The Jasmine Revolt: The story of Tunisia gives one hope that oppressive regimes can be overthrown by the power of people mobilised to fight injustice without recourse to violence or civil war. Today, the simple cell phone and the Internet are advancing freedom despite the attempts by tyrannical governments to quash their influence. From China to the United States governments are either attempting to control the Internet completely — as in China — or laying plans to do so — Like Obama’s FCC in the U.S.A.
But while governments attempt to control the net, people also develop the skills to thwart such controls. Recent examples are the Cedar Revolution in Syria and the Green Revolution in Iran where the power of communication tools like the cell phone and social media like Facebook and Twitter kept people informed and assisted in mobilising the masses to oppose tyranny. In Tunisia, the social media played a significant role in toppling a dictator and ending 24 years of repressive rule.
The Internet penetration in Tunisia is roughly 35%, and cell phone usage is reportedly upward of 95%”¦The Internet elite were connected to one another, and they were able to leverage those ties to get information out. People could link with each other through social networks to figure out what was happening.
The social media obviously did not cause the revolution. It simply assisted to help inform the protestors about what was going on. While the role of the Internet and social media in this Tunisian event will be debated endlessly, the fact is that it was the key to the final outcome and has shown conclusively that the Internet simply cannot be fully controlled by an oppressive regime. As Jasmine flowers are a national symbol in Tunisia, the uprising against oppression could well be termed the ‘Jasmine Revolt’. In a sense, it could also be called the Twitter Revolution, for Tunisia has now joined Iran and Moldova in using the social media to telling effect.
The Internet penetration in Tunisia is roughly 35%, and cell phone usage is reportedly upward of 95%. To get around the government’s censorship efforts, Tunisia already had a very strong online anti-censorship movement prior to the revolution. The Internet elite were connected to one another, and they were able to leverage those ties to get information out. People could link with each other through social networks to figure out what was happening. In Iran, the information flow was more of a jumble and hence the Iranian uprising was not successful.
In Tunisia, the message got out to the masses. Also different from the case in Iran, is that the information that was being put on Twitter and Facebook was often used by Al-Jazeera in their reporting and thus information spread across the world. Al-Jazeera’s coverage, which was broadcast into Tunisia via satellite, offered an alternative to the censored, state-run media. Thousands of “citizen-journalists” uploaded photos, videos, texts, appeals and more to social media sites, which were then re-broadcast by Al-Jazeera. Social media thus enabled the revolting citizens in Tunisia to bypass censored state media and talk to each other.
The social media however, is merely a tool in the hands of the people to fight repression. It neither causes a revolution nor guarantees its success. It is just one variable among many that determine the outcome of social protests. In Tunisia, people used text messaging (SMS), emails and social media sites for logistics, warnings of police deployments, calls for blood donation as well as for organising protests. This brings out starkly the power of communication tools in mass mobilisation and marks a new era of social protests. When Ben Ali looked out a window and saw the streets filled with demonstrators — a dictator’s worst nightmare — he knew it was time to leave. This is why there is concern in other repressive regimes as evidenced by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s reaction, blaming the Internet for undermining the values of his people and causing them to not appreciate his and Ben Ali’s dictatorship.
The Jasmine Revolt holds important lessons for Asia as Tunisians grievances were as specific as universal: rising food prices, corruption, unemployment, the yawning divide between ruler and ruled and the repression of a state that viewed almost all dissent as subversion.
The tumultuous events in Tunisia began on 17 Dec 2010, when Mohamed Bouazizi, a poor 26 year old fruit vendors goods were confiscated by a 45-year-old female municipal inspector in Sidi Bouzid, who reportedly also slapped him in the face. Bouazizi then went to the municipal building to get back his property but was beaten again. He then walked to the governor’s office, but failed to get an audience. In protest, he set himself on fire, in front of the governor’s house, and died 18 days later of burn injuries on 4th January 2011. Bouazazi’s was a symbolic protest by one man against injustice, but it caught the imagination of an entire nation. Protests started all over Tunisia against the government and on January 14, ten days after Bouazizi’s death, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was forced to flee the country.
