Every citizen has the
right to give his opinion in whatever, whoever or whenever he wants… and in
case he made a mistake by insulting or slandering someone, there are ways for
the other party to punish the wrong doer… However, if that citizen has a moral responsibility;
meaning he is a thinker, intellectual, writer, teacher or role model for
generations or a group, his responsibility becomes bigger and he should be wiser
before giving his opinion or advice…
But if that citizen took
charge of a leading position in the state; for example a president, minister or
parliamentarian, more restrictions add to him in a way that makes all what he
says; whether talking seriously or joking, highly sensitive… because in this
case, his mistake could damage the state interests and people’s awareness if
his opinion showed that he suffers from historic, scientific, cultural and
intellectual ignorance… and so the first lesson for any official is to be cautious
in all his sayings and actions…
Whether the talking
attributed to one of the current ministers is right or wrong, I believe such empty-of-meaning
talk about the free education and health services and ascribing the causes
behind the deteriorated education and health services and other problems to
July 23rd revolution and its leader Nasser, must come to a dead end.
In such regard, I recall
a situation I was part of a few years ago. I was in one of the private social
clubs where you can meet businessmen and well-off people of all social classes and
different political and ideological orientations. While I was passing by a
group of famous businessmen, among them were Eng. Naguib Sawiris and Dr. Ahmed
Heikal[1], Eng. Sawiris opened a
nice discussion in which he hinted that I am Nasserist and although he respects
Nasser’s ideology and role in the Arab world, he believes Nasser missed
everything up because he was the first one to set the rule for free services…
in education, health and other things…
I was surprised when I found
that all sitting with him agreed to what he said including Dr. Ahmed Heikal. Then
I asked him and all of them a direct question: “would you all and the Egyptian
capitalism in general be able to accumulate all what you have of assets,
fortunes and projects if it wasn’t for the Suez Canal, Egyptian irrigation
network, railway roads and Nile bridges that were used as transportation roads?”
The direct answer was: “what
has this to do with our talking about Nasser and his policy of providing free
services?” I answered: “the relation is that those who digged the Suez Canal,
and before and after that the irrigation network that has channels and canals
extending for thousands of kilometers, and who extended railway roads when they
were established, and who also guarded the Nile bridges to protect them from
collapse at the flood, and who kept renovating them to endure the pressure of the
vehicles and cattle passing over them… all that “for free”… are the peasants; meaning
the sweeping majority of the Egyptian people who digged the Canal, water
channels and streams without bulldozers, but actually using axes and palm
leaves-woven baskets… feeding on bread, onions and salty cheese… inhabiting
homes made of dry corn sticks or even worn-out tents… with no source of clean
water… and so they were dying out of endemic diseases… hundreds of thousands of
them died after they were slaved and driven by force to do such tasks?”
This is the true story
of having free services… then later came generations after generations who
tried to put an end to such injustice and to secure the minimum limit of human
rights… and so Orabi and his fellows came until the generation of July 23rd
revolution; officers of the Egyptian army came… atop of them was Nasser who
tried to pay back some of those peasants’ sacrifices… and so he followed the
steps of the great Taha Hussien when he applied the free education system… he
meant to save the majority of people from ignorance, poverty and illnesses… he
spent his whole life believing he was short of doing what should be done”…
At this point of the
discussion, the gentlemen criticizing “free services’ system” turned their
heads away and ceased to continue the conversation… if we added that the
current capitalism – which is mean by all criteria compared to the American and
European capitalism – had taken and still is taking free or almost free lands,
electricity, gas, security services and exempted from paying taxes… not to
mention tax evasion and not playing any social role… also, such capitalism
abstains from participating in any national projects like what happened in the
New Suez Canal project, we would know that the real free services are not the
education, health services or any other of the very little given to the majority
of people in Egypt… but actually it is what this people gave to the nation
since the digging of the Suez Canal to this moment…
Adding to this that
those who pay their souls in the wars defending the country and facing
terrorism are the sons of this majority, we would realize the crime committed
by those repeating such false talking about free education, health and Nasser’s
regime… so, will you please, gentlemen have some awareness and historic and
cultural knowledge so they things may go right!
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This
article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on March 16, 2017.
To
see the original article, go to:
#alahram
#ahmed_elgammal #nasser #free_education #free_health_services
[1] Son
of Muhammed Hassanien Heikal; a renowned journalist and one of Nasser’s closest
aides at his time.
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