I intended to
write about the issue of “religious discourse”… as I believe Islam does not recognize
theocracy or mediators between man and God… also it does not recognize what is
called clergy… I also believe that Islam does not have a religious discourse, rather
it is known by “Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction”…
way of God here is all that entail the nation’s interests.
However, I preferred
to postpone writing about such issue to talk about the security issue that has
become a nightmare the whole nation suffers from day and night… after what
happened near to the presidential palace and after the everyday martyrs of our
best sons of police men holding high ranks… also our soldiers… I believe we
cannot just stay silent feeling pain and sorry without screaming out loud: stop…
on all levels.
Stop remissness…
as I and others followed what was posted on the account of the terrorist group
called “Agnad Allah” in which they talked in almost accurate details
about the bombs they planted and warned civilians against… some journalists and
media men even filed notifications to the concerned entities regarding what was
posted… but this alarm was not taken seriously until the terrorist act took
place and it turned up to be a true warning… stop such remissness and underestimating
the value of the information even if it was 99.9 percent likely to be false.
In such regard, I
would like to narrate a situation I had recently as I was in Cairo Airport last
Tuesday evening. I tried to enter Hall one in the old airport to pick up my
daughter coming from the UAE but I was not allowed to enter by all means. I respected
the security personnel who insisted on doing his job and I sat on the pavement
with the rest of people… then someone came thinking he was doing me a favor by
letting me in through the door next to the one I was denied access through… I
told him that it is not allowed but then I received the traditional Egyptian
reply we all know: “not for you, Pasha… come”. Of course, I refused to go… and
knew that that door is for letting in the bags-carrying trolleys after
collecting them from in front the hall… I saw some who went in and sat in the
air-conditioned hall although access was not permitted for strict security
reasons and only a major general in the army or police was authorized to come
in as per what the security personnel said.
Stop remissness
that we can see its scuttled results in all the security campaigns that started
like a fire breaking out in dry grass; once it starts, it fades down… such
campaigns that aimed at enforcing discipline at downtown Cairo, neighborhoods
and other cities against hawkers who are no longer ones… actually, they now
have fixed places to sit in with each one knowing his area and limits.
In such regard, I
remember when I was offering condolences at late Mr. Mahmoud as-Sa’adani years
ago… I was sitting next to major general Ismail ash-Sha’er and asked him to
interfere in the chaos in Tala’at Harb street in downtown Cairo… and indeed he
responded and later described the matter to me… as he said that there were
groups of big master merchants who rent big apartments at downtown Cairo where
they keep their merchandise… then hawkers and thugs come and take this
merchandise everyone to his pre-known stretch for which they pay rents in
thousands; meaning it is not about some hawkers shouting, yelling, having
fights with people and harassing women alone… actually, they were networks of
big masters who have their influence, especially in facilities police
department and other entities in charge of such thing.
Stop dealing
softly with everyone who has a human rights “shop” or others eloquent enough to
deliver a contemporary liberal democratic speech firm in form and deep in
essence… those whom we witnessed one day as loyal Marxists faithful to their
ideology and other staunch Nasserists utterly devoted to advocating rights of
working classes… then later we saw them going to the occupied lands in
Palestine and participating in conferences along with figures from the Israeli
Labor party…
Stop being soft
with those who have never been seen working hard in any job… those who have
never been to the fields, deserts or far stretches in Upper Egypt or the
countryside to help stand up for the people’s rights there… those we have never
heard from them, or from those who wrote their agendas and funded them, a true
sigh over our martyr sons of workers, peasants, professionals and other army
and police men who died by bombs, mines or RPG missiles.
Stop patting over
those who burnt green trees in the courtyard of their university… those who
burnt buildings, libraries, laboratories and lecture halls… those who took off
lighting poles and blackened the walls with their obscene words… those who
sought to spoil the scholar year and deprive their colleagues from studying and
succeeding… those who took the university dormitories as an escape where they
live, eat, drink and sleep almost for free.
Stop letting go
of the country and nation’s rights by keeping all habits inhibiting
development, progress and building and leaving negligent, lazy and corrupt
people without punishment… those who hinder any attempt of reform in the state
institutions and facilities and who scuttle any endeavors aiming at turning the
dream of building, progress, self-sufficiency, innovation and research into a
daily reality where all people compete and other benevolent people contribute
to with money, efforts and time.
It was said, and
this is true, that God punishes with power what cannot be punished with Quran…
meaning that the power of the state, the force of the law and discipline of security,
investigation and judiciary entities are strong enough to do what Dawaa
and guidance discourse of religion failed in.
I have already
written about the fields that competitors, partners and rivals in politics
shall dedicate part of their interest, activity and efforts to… because those
who became professional in the public work, conferences, seminars and parties and
who became addicted to seeking positions in ministries, parliaments and other
places, are regarded as hypocrites if they do not do something for the country.
We have to see
them standing in the front lines with their followers, allies and all who
support them in places of real national work… they can choose whatever field
they want; fighting the attack of the sea over Delta, desertification, scarcity
of water and resources, sewage discharge or piling of garbage… all these fields
are suitable for taking pictures and making propaganda through them in order to
prove that they do care about the country.
But if they kept
behaving like a bunch of current-time Pashas – for there were some of the
old-time ones who put themselves, fortunes and families at the service of the
country and examples in such regard are unlimited to count – who do nothing but
watching and giving empty speeches, then it is no use of them… and we shall not
regret when our destiny goes for the worse for we have not done anything to
stop this.
Stop for God sake
that security remissness because what happened at the presidential palace is a failure
for all of us and not only the ministry of interior and other security
entities.
Translated into
English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on July 3, 2014.
To see the original article, go to:
#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #remissness
No comments:
Post a Comment