About Morsi's demise

The death of former Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi on June 17 has brought down curtains over a chapter of Egyptian history when in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Morsi ascended to power assuming the highest office. However, his stay in office was very short lived as in 2013, he was unceremoniously removed from Presidency by military strongman Abdel Fattah Sisi who is currently the man at the helm in Cairo.

Morsi, who was languishing in an Egyptian prison in solitary confinement and allegedly under poor living conditions, collapsed in the courtroom during his trial. He was inside a cage pleading his argument and suddenly fainted and subsequently died leading to a trail of suspicions lingering over the cause of his demise.

Morsi's death immediately became a centrepiece for a flurry of media activity as he was not merely the erstwhile President of Egypt but the head of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and during his Presidency, the MB seemed to further strengthen its roots in Egypt and reinforcing ties with another MB adherent, President Erdogan of Turkey. Sensing danger of MB's proliferation in Egypt taking the country towards Islamic fundamentalism with Turkish support, Gen Sisi acted swiftly, putting Morsi behind bars and slapping numerous cases against him. It was perhaps imperative on part of Sisi taking recourse to such drastic action as things were too unsettling in Egypt after the exit of high profile Hosni Mubarak in 2011 threatening the country appeared drifting towards certain chaos.

Morsi's recent death has no doubt incurred the wrath of a large section of MB followers the world over. Turkey was the first to react angrily when Erdogan described the death as murder and an unnatural death caused by Sisi and his cohorts, seen as an attempt to stifle the voice of MB. Erdogan, wily as always, exhorted holding of special prayers in all mosques in Turkey expressing solidarity with Morsi and his followers. Erdogan also wanted to occupy the headlines and centre stage capitalising on Morsi's death for personal publicity and political mileage. It is, however, not likely that he would be able to politicise the death issue to his advantage. Yet, the Islamic world, especially Saudi Arabia, with its agenda of countering Brotherhood movement with Wahabism will watch with curiosity how things unfold in the coming weeks. In any case, Erdogan will try his best to keep the MB blueprint alive by ceaseless aggressive propaganda lashing out at the Egyptian political leadership for 'murdering' Morsi .

As international human rights organisations have commenced hue and cry condemning pathetic living conditions in Egyptian prisons leading to neglect of Morsi's health and eventual death, Pakistani press and people at large have echoed similar sentiments. However, 'Dawn' the Karachi based prominent newspaper carried an editorial (June 19) highlighting Morsi's death but described his one year plus rule being far from perfect, fomenting "genuine public discontent" in Egypt. 'Dawn' also stated that MB had started gaining strength during Morsi's regime. A leading Bangladesh daily, 'Daily Asian Age', on the other hand, came down heavily on Egyptian government for the maltreatment meted out to Morsi and was particularly critical for bringing him to the court in a cage in the same manner as Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was brought in a Pakistani court during his trial under the dictatorial rule of Gen Zia ul Haq.

In India, Morsi's demise has evoked interesting reactions possibly because of the MB's spell cast over various Islamic outfits. On June 18, barely a day after Morsi's news of the death broke, the Jamaat e Islami (Hind) in a press release described Morsi's death as a murder and criticised the Egyptian government for forcibly removing Morsi from power despite the fact that he was a legally elected President. It also said that the Islamic world had lost a good leader. Several posters could be seen on display saying that "India stands with President Morsi".

Also, some reactions could be seen in Jamia Millia and Aligarh Muslim Universities airing concern on Morsi's death. Some quarters are even planning protest demonstrations in front of the Egyptian Embassy in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, Salman Nadwi of Madarsa Nadwa appeared thrice on television shows and used social media, writing in Arabic, (possibly for wider dissemination) lambasting the Egyptian regime on the 'murder' of Morsi.

In the meantime, JeI hind, Popular Front of India (PFI), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Islamic Youth Federation (IYF), Students' Islamic Organisation (SIO) and Wahadat-e-Islamic Party of India (WPI) have expressed their solidarity with the MB cause while commemorating Morsi's death last week. MB, therefore, does not look to be weakened after Morsi's departure. He has a considerable number of sympathisers in the Indian subcontinent amid reports that Indian Wahabi and Salafis are now divided into two camps. One owing allegiance to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, while the other drawing support from Qatar.

All said and done, Sisi, back home in Egypt, must have heaved a sigh of relief following Morsi's departure for good, diluting the remainders of MB which presently look emaciated, at least for now. Most of the MB activists had found refuge in Turkey after Morsi's arrest six years ago. They are unlikely to return to Egypt under the present circumstances. Now with a strong bonding with the US, Abdel Fattah el Sisi can possibly afford to ignore Turkish acrimony towards Egypt and rule completely, turning a blind eye to the human rights' groups and activists for accusing Sisi of maintaining a partial and biased judiciary and pathetic prison conditions. In this light, perhaps MB cadres in other countries need close monitoring lest they are allured by extremist forces for wrong reasons.

(The writer is a retired IPS officer and a security analyst. The views expressed are strictly personal)