Thirty years is too long a period for any political leader to rule a nation — dictator or democrat. Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak has clearly over stayed his invitation. Time for him to go. India and Indians cannot remain mute spectators to developments in the Arab world. To be sure, this is very much India’s neighbourhood. Far too many Indians live there, the livelihood of millions of Indians is based on peace, stability and prosperity in the Arab world. Equally, political events in the Muslim world leave their mark on politics in India and the sub-continent. Finally, as the world’s largest democracy, India owes it to the peoples of the post-colonial world to stand with them when they rise in revolt against dictatorial regimes. Many in the West and in Asia too may worry that Mr Mubarak’s decrepit and bankrupt regime may be replaced by an Islamic regime. If that is what the people of Egypt want, so be it. However, as has been seen in Tunisia and is likely to be seen in many other Arab nations, the anger on the streets is less about Islam and more about poverty, deprivation and the lack of freedom. Events in Egypt draw attention once again to the urgent need for moderation and modernisation in the Muslim world. The experience of countries like Indonesia and Turkey, and more recently even Malaysia and Bangladesh, ought to encourage greater commitment to both democracy and secularism in the Muslim world. Equally important, a commitment to more inclusive growth in the more prosperous Muslim nations.
Events in Egypt are also an indictment of the West’s approach to the region. The United States may now be demanding more vocally a regime change in Cairo, desperately seeking to retrieve fast disappearing ground in the region. How wiser it would have been for Egypt’s friends to force democratisation before the revolution arrived on the streets. The Indian government’s bland and wishy-washy statement that it is “following with concern, the developments in Egypt” and that “India has traditionally enjoyed close and friendly relations. We hope for an early and peaceful resolution of the situation without further violence and loss of lives” is neither honest nor relevant. India has not enjoyed “close and friendly relations” with the Mubarak regime. In his three decades in office, President Mubarak visited India twice – In 1982 and 2008 – not counting the visit in 1983 for the non-aligned summit. The high point of India-Egypt relations predates President Mubarak and hopefully will return to a more mature phase in years to come. While India need not become a champion of democracy in other nations, it must speak more strongly in favour of a more plural, secular and democratic world order. For a country that seeks membership of the United Nations Security Council, India cannot afford to miss the big picture at times like this, retrieving into the comfort and safety of irrelevant diplomatese!
