Radiance Viewsweekly has never shied away from its onerous responsibility of calling a spade a spade. It has always fearlessly given voice to the voiceless and ensured that the truth is not clouded and mired by the cleverly devised semantics of unsubstantiated stereotyping of the oppressed and underprivileged by mainstream media. This endearing quality of Radiance has won plaudits from its admirers and often grudging recognition from its critics. Radiance is celebrating 50 years of publication without fear or favour and this scribe is happy and proud to be part of the Radiance fraternity which has ably lived up to its punch line of being the only silver lining in the otherwise dark clouds.
The coverage of the Arab Spring in Radiance is another shining example of its admirable policy to support truth and justice and ensure that its readers get under the skin of the fast paced developments and diagnose the pattern of events by correctly placing them into the bigger canvas of history. 2011 and 2012 were truly watershed and epoch making and the various articles and editorials in Radiance covering these tumultuous events reflected a deep understanding of the long term impact of the astonishing pace at which the once invincible regimes of the Middle East fell like nine pins.
Following are excerpts from some selected issues of Radiance covering the Arab Spring that make for a very interesting reading even today.
Description of some of the leaders ousted by the revolution:
Ben Ali: a brute of a man who made words and phrases like torture, detention without trial, political and religious persecution commonplace in Tunisia, is also credited with ripping off the hijabs from the heads of Muslim women. (Yvonne Ridley in Radiance, 30 November 2011)
Hosni Mubarak: The despotic Mubarak, who constantly tried his best to break the courage and stamina of youth on false pretensions, evasive promises and dictatorial mockeries, had no choice but to surrender to the will of Egypt’s brave sons, daughters, students, labourers, doctors, law students and the common folks. He is now hiding his “ugly” face in the “waters” of Sharm-al-Sheikh at the borders of Saudi Arabia where the Muslim rulers take refuge generally when ousted from power. (Shamim A. Siddiqui in Radiance, 14 February 2011)
Muammar Gaddafi: he increasingly looks like a failed Shakespearean hero – or villain rather. Wildly waving his arms and promising death and destruction to his own people, the crazy old man reminds you of another crazy old man, Shakespeare’s immortal King Lear. As inimitable Robert Fisk wrote this week, “The old boy looked bad, sagging face, bloated, simply “magnoon” (mad), a comedy actor who had turned to serious tragedy in his last days, desperate for the last make-up lady, the final knock on the theatre door. (Aijaz Zaka Syed in Radiance, 6 March 2011)
FACTORS BEHIND ARAB SPRING
In the end, it was the willpower and passion of the people that fuelled the revolution. As long as there are thinkers, intellectuals, philosophers, and a dream, revolutions can succeed. However, when you have a tool such as social media available at your fingertips, not using it would be a crime. Simply put, freedom is never given voluntarily by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed. People demanded a change, and by utilising tools available to them, they accomplished their goals. Without a doubt, social media played an enormous role in the Arab Uprising; however, it was just a tool, albeit an important one. (Aisha Ali in Radiance, 7 August 2012)
…the western media is trying to explain the ongoing demonstrations and the cause of the revolution. They even gave the movement a name – the Jasmine Revolution after the country’s national flower. How civilized. As far as the media is concerned, the revolution erupted thanks to Wikileaks, Twitter and Facebook. What nonsense and what an insult to Tunisians, young and old. The revolution was driven by ordinary people who finally snapped because of the soaring cost of food prices, rising unemployment and the brutality of the police state. (Yvonne Ridley in Radiance, 23 January 2011)
ROLE OF ISLAM AND ISLAMIC PARTIES
Islam is against injustice and the monopoly of wealth and resources. The notion of Brotherhood in Islam has profound socio-economic implications in so far as it points to the equitable distribution of economic resources. In the economic sphere Islam is closer to the left-wing outlook, without violating the right to private property. The Scandinavian socio-economic model is closest to the Islamic vision. (Rashid Ghannouchi in Radiance, 6 February 2011)
Islam till now was in the hearts, in the mosques, in the prayers, and in the slogans of Arab people. Through Arab Spring, fed up by nationalist fraud and socialist deception in the last century, Arab people strived to bring Islam back into their lives. The manifestation of this claim is the twin-fact that: in the Arab world where revolution has not yet come, Islamists are brutally suppressed; and where revolution has come, Islamists have gained landslide electoral victories. (Khan Yasir in Radiance, 7 August 2012)
WESTERN APPROACH TO ARAB SPRING
The irony is that the west collaborated with autocratic Muslim rulers in their undemocratic and inhuman acts. It always supported dictators and autocrats in the Muslim world and closed its eyes on their tyrannical, oppressive and repressive acts to crush popular voice and triumph out the opposition. The reasons were that the Muslim rulers were acting on the dictates of the west, serving its interests and crushing Islamic forces considered opposing to western interest and worldview. The west was also not comfortable with Islamic forces opposed to its interest and considered a hindrance in its domination of the region. (Jamil Farooqui in Radiance, 7 August 2012)
While the Middle East has metamorphosed beyond recognition over the past two months, Western response to this tsunami of change has been predictable. Everything is still viewed, calculated and interpreted from the prism of what these changes would mean to the ‘Great State of Israel’ and its geopolitical interests. The empire is understandably jittery over the prospect of losing all that control and power it has exercised over the region even after formally ceding it in the last century. (Aijaz Zaka Syed in Radiance, 6 March 2011)
PREDICTING THE FUTURE
The Egyptian revolution will not achieve its ends; it will not be a complete and successful revolution until the military power to dictate and rule over civilian government is defanged. “Don’t let anyone steal this revolution from you – those hypocrites who will put on a new face that suits them,” Imam Yusuf al-Qaradhawi warned the protestors at the Tahrir Square, “The revolution isn’t over. It has just started to build Egypt ….guard your revolution.” With the power in the hands of The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to define and shape the new Egypt, the young Egyptian revolutionaries have their work cut out. The Egyptian revolution is not over yet, it’s just begun. (Abdul Majid Jaffery in Radiance 3 April 2011)
In first free and fair elections people have overwhelmingly given their verdict, in no uncertain terms, that they are for Islam, Islamic parties and Islamic way of life. The success of Islamic parties in country after country has confirmed the well-known but hidden reality that majority of Muslims in all countries want a return to Islam. It is only Islam which can fulfil their aspirations and bring out their potentialities. That is why the bewildered western analysts are seeing a re-emergence of Islam and a second period of Islamic power in the offing. It seems that now all roads lead to Islam and all events confirm that Arab Spring has paved the way for Islamic Spring, and in its turn, it will further inspire other Muslim countries to return to their roots, seek greater affinity with Islamic principles and gain new strength to embark on an Islamic journey.
The Arab Spring has opened the gates of new challenges. Let every challenge be turned into an opportunity and let every believer prepare himself theoretically, morally and materially to face this challenge. The world is keenly watching the currents and sub-currents in the Muslim countries. It is for them to show through their deeds that they believe in Islam, have Islam and are capable of living Islam. Radiance is pleased to present an analysis of the Arab Spring, and its promises and challenges. We hope it would stir the imagination of our readers and they also will think and participate in this great movement to change the world. (Radiance Editorial, 7 August 2012)