A dictator who had ruled Tunisia with an iron fist for 24 years had been ousted by the power of the people, the revolution rippling beyond Tunisia, shaking other authoritarian Arab states, whose young people too are getting frustrated by a stifling bureaucracy and an impenetrable and intimidating security apparatus. Hours after Ben Ali fled, a Lebanese broadcaster, in triumphant tones, ended her report on the first instance of an Arab leader to be overthrown in popular protests by quoting a famous Tunisian poet….“And the people wanted life,” she said, “and the chains were broken.” The broadcaster, Abeer Madi al-Halabi, then went on to say that the day’s seismic events in Tunisia would serve as “a lesson for countries where presidents and kings have rusted on their thrones.”
The first President of Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba, was a statesman who is often compared to Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He upheld the principles of secularism and had a reformist agenda. Though his regime was authoritarian, it resulted in a Tunisia with moderate political leanings and no serious ethnic or sectarian splits. Three decades later, in 1987, while faced by an Islamic rising, Bourguiba was replaced by his former interior minister, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Ben Ali lacked the vision of his predecessor and was ruthless in suppressing dissidence. Though economic development continued apace as witnessed by a growing middle class, rising expectations along with uneven economic growth led to political upheaval. While Bourguiba, was a revered figure in Tunisia, Ben Ali was unpopular and the mafia like corruption indulged in by him, his family and cronies raised the hackles of the poor and unemployed.
The Tunisian people, like people elsewhere in many third world countries are all too inured to the insidious corruption which pervades every walk of life. People were accustomed to seeing injustice and staying silent – a fall back to the days of colonisation. Everyone had to pay a bribe for just about everything. For fruit sellers like Bouazazi, the bribes were small, a few dinars or sometimes just a bag of fruit to appease the inspectors. But perhaps the people had reached their limit of suffering from an oppressive and insensitive government and the death of Bouazazi was the spark which set the fires burning.
Demonstrations grew violent in the face of increasingly brutal police retaliation and what started as a localised incident soon consumed the entire nation and overthrew a dictator. These protests have offered a new model of dissent in a region where Islamic activists have long been seen as monopolising opposition and serve as inspiration to activists stymied at almost every turn in bringing about change in their own countries. The very spectacle of crowds surging into the streets and overwhelming decades of accumulated power in the hands of a highly centralised government has sent a strong signal to other repressive regimes and corrupt governments that people will demand accountability.
The economic divide in China and the lack of civil liberties is something which has to be viewed with concern as it may set off internal protests.
The Tunisian revolt is a wakeup call to other Arab states with autocratic rulers. There have been protests in Jordan, Egypt, and Oman, and self immolations in at least 6 North African countries. The events in Tunisia are affecting the political climate throughout the region, and might have consequences which could be magnified by connection technologies which can be a meaningful compliment to, but not replacement for, sustained offline protests as technology creates space for activists to find unlikely supporters & amplify their cause. The Jasmine Revolt holds important lessons for Asia as Tunisians’ grievances were as specific as universal: rising food prices, corruption, unemployment, the yawning divide between ruler and ruled and the repression of a state that viewed almost all dissent as subversion. So could we see such protests in Pakistan? In India? In China?
The situation in some of Pakistan’s provinces is more volatile and a spark could set a rebellion in the already troubled Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). India will have to keep a watchful eye on events as they unfold in Pakistan as the country is getting increasingly mired in religious and ethnic strife with the civil administration and the criminal justice system looking increasingly fragile.
The economic divide in China and the lack of civil liberties is something which has to be viewed with concern as it may set off internal protests. But India too needs to be careful. While the democratic set up in the country gives enough space for dissent, the lack of action against high profile corruption cases has led to popular cynicism that the rich and powerful can get away with anything. This is a dangerous trend and must be curbed by dealing swiftly and expeditiously with defaulters in an open and transparent manner.
Also read: Specialised Forces for Internal Unrest
Much has been spoken in India about reforming the criminal justice system but little has been down on the ground. We already have instances of vigilante justice taking place which does not augur well for the nation. The yawning gap between the haves and the have-nots needs to be addressed on priority to ensure social equity and to prevent the spread of left wing extremist ideology which has engulfed large parts of the country. A slap in Tunisia led to the overthrow of a dictator. Let us not wait for a cataclysmic event to set our house in order. The time to do it is now. That is the message which we must carry as the nation celebrates its 61st anniversary of becoming a Republic.
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