They're at it again.
The wall graffitis, the agenda filled pamphlets, the riot police.
Damn it.
As much as I enjoyed the month long holiday that was graciously handed to us by the university spurred by the upheaval last year, I just really, supercalifragilisticexpealidociously want to graduate. And another violent revolution at hand is not gonna push that boat in the right direction.
Just yesterday, we were walking (more like being in a cab) down the Sharie' Gehan (or Gehan Street, didn't think I'd pick up some, albeit minimal, Arabic did you?) and there they were, in all its maximum security glory, three dark blue armoured cars with what looks like a sizeable makeshift prison cells at the back.
And the little dreamer in me was hoping a hand would slip out from the cracks, longing for sympathetic human touch, and I'd run to the car slowly with John Lennon's Imagine playing in the background, arms outreached only for the car to drive off away into the dark of the night. And music would fade to the last part of Knockin On Heaven's Door.
End scene.
Following the debacle that was last year's evacuation process (and my brief 15 minutes of fame where my post 10 hour flight face as well as my grossly exaggerated quote was printed in the news for all of titillated Malaysia to see), this revolution is apparently a move to give the Egyptian government the heave-ho to set an exact date for the presidential elections or in a more official news-y way
The military has floated a timetable that places the transfer of power late in 2012 or early 2013, but the protesters want it to announce a precise date. A growing number, however, wants the military to immediately step down in favor of an interim civilian council
Now my opinion on the matter. Hmmm.
Also reported by msnbc.com that 22 people have been killed, although these numbers could've been either embellished immensely or depreciated, whatever tickles the fancy of the Western media. And this is just to urge the government to set a date. What happens if they don't like the president? Or the results are rigged? Are more people going to lose their lives from protesting? Or are they going to give up, weary of the same empty promises? Something has to change, but what? Is it the seedy attitude of higher ups or the complacent nature of the people? Or will this endless cycle is just gonna rear its ugly head again and again And of that, will the country be strong enough to build itself from the rubble the revolution has left the economy in?
And I would just want to clarify that this is merely an observer's opinion on said matter. I'm not a political commentator nor have I credentials of a certified Middle Eastern scholar. I'm just another wide eyed student who has seen her fellow peers fight for their rights tirelessly, only to be despondent with the outcome. I want to proudly declare that I was there when Egypt achieved freedom. But I'm afraid whatever utopia dreams that Egyptians may have is just gonna be just that, a dream.
I offer my prayers and hope that Egypt, a country that once basked in the glories of early human civilization with a future shrouded with uncertainties, will rise from the ashes and bring back the once thriving land of the Pharaohs and Pyramids into full throttle. InsyaAllah.