If not all, most of the dictators are iron-hearted. More than iron-hearted they are cold-blooded. They go to very great lengths to cement their hold on power, they go to very great lengths to suppress rebellion by masses with the overt support of their army, most of the latter remain loyal to the dictators. Several examples do exist and let me list out a few of them some are already out of power, sometimes voluntarily other times before the determined resistance of citizens, some are on their way out after failing to hold on to power with a nation as a whole turning against them. King Gyanendra of Nepal, a ruthless dictator notorious for suppression of peoples’ rebellion was ousted two-three years back paving way for a democratic government. First under Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal – ‘Prachanda’, then Girija Prasad Koirala followed by Madhav Kumar Nepal and now after a long gap Jhalanath Khanal of Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist).
In Myanmar, the military dictator Than Shwe ruled for decades with an iron-fist jailed many, murdered many, suppressed many a rebellion. Then last year he formed a political party SPDS, dissolved National League for Democracy headed by Nobel Laureate and freedom fighter Aung Saan Syuuki, who was imprisoned by his regime and she had to languish in prison for more than a decade. Now that his party has won majority of seats as it was the only party and small section of breakaway National League for Democracy (NLD) which contested the elections and following which a puppet Thein Sein was installed in the Prime Ministerial saddle, the real power still concentrated in the hands of Than Shwe himself who has withdrawn behind the curtains. A clever ploy to make the world feel that Myanmar too has embraced democracy.
Tunisia, the African nation is still very much in the news. The ‘Jasmine Revolution’ by which name the Tunisian revolution is known the world over led to the ouster of its President Zin-Abidin-Ben-Ali. The dictator and family has been granted asylum by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after being rejected asylum by many nations. Massive poverty, corruption, unemployment etal led to the citizens rise up in revolt which snowballed into a massive revolution which led to him flee the nation for good. Still the people are not satisfied they still want to wreak vengeance on him and from their raging anger we can very well assume the enormity of the problems and sufferings they underwent still undergoing even after his seeking asylum in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia too is a dictatorship, but the heartening fact is that it is a benevolent dictatorship. For instance Bhutan was under a benevolent dictatorship and after decades of rule the former King Jigmi Zigmi Wang Chuk voluntarily stepped down for establishing a democratic set- up. Indonesia and Thailand all come under dictatorships, they are but only namesake dictatorships, otherwise titular heads as in Britain.
Tunisian uprising was only pointer to more developments in various countries in African continent. While the Tunisian conflagration was very much raging the next turn was Egypt’s. The protests and processions which began on a slow pitch from January 25, 2011 incited most of the citizens and ‘day of rage’ went a long way in culmination of the uprising with people holding banners and placards carrying ‘down Mubarak down’ slogans. While Mubarak was accumulating funds to the tune of US $ 7000 bn, the entire Egypt was and still is suffering from large-scale poverty, corruption and unemployment. Peoples’ pent-up anger was about to burst out anytime and the Tunisian revolution was an inspiring force or a catalyst for their anger to burst out. Now that the volcano has erupted with red-hot lava of peoples’ anger flowing widespread to the whole of Egypt and even Egypt’s friend US too demands Mubarak to step down. It is reported that Mubarak has already handed over powers to his Vice-President Omar Suleiman but has refused to step down from the post of President.
One thing I forgot to mention, that is Sudan where the dictator Omar-Hasan-Al-Bashir had to bow down before the demands of Southern Sudan’s for a separate nation consisting of Christian-Animists in a referendum held recently. 98.8 percent of Southern Sudanese voted for a separate nation in the referendum which is the store-house of more than 75% of the crude-oil. International Criminal Court already had sent a summons to him to appear before it for committing genocide in which 2 million people of Darfur perished by his army’s onslaught.
It is a foregone conclusion that if citizens’ anger continues to persist Mubarak will have to step out now that Muslim Brotherhood after its initial dithering in the beginning too has joined the rebellion.
Before peoples’ might it is taken for granted that the malevolent dictators will have to bow down before the demands of the citizens in the end.
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