On the 50th anniversary of the murder of the young revolutionary Che Guevara, we speculate as to how he would have reacted to the Islamic awakening movements.
While associated with renewal and growth, the month of March brings grim reminder of how terribly movements for change in the Muslim world have been subverted. Leaders of Islamic movements need to pay close attention to their modus operandi.
It is imperative for Islamic movement activists to study carefully how the imperialists and Zionists subverted their genuine aspirations for change. The old guard are back in power even after tens of thousands of people protested for months.
Islamic activists, scholars and intellectuals gathered in Tehran for the annual Islamic Awakening conference.
Foreign meddling in the uprisings in Arab countries will force Muslim socio-political organizations to come up with Islamic based designs of governance that are less vulnerable to one-sided Western manipulation.
With prospects of assuming power looking brighter in the aftermath of the Islamic Awakening sweeping the region, Islamic activists are engaged in a debate about the future political order in the Muslim East. There is near consensus that Islamic parties enjoy broad support, are well organized and will do well whenever elections are held.
One thing has become clear as a result of the movements for dignity and freedom sweeping the Muslim East (aka the Middle East): the old order has been permanently and irrevocably altered.
The uprisings in the Muslim East (Middle East) took virtually everyone by surprise including those in the forefront of these movements. They could hardly believe, especially in Tunisia and the sleepy backwaters of North Africa.
The Islamic awakening sweeping the Muslim East has affected many parts of the world. Malaysia may not be the most likely place to experience revolutionary change of Middle Eastern proportions, but it nonetheless has not remained unaffected.
Power is not given up voluntarily, at least not by those who have usurped it by force in the first place. The Muslim East (Middle East) is witnessing unprecedented uprisings by peoples that were hitherto considered too apathetic to move. There was a sense of resignation until, that is, the uprising in Tunisia sparked by the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, the street vendor who could not take the public insults of a female police officer any longer, changed everything.
