Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi democratically elected by at least 13 million people was unseated by an infamous military coup of his appointed defence minister and Army Chief, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Pro-Mubarak General Sisi has not had any reason other than that Morsi belonged to Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) of Islamist rooted Muslim Brotherhood (MB) for his ousting.

Democracy and democratic practices of the people in Egypt have been brutally massacred by the military junta. After the military coup, the Egyptian constitution recently crafted and accepted by a popular referendum has been nullified and the parliament of the country has been dissolved. The despotic rule of deposed Mubarak- which made Egyptian military a lucrative industry and allowed its strong grip in politics of the country- has been restored to allow General Sisi to play a notorious role once again in post-military coup Egyptian politics.

"Democracy and democratic practices of the people in Egypt have been brutally massacred by the military junta"

 Given the military installed caretaker government led by a staunch Morsi opponent and constitutional court judge Adly Mansour, it is increasingly occupied by Mubarak remnants. Dorreya el-Sharaf el-Din, Ibrahim el-Demeri, Ayman Abu Hadid, Ibrahim Mehleb and Nabil Fahmi who participated in Mubarak regime are all key ministers of Adly’s unelected government.  Police General, Adel Labib known well for his unpopular human rights records in Mubarak times has also been a Cabinet member of this government.  Out of the 25 provincial governors of the country, some 19 have been appointed from the military and the police consisting of generals. Sadly, the January 2011 Egyptian revolution has betrayed itself by silently accepting again the return of a long-standing Police State which it claimed to have eliminated from the country.  

"After the military coup, the Egyptian constitution, recently crafted and accepted by a popular referendum, has been nullified and the parliament of the country has been dissolved"

Thousands of Egyptians, including children and women, who non-violently stood against a military coup in their country were killed and wounded heavily in cold-blooded by their own generals. Defence Minister Sisi has committed this using his Algerian counterpart’s tactic (that) “if you are to stay in power, you need to kill thousands of your people,” which sacrificed at least 200,000 Algerians to insulate a military coup from democracy. Today, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has been demonised by Cairo authorities as a terrorist outfit against stability and security of Egypt, and its leaders branded as sinister forces. Interim foreign minister Nabil Fahmi in his interview to Der Speigel magazine of Germany has equated deposed president Morsi with Hitler giving no rationale for this comparison. Dozens of senior MB leaders today have been arrested as terrorists for the only reason of being adhered to a political Islam.

The Sisi’s subservient caretaker government in Cairo has also gone on to outlaw the MB citing the same terrorist reason. Ridiculously, they have   not understood the fact that an 80-year old organisation established well on socio-political fabric of Egyptian community is unlikely to be banned. Having digested this enough, their predecessors Sadat and Mubarak have not dared to go ahead with it, but cracked down on the organisation sporadically.

Interestingly, even though the West was to coin the word terrorist to achieve their objectives in Islamic world, it has been Muslim world than the West to use this word on a large scale to cushion life-long despotism, dictatorship, dynastic succession and militarism in that world. People in this world are persecuted and even wiped out in the pretext of terrorist by their rulers for resisting undemocratic practices in their countries.  

"Thousands of Egyptians, including children and women, who non-violently stood against a military coup in their country were killed"

Hypocrisy of  the West
Once again the West has proved its hypocrisy over the issue of democracy and human rights in the Muslim world. Even though having understood clearly that what happened in Egypt was no doubt a military conspiracy against people’s democratic aspirations, the US played a very destructive role in this. President Obama could not even term it a “military coup.” His administration also could not halt America’s decade-old largest military aid to Egypt despite growing calls for its suspension from many, including Congressman McCain. Even when anti-coup protesters were indiscriminately executed in subhuman ways - regardless of children and women - and their rights badly abused by Egyptian army, Obama administration irrationally turned its back on helpless Egyptians waiting for justice. Actually, the U.S succumbed to the pressure of a strategic reason that always prioritised Israeli interests in the region.

