Thursday, November 5, 2015

An article on Egypt, should turn Bangladeshi heads

Bangladesh is indeed far from being Egypt and vice versa, but I have for some time noted certain similarities in the deployment of political power by the respective regimes. 

The hard 'secular' leader, brooking no oppression, repressing the political opposition (particularly the Islamist voices) squeezing freedom of speech, using illegitimate elections to stay in power, all with little dissent from 'the west' as Islamic militancy is their greatest enemy.

The Guardian has a great piece published a few days ago, written in the context of General Sisi's visit to the UK. 

And this particular  extract should really turn heads in Bangladesh - as it could almost be written about here.

"In Egypt the regime has polarised the country and suffocated all avenues of peaceful expression and dissent through politics, civil society or media, leaving many dead, disappeared, imprisoned, hiding or exiled. The anti-protest and anti-terrorism laws have left no space for any meaningful dialogue in Egypt, let alone dissent. This is not only true for the demonised Islamist camp: the crackdown has reached every voice of opposition across the ideological and political spectrum. However, the current environment is fertile ground for radicalisation, as many disenfranchised young Egyptians find themselves questioning the ideals of freedom and democracy that they once cherished when they see the free world silent in the face of Sisi’s repression. The government continues to allocate every resource to suffocating any political opposition instead of effectively combating extremism."

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