and democratic process, but Mubarak always kept them away from the corridors of power by describing them as fundamentalists or militants, only because he was afraid of their growing political strength. Quite naturally, the Brotherhood activists played a key role in the anti-Mubarak protests in Tahreer Square which culminated in his ouster from the government.

All through the years, Muslim Brotherhood has been active in other parts of North Africa, Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asia under different names. In 1982, its members were largely responsible for the uprising in the Syrian town of Amah. Hafez Al-Assad’s troops ruthlessly crushed the uprising, killing as many as 5,000 people. In Sudan in 1989, the Brotherhood actively supported the change of government and coming to power of Omar Hassan Al-Bashir. In Jordan Muslim Brotherhood has since long been attempting to gain political power by non-violent means. In that country, besides holding several seats in the parliament, it supports many medical clinics and schools.

History bears witness to the fact that in case of most of the revolutions, those poor and middle class people, who made these revolutions possible by their sweat and blood, were marginalized and the revolutions were highjacked by some other opportunists and power seekers who proved even worse than the pre-revolution rulers. It remains to be seen whether the same story will be repeated in Egypt or not. The wall of oppression and authoritarianism constructed and consolidated by Mubarak’s regime has finally been demolished. Whatever new political structure emerges in Egypt it must duly accommodate the Muslim Brotherhood, otherwise, it will remain weak and fragile like the Berlin Wall which remained at its place for almost three decades, but was razed to the ground within a few hours.