‘I Think Ikhwan Strategy is Working’

Dr Zafarul Islam Khan

DR. ZAFARUL-ISLAM KHAN, a renowned scholar, author and Editor of English fortnightly Milli Gazette, is President of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (the umbrella body of Muslim organisations in India). In an exclusive interview with ZAID ARIF, Dr. Khan talks on the situation prevailing in Egypt. Excerpts:

Almost one and a half months have passed since the military coup in Egypt and the situation is worsening every passing day. Whom do you think is responsible for these calamities?

This is a very complex situation. We cannot say that this or that one party is responsible. The military, the Egyptian “liberals” and those who are supporting the military within the country and outside are responsible for the unfolding tragedy. America and other western countries are responsible because they approved of the coup. They might be saying something else now because of these continuous killings which are impossible for anyone to justify. In fact, western power gave the green signal to the military to do what they are doing now. And the Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and others also are responsible because they are politically and financially backing the new military regime. There is the news coming out of American sources that the Gulf rulers even financed the coup itself with one billion dollar paid in advance. So you cannot say that only one party is responsible. The Gulf countries are doing so for their own political aims and survival. Also, the Egyptian Army has maintained a very strong relationship with America since Anwar Sadat’s time. This allows the US to use the army to influence local politics as we have seen earlier in the cases of Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey.

Egypt is one of the most important players in the Arab world. Post-change of guard and induction of democracy, it was hoped that the country will lead the Arab world. Do you think prosperity will prevail in near future?

Egypt is not one, but the most important player in the Middle East and North Africa. Egypt is the biggest power in the Arab World in terms of population, army, in terms of achievements, history, manpower, etc. and any development in Egypt influences the whole region. Egyptian policies have always been pivotal for the whole area. Whenever it takes an initiative, it becomes a fashion in the whole region to follow. Western powers and Gulf rulers do not want any democratic and free government in this area so that their policies and hypocrisy are not challenged in the region which will lead to a great loss in their business. In earlier days also, colonial forces had tried to grab power in Egypt but they could not because the Ottoman State was very strong those days.

Do you think President Morsi had taken a wrong decision when he appointed General Sisi as the minister of Civil Safety?

It was the mistake of Morsi and his group, not just Morsi’s alone. When the military ousted Morsi, they at once arrested at least 300 people because they knew they were the core group of the President. These people thought that now that a new president has been elected democratically and freely, everything would be under his control including the police apparatus and the army. But this was their mistake. I think the main reason behind this failure is that the Muslim Brotherhood could not estimate the situation on the ground because of their segregation from politics for decades. They just thought it was good and enough that people elected their party and presidential nominee and he will be able to exercise power democratically.

But the reality was that though Mubarak had gone, his people were there in every department, like the ministry of interior, police, army and even judiciary. Since Gamal Abdel Nasser, all spheres of Egyptian life and government have been controlled by the army. Morsi and his people were wrong in their thinking that they have tamed the big elephant. In fact, they never did.

The Mubarak-men, since the first of day of Morsi in office, used all kinds of tricks and tactics to make him fail, using the military and police and by using the judiciary which too was all Mubarak-appointed. The President did not realise the gravity of the matter till his last days in office. I think Muslim Brotherhood members should have adopted the same policy what was practised in Iran and should have cleansed the whole system, especially the police and intelligence.

Can we say Morsi failed in Egypt given that he could not avert what had been expected since day one?

I think this is not the correct way to describe what happened in Egypt. In fact, the elected government failed to understand the complexity of the situation and they took things on face value. The ruling party also failed to take lessons from others’ somewhat experiences like Iran and Turkey. They should have deeply studied the situation at local as well as international levels and how others tackled potentially counter-revolutionary forces.

It has been said that some “super-powers” have been actively involved in this coup because they feared the new regime might be a threat to them in future. So at this stage can one say that no government can run without the consensus of “super-powers”?

No, this is wrong. The best example is that of Cuba which is almost as tiny in dimension as Gaza but it is not only surviving but also flourishing despite continuous sanctions and several American attempts to overthrow the revolutionary regime these past five decades. Also, you have the example of Gaza where all the super powers – the USA, Israel and even the pro-west Arab world – is hell-bent to overthrow the Hamas government but did they succeed? Zimbabwe is another example where the western powers have been active against the government for some 30 years. But did they succeed? Same is the case with a number of countries in South America like Nicaragua, Chile and Venezuela. Same is the case with the current governments of Iran and Sudan. These examples prove that a determined government and its people can weather the oddest situations in the contemporary world. But this needs strong strategy which was lacking in the Egyptian case.

How do you see the hostile role of media, especially in the Egyptian case?

It is understood that the media, especially the western media, is hostile to Muslims everywhere. I think the MB should have taken more care about it and should have established some good media houses not only in Egypt but also outside Egypt so that it could function even in situations like the present one. I used to get daily emails from some news sources in Egypt but the very day the military overthrew Morsi, it all stopped. The army people must have gone to the places from where such services were running and shut them down like the four local television stations of MB and allied forces which were immediately closed down after the coup.

Undoubtedly, MB men had established some local Arabic channels but this was not enough. They should have extended their media presence to other languages, especially English, in order to reach out to the common man all over the world. Also the Morsi regime gave unbridled freedom to the press which was not justified in a country which had not known freedom of expression for six decades.

The freedom of press under Morsi was unprecedented in the whole world and the President himself was being attacked and ridiculed every single day by newspapers and TV channels which no one could even dream of during Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak days. That is why the media was exploited by opponent of democracy and used to discredit the Morsi regime in the eyes of the Egyptian people. What people read in newspapers and watch on TV channels matters in a society as it shapes their understanding and mindset.

Thousands of common men have been killed so far and the toll is constantly rising. So, in your opinion, should MB change its strategy?

No. I think their strategy is working. Sorrowfully, some people are losing their lives, becoming martyrs for the cause of legitimacy and democracy. But their agitation is peaceful despite all these grave provocations. It is the other side which is resorting to naked violence. I am confident, the MB will remain peaceful but some elements from the MB might ditch them and form violent groups. I think we are facing a spectre of civil war in Egypt which will continue for quite a long time as we have earlier seen in Algeria in 1991 when the Islamists there were similarly robbed of their electoral mandate and some of them turned violent and continue to this day which has resulted in over one lakh deaths. We fear the same tragedy might be repeated in Egypt as a result of unseating an elected President and government.
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