The European Union (EU) also failed to help Egyptians preserve democracy from its predator. The EU stopped its intervention with few rounds of talks with the Military Junta in Cairo which had no results. The UN totally forgot its obligation and ended its role urging both sides (Juntas and anti-coup demonstrators) to show “maximum calm” after a massive massacre of peaceful protesters had taken place.

Arab/Muslim Reaction
Just hours after the coup, Saudi Arabia summarily welcomed it. Country’s monarch found this military coup a most crucial need for Cairo and, therefore, praised its brainchild Geneal Sisi for meeting such need. While the monarch interpreted Sisi and his fellow generals as great heroes, he saw Morsi and his MB followers as dangerous terrorists. Therefore, in his statement, he said Egypt was rescued timely from the terrorist clutch. To show his unwavering support to military juntas, monarch funnelled billions of dollars in aid, sent field hospitals to treat wounded Egyptian soldiers and explicitly encouraged Cairo’s heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful protesters, including MB Islamists. Saudi monarch was followed by his counterparts in UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait, hailing the coup and providing billion- dollar worth aid to the military appointed government of Egypt. In one case, Kuwait went on to prove its commitment of this support by repatriating the Egyptians who peacefully marched outside their embassy in Kuwait against the military coup. It was Jordanian king Abdullah II who was the only Arab leader to visit Cairo to extend a support directly to military coup installed government, hailing military rulers for dismissing a popularly elected Islamist regime and reinstating the toppled Mubarak rule with his remnants.

However, the conventional wisdom at homes of these monarchs was otherwise. People in Saudi Arabia silently stood against their king’s pro-military coup stance. In social media, Saudi scholars, activists and others unequivocally expressed their view in support of the MB, protesting Morsi ouster. They strongly condemned what occurred in Cairo, describing it as a project of anti-Islamists to destroy their Islam and them and criticising that Sisi and his fellow generals were complicit to this conspiracy. They twittered and posted on Face Book a claim that their kingdom’s official position did not represent them. Even in Jordan, people registered a strong resistance against the coup and subsequent killings and abuses to Cairo embassy in Amman by an anti-coup march. Qatar reportedly played a reasonable role in Egyptian case. The country’s young monarch made serious efforts to broker a solution to this crisis of democracy alongside EU and condemned the army’s slaughtering of people. The kingdom, a onetime benefactor and sympathiser of the MB, once again substantiated its qualities of leadership as a growing regional player.

Popular mood in the Muslim countries over military attack on democracy in Egypt was a well visible anger. People in countries like Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh voiced their strong discontent against this military coup and subsequent violent crackdown on Islamist MB by organised popular rallies, lectures, Friday Jummah sermons and other activities. They found the coup a plot engineered by enemies of Islam and Muslim, saying Egyptian General Sisi succumbed to such a plot. In their anti-coup campaign, they called for withdrawal of military interference of politics and reinstatement of deposed Morsi.

MB Failures
Failures of the MB also wittingly or unwittingly have partly contributed to the current crisis of democracy in Egypt. At first, the MB decisively chose not to run for the first presidential poll of the post-Mubarak Egypt that followed the January 2011 popular uprising. Later, they changed their political decision and fielded Morsi for presidency. In fact, their first decision may have been most viable and pragmatic to post-Mubarak political context, where Egypt was deeply disturbed by rural poverty, unemployment, poor economic opportunities and more life expectations of growing young generation. Whoever became president, the tenure would have been a testing period for such a president to address these problems and rebuild the country. This inability of a president would certainly enable Mubarak remnants that still heavily control Cairo’s defence and judiciary establishments and bureaucracy to bring unrest and gain their lost political muscle back. Whoever the first president was would have surely faced a fate similar to that of Morsi. So, the MB could have refrained from the poll for now and played a prominent role of power broker by backing a suitable outside candidate.

Writer, Salithamby Abdul Rauff pursues a PhD in Social Work at the School of Social Sciences of the Sains University in Malaysia.