My thoughts were waning towards what was happening in Iran in the past few days. Like most political sciences expert, I too felt happy about the uprising against a theocratic society. The nytimes website was brimming with articles on facts and derivations on the situation on ground.
As the first round of protests struts towards a closure(I believe there are many more!), a few things I noted. This round of protests against the government sucked up all the energy in street protests. The protests declined in intensity over a period of 6-7 days and finally died down. Its just way too difficult for show of defiance through protests to sustain for long. Afterall, every human has a finite quota of actionable energy. The government, on the other hand, increased its intensity of crackdown slowly and finally succeeded in shutting out all the protestors. Again, predictably, the first round of battle was won by government. But I believe the objective of this round, a message to the theocratic rulers, was sounded loud and clear - Iranians don’t recognize sham elections as democracy! All the frustrations and built in energy for the past couple of years against the government was dissipated in this protests. Waste you may say, but with limited impact.
Mossavi Hussein, became an accidental Gandhi. This turned out to be good and bad. Good because all the protestors united under him. One loud shrill is more powerful than a million shy cries. The government, guardian council, military and all other power centres took notice. This voice was powerful enough to even (probably for the first time!) create minor dissents in the clergy. Bad because Iran needs a leader who really believes in realizing democracy in its truest sense. Not a conservative religion bred leader (who became a leader due to lack of one!), but a mind representing the majority of mass and wanting a rule representing the masses. But leaders emerge from such disruptions. One such example is Neda, who bled to death on a mobile screen. I am a sure a few more ones who will inspire and catalyze the next round.
Another thing that was keenly followed in the western press is Mossavi’s leadership.
While he was shrewd in keeping the focus on elections, unlike in ‘99 and 2003, he could have done much more than calling for protests. He should have garnered families of military and basijis to spearhead, or atleast participate, in the silent marches of Tehran. The protest marches should have been called for only occasionally, rather than daily. The protests could also have been in the form of boycott of public services and government offices and government products – a form of civil disobedience movement. That would have lent credence to the movement for atleast some more time. I sincerely hope for a much more organized and planned out war than mindless display of emotions on streets. Like I said, the actionable energy of every human is finite. It has to be productive.
I don’t know when the next round of protests will commence and where the ignition for it will come from but I certainly hope that this will be more effective. Thomas Friedman has a take on such source i.e. oil. This is a recommended article available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/opinion/24friedman.html?_r=1&em .
The impact of revolution in Iran will definitely be path breaking. Iran can power the middle eastern country into liberalism. This will impact the world trade and alter geo-political situation tremendously. My thoughts on it..some other time maybe.
For now, Hyderabad finally looks pretty cool. Hope it rains!
As the first round of protests struts towards a closure(I believe there are many more!), a few things I noted. This round of protests against the government sucked up all the energy in street protests. The protests declined in intensity over a period of 6-7 days and finally died down. Its just way too difficult for show of defiance through protests to sustain for long. Afterall, every human has a finite quota of actionable energy. The government, on the other hand, increased its intensity of crackdown slowly and finally succeeded in shutting out all the protestors. Again, predictably, the first round of battle was won by government. But I believe the objective of this round, a message to the theocratic rulers, was sounded loud and clear - Iranians don’t recognize sham elections as democracy! All the frustrations and built in energy for the past couple of years against the government was dissipated in this protests. Waste you may say, but with limited impact.
Mossavi Hussein, became an accidental Gandhi. This turned out to be good and bad. Good because all the protestors united under him. One loud shrill is more powerful than a million shy cries. The government, guardian council, military and all other power centres took notice. This voice was powerful enough to even (probably for the first time!) create minor dissents in the clergy. Bad because Iran needs a leader who really believes in realizing democracy in its truest sense. Not a conservative religion bred leader (who became a leader due to lack of one!), but a mind representing the majority of mass and wanting a rule representing the masses. But leaders emerge from such disruptions. One such example is Neda, who bled to death on a mobile screen. I am a sure a few more ones who will inspire and catalyze the next round.
Another thing that was keenly followed in the western press is Mossavi’s leadership.
While he was shrewd in keeping the focus on elections, unlike in ‘99 and 2003, he could have done much more than calling for protests. He should have garnered families of military and basijis to spearhead, or atleast participate, in the silent marches of Tehran. The protest marches should have been called for only occasionally, rather than daily. The protests could also have been in the form of boycott of public services and government offices and government products – a form of civil disobedience movement. That would have lent credence to the movement for atleast some more time. I sincerely hope for a much more organized and planned out war than mindless display of emotions on streets. Like I said, the actionable energy of every human is finite. It has to be productive.
I don’t know when the next round of protests will commence and where the ignition for it will come from but I certainly hope that this will be more effective. Thomas Friedman has a take on such source i.e. oil. This is a recommended article available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/opinion/24friedman.html?_r=1&em .
The impact of revolution in Iran will definitely be path breaking. Iran can power the middle eastern country into liberalism. This will impact the world trade and alter geo-political situation tremendously. My thoughts on it..some other time maybe.
For now, Hyderabad finally looks pretty cool. Hope it rains!
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