Karmachand Gandhi
(The Mahatma or Great Soul) is today revered as a historical figure who fought against colonialism, racism and injustice. But he
was also one of the greatest modern revolutionary political thinkers and moral theorists.
While Nicolo Machiavelli taught tyrants how to
acquire power and keep it through brute force, deceit and divide and rule,
Gandhi taught ordinary people simple sure-fire techniques to bring down dictatorships.
Gandhi learned from history that dictators, regardless of their geographic origin, cleverness, wealth, fame or brutality, in the end
always fall: “When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of
truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a
time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it,
always.”
Last week, it was Tunisia’s Zine
El
Abidine Ben Ali’s turn to fall, and for the Tunisian
people to get some respite from their despair. In the dead of night, Ben Ali
packed his bags and winged out of the country he had ruled with an iron fist
for 23 years to take up residence in Saudi Arabia where he was received with
open arms and kisses on the cheeks. (Uganda’s bloodthirsty dictator Idi Amin
also found a haven in Saudi Arabia until his death in 2003 at age 80.) Ben
Ali’s sudden downfall and departure came as a surprise to many within and
outside Tunisia as did the sudden flight of the fear-stricken MengistuHailemariam in Ethiopia
back in 1991. When push came to shove, Mengistu, the
military man with nerves of steel who had bragged that he would be the last man
standing when the going got tough, became the first man to blow out of town on
a fast plane to Zimbabwe. Such has been the history of African dictators: When
the going gets a little tough, the little dictators get going to some place where they
can peacefully enjoy the hundreds of millions of dollars they have stolen and
stashed away in European and American banks.
Truth be told, Tunisia is not unique among African
countries whose people have undergone prolonged economic hardships and political
repression while the leaders and their parasitic flunkies cling to power and live
high on the hog stashing millions abroad. In Ethiopia, the people today suffer
from stratospheric inflation, soaring prices, extreme poverty, high
unemployment (estimated at 70 percent for the youth) and a two-decade old
dictatorship that does not give a hoot or allows them a voice in governance (in
May 2010, the ruling party “won” 99.6 percent of the seats in parliament). In
December 2010, inflation was running at 15 percent (according to “government
reports”), but in reality at a much higher rate. The trade imbalance is
mindboggling: a whopping $7 billion in imports to $1.2 billion worth of exports
in 2009-10. In desperation, the regime
recently imposed price caps on basic food stuffs and began a highly publicized official
campaign to tar and feather “greedy” merchants and businessmen for causing high
prices, the country’s economic woes and sabotaging the so-called growth and transformational
plan.Hundreds of merchants and
businessmen have been canned and await kangaroo court trials for hoarding, price-gouging
and quite possibly for global warming as well. Former World Bank director and recently
retired opposition party leader BulchaDemeksa puts the blame squarely on the ruling regime’s
shoulders and says price controls are senseless exercises in futility: “I’m not
so angry with the retailers and sellers. I’m angry with the government, because
the government counts on its capability to control price. Prices cannot be
controlled. It has been tried everywhere in the world and it has failed. Unless
you make it a totally totalitarian society it is impossible to control prices.” (When a regime claims electoral victory
of 99.6 percent, there is little room to dispute whether it is totalitarian.) Aggravating the economic crises are chronic problems
of reliable infrastructure including unstable electricity
supply, burdensome and multiple taxation and a generally unfriendly business
environment.
Gandhi’s
Contemporary Relevance in Resisting Dictatorships
Ben Ali left Tunisia in
a jiffy not because of a military or palace coup but as a result of a popular
uprising that went on unabated for a month. Police officers are the latest to join in the street
demonstrations and protests demanding an end to dictatorship and establishment
of a genuine democratic government. But Ben Ali dictatorship is alive and
well-entrenched in power.
A few members of his old crew have been arrested or fired from their jobs, but
Mohamed Ghannouchi, other ministers and power brokers are still
doing what they have been doing for the last 23 years. To placate the public, token
members of the opposition have been invited to join a transitional “unity government” pending
elections in 60 days under constitutional provisions that favor Ben Ali’s Constitutional
Democratic Rally Party (RCD). Those who led the uprising do not seem to have
much voice or representation in the “unity” government. For now it seems that the RCD foxes guarding
the hen house are buying time and making plans to finish off the hens. But the
best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and the best laid plans of Ben
Ali’s lackeys may in the end fail and
make way for a genuinely popular government. There are hopeful signs. For
instance, informed observers note that there is a measure of solidarity and
consensus among major opposition elements
on such issues as democratic governance, human rights, release of
political prisoners, democratic freedoms and the functioning of civil society
groups.
Ultimately, the more practical strategy to
successfully dismantle dictatorships is to build and strengthen inclusive coalitions and
alliances of anti-dictatorship forces who are willing to stand up and demand
real change. If such coalitions and alliances could not be built now, the
outcome when the dictators fall will be just a changing of the guards: old
dictator out, new dictator in.
The Tunisian people’s
revolution should be an example for all Africans struggling to breathe under
the thumbs and boots of ruthless dictators. It is interesting to note that
there was a complete news blackout of the Tunisian people’s revolution in
countries like Ethiopia. They do not want Ethiopians to get any funny ideas. On
November 11, 2005, MelesZenawi
defending the massacre of hundreds of people in the streets said, “This is
not your run-of-the-mill demonstration. This is an Orange revolution [in Ukrane] gone wrong.” Ben Ali said the same thing until he found
himself on a fast jet to Jeddah.From
India to Poland to the Ukraine to Czechoslovakia and Chile decades-old
dictatorships have been overthrown in massive acts of civil disobedience and
passive resistance. There is no doubt dictators from Egypt to Zimbabwe are
having nightmares from Tunisia’s version of a “velvet’ or “orange” revolution.
The
Power of Civil Disobedience and Nonviolent Resistance: Dictators, Quit Africa!
I have noticed that
there is hatred towards the British among the people. The people say they are
disgusted with their behaviour. The people make no
distinction between British imperialism and the British people. To them, the
two are one. We must get rid of this feeling. Our quarrel is not with the
British people, we fight their imperialism.”
For Africans, the quarrel is not and ought not be about ethnicity, nationality, race, gender, religion,
language or region, but about the injustices, crimes and gross and widespread human
rights violations committed by African dictators. As Gandhi has taught,
dictators for a time appear formidable, strong, golden and invincible. But in
reality they all have feet of clay. “Strength does not come from physical
capacity. It comes from an indomitable will,” said Gandhi. The Tunisian people
have showed their African brothers and sisters what indomitable will is all
about when they chased old Ben Ali out of town. All Africans now have a
successful template to use in ridding themselves of thugs, criminals and hyenas
in designer suits and military uniforms holding the mantle of power.
