Saturday 12 February 2011

Freedom

My heart is with Egypt today.

When I was 12 my dad took us to Bangladesh in the middle of the coup when the dictator Ershad was deposed. We arrived during curfew, and had to be smuggled out of the airport in the back of a jeep to the barracks of my cousin's air force fiance.

I have vivid memories of how it felt to be there at that time. There was a tremendous sense of elation, a sense of freedom and possibility, but it was that nervous kind of elation, tinged with trepidation. Will things really change? Will the future that was being so passionately fought for actually come into being?

In Bangladesh, things got better (we finally got the democracy fought for in 1971, if riddled with corruption), then worse (under the military for 2 years), and better again. It's a struggle to keep your voice heard, when old, rotten power is everywhere. The Egyptians have courage and fortitude in abundance, as the last few weeks have attested, and I hope they keep hold of their bright new day, and that it flourishes into a new world of promise.

3 comments:

  1. I really hope things work themselves out...the people seem very passionate and they know what they want for their country. I hope they manage to find a peaceful way to work towards building a new future

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic post
    I really hope things in Egypt just get better and better, it was sensational to see the people and army of a country coming together and uniting for something they believed in, I hope their future continues with the same sense of unity

    ReplyDelete
  3. Touching, fantastic post. It can be hard to see so much sadness but hope on the news and you have added so much humanity to it for me.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

About Me

My photo
Rabbit-like in a nose that twitches when I laugh and front teeth not 100% rectified by 7 years of braces, postcolonial in being of British-Bangladeshi heritage (and reading many many books thereon). Books, tea and dresses: these are some of my favourite things.