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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