Whatever the provocation, the brutal butchering of 52 protesting Egyptians reminds me of Jalianwala Bagh massacre. The only difference is that at Amritsar in 1919, it were Indian soldiers under the command of Brig Gen Dyer of the British Indian Army, and in Cairo this monstrosity was perpetrated by none other than the Egyptian troops and police, claiming that all this was done to protect national security.
One wonders what this distorted version of national security is as universally national security is defined as security of citizens and their basic fundamental rights. It is unfortunate that in most of Islamic countries, the armies are engaged in institutionalised exploitation through use of brute force to engage in profiteering business ventures, which has compromised their professional capabilities and jeopardised the very purpose for which regular armies are raised for. What else constitutes a “Banana Republic” or a “Failed State”, if not this?
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
