Hiiraan Online

by Abubakar Kasim
Wednesday, January 19, 2011

While people are quick to judge from the luxury of their homes around the world and the natives of the country are dancing on the streets of Paris, London, Montreal and elsewhere, the voice of the poor is usually forgotten during this time of darkness and confusion.

I have gone through a crisis within myself debating of whether this kind of uprising is worth the effort.  
 
To celebrate or to mourn, that is the question.
 
Is it better to have a brutal regime in power, keep everyone in check and maintain order or to bring the entire country into a lawless jungle where the survival is for the fittest, I wonder. 
 
I can certainly relate to what the citizens of this small nation are going through.
 
My angle to this uprising is from a different point of view. From a person whose voice is not heard, from someone who is not included in the picture – before, during or after the brutal dictator leaves the office.
 
Even though I feel to commend the people of Tunisia for standing up against the brutal regime, I am still hesitant to accept this form of uprising which turns the table upside down.
 
I feel that the overall outcome means a living hell to the poor and the destitute.
 
I have lived the uprising in my native land of Somalia and witnessed at first hand the damage, the death and destruction it could bring to the entire country.
 
If any sane Somali (not the warlords or the politicians who are in exile and are sitting comfortably in their living rooms in London, Paris or Washington) is asked about his feelings now of the uprising that took place in Somalia and the destruction and devastation it had brought to the country, he or she would likely show his or her dismay and frustration of the whole thing.
 
If the clock could be turned back, many people would rather have the former regime still in power and have peace in the land rather than having the thugs rule the streets.
 
They would rather live under the umbrella of the former dictatorship rather than living under the misery of the warlords whose aim is to grasp the wheels of power by any means necessary.  
 
When a country goes into a full uprising, the poor and the destitute suffers the most. The leader and his close buddies escape to freedom with the money they have already saved in the banks overseas.
 
The rich follows pursuit to enjoy his life, away from the misery and the indiscriminate killings. Only the poor and the destitute are left behind to pay the ultimate price.
 
Once the wealthy get settled overseas, they start creating fuss from a distance in trying to gain access to power as a lazy person sitting down on a coach with a remote control in one hand and a bag of chips in another. 
 
Instead of becoming part of the solution, they become part of the problem.
 
They pretend to speak on behalf of the voiceless while in reality all they care about is a share in the cake when it is served by those involved in the uprising.
 
If they did indeed care about the destitute and the poor, they would have joined them in the struggle and shared their suffering.
 
In such difficult conditions, women are brutally raped, the elderly is abandoned to die slowly from the agonizing death and the children are forgotten and left to suffer. Only the criminal dances on the street as the strong eats the poor.
 
Despite of being a brutal regime, many Somalis would prefer having that regime in power than having an uprising that had turned the country into a total chaos.
 
To many Somalis, it was certainly not worth the effort.
 
The benefit of the uprising is far less than the destruction it bringing afterwards.
 
Peace is priceless. There is nothing that can replace peace. When a revolution occurs, peace and stability evaporates and destruction and despair takes over.
 
The poor who were suffering under the dictatorship regime keep suffering more.
  
The only one who usually benefits the most of the upheaval are the politicians who are desperate to get into power.  They usually hide in other countries while the uprising takes place.  
 
They live comfortably in London or Paris and keep dictating from there of what is good and bad for the country.
 
They wait until the dust is settled, the dead is buried, and the streets are cleaned from the blood of the innocent. They wait for a signal to return to the country when the climate is suitable for them to rule.  
 
Even when they return to the country to occupy the throne, they leave their loved ones to live in the luxury of their adopted western countries.  As soon as they see the climate changing again, they are the first one to run away and leave everyone else behind.
 
Another group which benefits the most in an uprising is those who are involved in the business of manufacturing and selling weapons.
 
The poor is lost in between.
 
For me, I would rather have peace than anything else. I would choose any means of political dissent which would not involve the destruction of the country even if it would take a long time to achieve.  I would not be hasty to bring a total chaos to the country in the name of democracy.
 
I would rather leave a regime like Saddam Hussein in power rather destroying the country altogether and turn it into rubble.