by Kashish Sharma
As I stand in my balcony at night, overlooking a busy highway, I can’t help but give in to my olfactory senses and inhale the soothing scent of jasmine flowers planted nearby. There is a deeper connection to jasmine and the country I am currently in, Tunisia. Other than the fact that jasmine is Tunisia’s national flower, it also symbolizes the Arab Spring or as many Tunisians may refer as the Jasmine Revolution, which took place almost two years ago. A lot has changed in Tunisia since its revolution, maybe a bit more than expected. While many may argue for or encourage to publicize the positive changes after the revolution, I believe it is extremely important to underline the negatives as well.
Mohamed Bouazizi self-immolated on 4th January 2011 in front of a provincial police headquarters to make a very strong statement, in fact scarring the Tunisian history. For those who remember, a similar incident took place during the Vietnam War where a monk set himself alive on fire. While the Buddhist monk hoped to put an end to the Vietnam War and in-justice against the Buddhists, Bouazizi dreamed of a better Tunisia. Even though Tunisia was a self-sustained country with a strong macro economy compared to the other countries in its region, it still faced a revolution due to un-even distribution of wealth amongst the populace. The revolution stirred a lot in motion, and eventually putting an end to the monarchist President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali‘s twenty four years of regime. Tunisia had democratized itself after the revolution due to the victory of a coalition of Islamist Ennahda Movement with center-left Congress and left Ettakatol party. Despite the victory of democracy, Tunisia may be more vulnerable than ever.
Evidently, a government topples because its weak and it further remains to be until it resolves all of its issues. It’s been more than two years since the revolution and it can be said that Tunisian security and economy is in a difficult position. In all honesty, it would be exceptionally bizarre if a country would easily get back on its feet after such drastic changes. While many may rejoice their country’s freedom, in hindsight, the nation’s secularity may have been well preserved under President Ben Ali’s monarchy. An annual terrorism report released by the State Department states Tunisia has experienced an “increase in religiously motivated act of vandalism and harassment” (Washington Times). It’s a no brainer when one brainstorms who’s responsible for such activities. Tunisia has not only gained democratic administration but also a rise in fundamental and determined Salafists. The Salafi movement in brief is a methodology of preaching the Islamic practices, thus the Salafists have eventually found a way of penetrating into secular Tunisian government. Strike the iron when it’s hot and the Salafists have been very opportunistic in their approach of influencing the government and promoting extremism.
“Employment, Freedom and National Dignity” were the keywords which fueled the revolution from the start till the very end, sadly those words have lost their weight now. Pre revolution Tunisians had problems with their sluggish economy and especially with the skyrocketing un-employment rate. Tunisia’s prime source of economy was from its tourism business, capitalizing on their beautiful beaches, old Carthage heritage and Roman ruins. Sadly, tourism has lost its grasp on the Tunisian soil since 2011. Not only aren’t the nearest Europeans not visiting Tunisia during vacations but the locals themselves are gradually emigrating. Since the Libyan upheaval, struck two years ago, thousands of Libyans have been fleeing from their country and settling in the capital of Tunisia, furthering the un-rest in the nation. The average un-employment rate is 18% nationwide whilst the unemployment amongst the graduates are twice as much. Two years still isn’t long enough for a nation to stabilize itself, however Tunisia still doesn’t project a promising economic growth.
Evidently, a government topples because its weak and it further remains to be until it resolves all of its issues. It’s been more than two years since the revolution and it can be said that Tunisian security and economy is in a difficult position. In all honesty, it would be exceptionally bizarre if a country would easily get back on its feet after such drastic changes. While many may rejoice their country’s freedom, in hindsight, the nation’s secularity may have been well preserved under President Ben Ali’s monarchy. An annual terrorism report released by the State Department states Tunisia has experienced an “increase in religiously motivated act of vandalism and harassment” (Washington Times). It’s a no brainer when one brainstorms who’s responsible for such activities. Tunisia has not only gained democratic administration but also a rise in fundamental and determined Salafists. The Salafi movement in brief is a methodology of preaching the Islamic practices, thus the Salafists have eventually found a way of penetrating into secular Tunisian government. Strike the iron when it’s hot and the Salafists have been very opportunistic in their approach of influencing the government and promoting extremism.
“Employment, Freedom and National Dignity” were the keywords which fueled the revolution from the start till the very end, sadly those words have lost their weight now. Pre revolution Tunisians had problems with their sluggish economy and especially with the skyrocketing un-employment rate. Tunisia’s prime source of economy was from its tourism business, capitalizing on their beautiful beaches, old Carthage heritage and Roman ruins. Sadly, tourism has lost its grasp on the Tunisian soil since 2011. Not only aren’t the nearest Europeans not visiting Tunisia during vacations but the locals themselves are gradually emigrating. Since the Libyan upheaval, struck two years ago, thousands of Libyans have been fleeing from their country and settling in the capital of Tunisia, furthering the un-rest in the nation. The average un-employment rate is 18% nationwide whilst the unemployment amongst the graduates are twice as much. Two years still isn’t long enough for a nation to stabilize itself, however Tunisia still doesn’t project a promising economic growth.
Economy however is the least of the grave concerns swarming this nation, the freedom of the Tunisians is at stake. Salafists have begun to seed their ideologies into Tunisian mindset. While many believe that the riots caused in Tunis were a product of President Ben Ali’s tyrant regime, there are speculations that the self-immolation was used as a decoy by the extremists to provoke the angered Tunisians to overthrow the government, thus letting themselves (extremists) in. The extreme fundamentalists have successfully rooted themselves inside the Tunisian political spectrum, thus resulting in lack of security for the secularists. Many incidents such as the attack on the US Ambassador, destruction of the American Cooperative School of Tunis and assassination of a ‘left leaning secularist’ politician; Chokri Belaid. The acute political polarization in Tunis has not only triggered a paradigm shift but also created socio-economic frenzy. One ponders the whereabouts of such extremists who are infesting into vulnerable political loop-holes. Many leftist claim that money has been pouring into Tunisia from the patriarchal Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Prof Habib Kazdaghli states that “these countries (Saudi Arabia & Qatar) consider Tunisia as a threat to their fundamentalist” since Tunisia is the only Muslim country where the women have the same rights as men to ask for divorce, polygamy isn’t practiced and a constitution is responsible for running the nation. Kazdaghli mentions that the Gulf countries are pressurizing Tunisia and it’s not too long that Tunisia may fall to the fundamentalists.
Ironic as it may be, revolution was supposed to bring freedom to the Tunisians from the monarchist and now the country faces a possibility of falling into the hands of Islamic extremists. Tunisians have preserved their heritage for so long while proudly functioning under the banner of secularism, sadly the Salafi movement threatens the secular Tunisians. There are many leftist scholars such as Kazdaghli who fiercely challenge the Salafists in order to secure the liberty of his countrymen. We can all hope that Tunisia doesn’t stray from its path and fall into the hands of extremists who further jeopardize peace in that region.
Picture Reference 1 / Picture Reference 2
Ironic as it may be, revolution was supposed to bring freedom to the Tunisians from the monarchist and now the country faces a possibility of falling into the hands of Islamic extremists. Tunisians have preserved their heritage for so long while proudly functioning under the banner of secularism, sadly the Salafi movement threatens the secular Tunisians. There are many leftist scholars such as Kazdaghli who fiercely challenge the Salafists in order to secure the liberty of his countrymen. We can all hope that Tunisia doesn’t stray from its path and fall into the hands of extremists who further jeopardize peace in that region.
Picture Reference 1 / Picture Reference 2