While the Egyptian army was massacring its own citizens in the streets of Cairo recently, the champions of democracy – the U.S and the west – suddenly turned mute, showing their true colours of deceit and hypocrisy. Only last year, the people of Egypt had come out of the yoke of dictatorial regime spanning over six decades, when the Freedom and Justice Party launched by Muslim Brotherhood won a massive victory through a democratic process. That a government was formed purely through an electoral modus operandi, without the use of weapons and militancy should have pleased the west.
Moreover, the west had been applauding Arab Spring as a precursor to democracy in the Muslim nations of Africa and the Middle East. The western leaders, right from Barack Obama had been giving sermons that, Muslims across the nations shall give up militancy and become part of the democratic process. They advocated that the ‘people’s power’ vests in democracy. However, all these ethics, morals and ideals took a ‘U’ turn when Mohamed Morsi’s government was democratically elected in Egypt.
The double standards of the west vis-à-vis democracy are not a new phenomenon. One only needs to recall how Iraq and Afghanistan were invaded highlighting the ‘evils’ of dictatorship and authoritarian rule. The west portrayed itself as the saviour of humanity which takes the onus of removing despotic rulers across the globe. The killing of over a million Iraqis was simply deemed ‘collateral damage’… a price worth paying to remove a dictator and bring in democracy.
And in Egypt, when democracy ushered in through a natural process of popular uprising without any external ‘support’, the west did not welcome it. The simplest reason for the west’s displeasure was that a democratic government does not suit its geo-political interests in Egypt. Egypt under Hosni Mubarak (and his predecessor Anwar Sadat) had been the west’s crucial ally in the region which was keeping another ally Israel in good humour.
Besides, a puppet ruler can only serve well as a custodian to the Suez Canal. Therefore, the west wanted to undermine the people’s government, as it could jeopardise its long-standing strategic interests. So, the west was trying to corner Morsi’s government from day one. Honesty to the premise of democracy was suddenly forgotten and the military backed coup was given full support. Even as the elected president Mohamed Morsi was ousted and arrested by the military generals, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry offered the view that the army was only “restoring democracy”.
The hypocrisy became more blatant when Barack Obama said – “While Mohamed Morsi was elected president in a democratic election, his government was not inclusive and did not respect the views of all Egyptians.” As if this naked insincerity to democracy was not enough, the U.S applauded the Al-Sisi regime for enacting the coup and vowed to continue the annual military aid of 1.3 billion dollars. The U.S. did not call the said military coup a ‘coup’ – just because the U.S. law curtails the possibility of granting military aid to any regime which undermines democracy.
Duplicity was also explicit when some analysts said that the US and other western powers were saddened about President Morsi belonging to a religious political party, the Muslim Brotherhood. They however, conveniently forget that there are many elected leaders who had allegiance to religion. Angela Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany won her Chancellorship on a religious party ticket, the Christian Democratic Union, and the current Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu came to power thanks to a coalition of several Zionist political parties. Yet the term democracy is often applied spitefully, whenever discussion turns to the political situation in Iran, Palestine and now Egypt.
Democracy is one of the universal and indivisible core values and principles of the United Nations. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly in 1948, clearly projected the concept of democracy by stating “the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government.” The Declaration spells out the rights that are essential for effective political participation. While Egypt is rapidly sliding into irreversible chaos, the UN Security Council only urged all parties “to exercise maximum restraint.” This symbolic gesture is intended to send a signal that the west really feels distressed by the latest massacre in Egypt. Alas, the United Nations has literally reduced itself to be a mouthpiece of the western powers.
The hypocrisy of the western media has also become naked now. It was showcasing its support to the spirit of Arab Spring during the past several tumultuous months… when the undemocratic Arab regimes such as that of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak fell into oblivion, and a similar fate is awaiting Syria’s Bashar Hafez al-Assad. But now, when the Egyptian military staged a coup against a democratically elected government, and even as hundreds of supporters of democracy are being slaughtered, it has failed to sufficiently condemn the repressive measures of the army.
Now, the situation in Egypt is replicating to what had happened in the neighbouring Algeria. There too a popular mandate was overturned in 1991 which resulted in a civil war which continues till date devouring over 2 lakh lives. The interim military regime in Egypt is contemplating to ban the Muslim Brotherhood… which means there would be no future elections in Egypt. Any attempt to derecognise the popular Muslim Brotherhood will only worsen the already chaotic situation.
Paradoxically, if now the Morsi supporters turn to arms, they will be labelled as terrorists who are challenging the ‘legitimate’ government, and on this basis, any action from the Egyptian army will be authorised by the west as legal in the name of tackling terrorism.
India, being the largest democracy in the world, must not remain a silent spectator to the happenings in Egypt. The UPA government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh shall voice our nation’s protest in unequivocal terms and demand for the restoration of the democratically elected government in Egypt.