Tunisia's Evolution to Freedom
Tunisians can be proud that it was their country that initiated the "Arab Spring". Held as a great social uprising in the Arab world by people too long suffering oppression, lack of opportunities; yearning for freedom and taking the opportunity to rise up in mass protest to demand it.Tunisia, despite being ruled by a dictator, represented an anomaly in an Arab country; its people had more social and cultural freedom than those of other Arab countries. This was a civilized Islamic country, a tourist destination, a country where equality of the genders was traditional. Tunisia was amazingly cosmopolitan in its social culture.
When free elections were held last fall, the Islamist party Ennahda became the leader of a coalition government. And moderate, modern Tunisians saw ultraconservatism through the Salafi Muslim party agitate for stricter Islamic Sharia law to be imposed universally.
With the end of the dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia entered the dictatorship of fundamentalist Islam.
Recently, a a rally in the city of Kerouin, thousands of Salafi Tunisians chanted for the death of Jews, and demanded the creation of an Islamist state. Government interference in the media has impacted what was once a socially free, tolerant society and an independent media.
Women fear the loss of their status of equality with men under this new religious order where the writing of a new constitution may include a reference to women as "complementary" to men.
University of Manouba dean of humanities has embarked on a human rights struggle with religious students who insist on wearing veils. The dean refused to compromise when Salafis demanded the separation of men and women on campus, despite violent scuffles on campus.
He has been labelled a "secular extremist" by both government and the news media. "The law of the university is what's important, not politics, not religion. My religion is education", he insisted.
Even while the government speaks in favour of democracy, it is pushing toward Islamism. While Ennahda pledged initially not to introduce Sharia law into the country's draft constitution, it refuses to rule out the prospect of accepting it completely.
Ennahda represented the fiercest critic and opposition to the Ben Ali government. Its members held to have been behind bombings of tourist hotels in the 1980s. And many of them imprisoned.
"All Tunisians love [Ennahda] because they were against Ben Ali and Bourguiba. We love Islam and they're for it. The rest are small parties and they can't manage the country", said a 37-year-old waiter, Mohamed, withholding his last name, pouring wine for tourists during Ramadan on a patio.
Labels: Africa, Arab League, Islamism
posted by Pieface @ Monday, September 03, 2012
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