Post-Mubarak Mideast: Need for Islamic Reforms

Dr. Abdul Ruff

Islamic reforms could be implemented only in Islamic world only in Muslim nations. The continuation of west dominated  corrupt-criminalized polices in Islamic world has clearly alienated the people, even though they also vote. Mubarak is not the only despot in Islamic world- if  fact bulk of Muslims rulers are rogues themselves which is the  key bottleneck in good governance and cause for the pro-West corrupt regimes promoting family cum corporate cum US interests. It is a shame that the  Arab world also depends on the unilateral USA to sustain their misrule for years. 

True, Pakistan does not require the unilateral US as an ally for murdering Pakistanis by specialized drones that are also been used by fascist Israel to kill the defenseless Palestinians, but then, Pakistani leaders, including military, requre3 the US in and around for safeguarding their own self-interests.  With US-UK guarding them form any troubles  against their wealth and illegal manipulations, the Pakistani leaders and their media lords feel most secured.That is the fate of Pakistan. The same is true of Afghanistan and Iraq and many other countries as well. 

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Jordan King Abdullah has already felt the Tunisian-Egyptian uprisings and has announced some minor reforms and has not talked about Islamic reforms that are  vital for the survival of Islamic world. The Tunisian uprising is continuing, even if the street protests have subsided following the government reshuffle that removed some of the old faces from the Ben Ali regime. Ben Ali, and the rest of the Tunisian capitalists that remain, represent international finance capital, and Western governments are working overtime to re-establish a regime that will maintain that mutually beneficial relationship.

At least 219 people were killed during the uprising and a further 510 injured in the Jasmin revolution . It is thought that 72 people died in the country's jails alone, 48 of them in Monastir prison.The transition regime has made some face-saving efforts to freeze or seize Ben Ali's assets. A plane belonging to one of his sons-in-law was seized at Le Bourget airport in France. The Swiss authorities have seized a plane, too. European ministers agreed to freeze the assets of Ben Ali and his wife, Leila Trabelsi. But the couple remain in luxurious exile, with 1.5 tonnes of gold from the Tunisian reserves worth $56 million. In total, the family's assets are estimated at $10 to $12 billion and are spread across numerous countries. They include interests in hotel chains, pharmaceuticals, car plants, tuna fishing, telecommunication, banking and insurance. The family is thought to control 30 to 40 percent of the Tunisian economy.

Some 30 members of the family have been arrested and the valuables they were attempting to smuggle out the country recovered. But the whereabouts of most of the wealth, which Ben Ali and his extended family looted from Tunisia over his 23 years in power, are unknown.

Mubarak’s decision to quit after enjoying life and crippling the Palestinian economy and life for 30 long years is welcome. Huge protests in Cairo and other cities, estimated at more than a million, demanded that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his regime immediately go. Mubarak first announced his intention to serve out his term of office until presidential elections due in September, but later knowing that his time has run out completely decided to quit at the earliest.

Mubarak emerged from the army to become president in 1981 following the assassination of Muhammad Anwar El Sadat. The army remains Mubarak’s power base. His initial effort to secure his rule in the face of the protests that erupted last week involved appointing a cabinet even more openly dominated by the military. In fact, Egypt’s rulers have depended directly on the military and drawn their leaders from its ranks ever since Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser led the Free Officers Movement in overthrowing King Farouk in 1952. Mubarak expected the army to act ruthlessly to resort to repressive measures against the uprising and preserve the existing social order.

The Egyptian capitalist state is in crisis, but it remains intact and is working to regain full control.That the mass movement has yet to develop the necessary organizational forms and political leadership is a boon for corporate  class and ruling elite. The Mubarak regime, resting on the military and retaining the backing of US imperialism, seeks to exploit this limitation. There is no unifying leadership in Egyptian struggle  and a foreign returned ElBaradei who is essentially a US agent  used against Iraq and Iran ( even if against his own will) can only promote the US as well as corporate interests. .

USA is keen to prop up bourgeois rule and uphold the strategic and economic interests of US imperialism in the region. Like wise, the US President B. Obama endorsed his Egyptian ally’s plan to cling to office until September, but when Mubarak announced his retire, he supported that as well. Obama’s determination to back Mubarak exposes the rank hypocrisy of his declarations of support for “democracy” and the rights of the Egyptian people. Washington has relied on the Egyptian dictator as a cornerstone of American policy throughout the Middle East for the past three decades, tacitly sanctioning his regime’s repression.

USA funds to the tune of $1.5 billion a year to Egypt and get Cairo support for Zionist blockades in  Palestine. US agent ElBaradei declared that the regime had lost its legitimacy, adding that only the president’s resignation would bring stability. Mohamed ElBaradei, a man with no substantial support in Egypt, being in discussions with former intelligence chief and newly named Vice President Omar Suleiman and representatives of various opposition parties. The aim of the discussions was reportedly to establish a “board of trustees” made up of Suleiman; Sami Anan, the chief-of-staff of the armed forces; ElBaradei himself and Ahmed Zeweil, a Nobel chemistry prize winner. It now appears that this course of action has been rejected, with the US fearing that ditching Mubarak too quickly would create a power vacuum..

Now that Mubarak has finally come down, leaving future a change to take care of Muslims  in and around, a new government when formed must consider the Islamic law  for replacing the existing western criminality operating so far  in the name of law. Muslim leaders should not try to stick to power at any cost because this animal mentality is alien to Islam and collective decisions and implementation of programs for the whole society and common people- not just for the wealthy and corporate outfits. Islam does not promote capitalism, colonialism, imperialism  or extra profits.

Popular revolutions in Tunisia and  Egypt must help herald a new era of true Islamic governments in the Islamic World . The Muslims have been at the receiving end for years now because the GST rogue states  led by the US-UK terror twins and their allies Israel and India want to subjugate the Muslims  and defame Islam and the revolutions should not lead the nations to worse conditions. Those hypocritical Muslims who seek western corrupt-criminalized governments and who shun Islamic governance must opt out of government formations. They have no right to deMuslimize the Muslims.