Mohammad Morsi did not heed the army’s ultimatum of 48 hours to give in to people’s demands and was swept out of the presidential office by it. It was a coup but based on people’s aspirations. Morsi had more or less co-opted the old regime of Hosni Mubarak into his own. He passed a draconian law but had to lift it. He then rammed an Islamic Constitution down the throats of opposition leaders and their following. Women and the Christian minority were ruthlessly put down. The economy lay shattered. The Muslim Brotherhood to which Morsi belonged threatened to usher in Islamic authoritarianism. No wonder Morsi was President for only one year. If there was a revolution in Egypt it fizzled out. An interim government has taken over but the country’s future hangs in the balance.
But of course there has been a backlash. Fourteen people were killed in violent clashes on Friday as Morsi’s supporters protested against his dismissal by the military. The Brotherhood called it a “Friday of Rage”. Police fired on Morsi’s supporters but the military denied having a hand in it. Brotherhood leader Mohammad Badla has raised a slogan for continuation of the revolution which started in Cairo’s Tahrir Square a year ago. The US is not happy with the coup and is likely to stop its $ 1.5 million annual aid to Egypt. The Sinai peninsula on the Israel border has also turned violent. The Afro-Asian world is in turmoil. Syria is going through a civil war for two years. And now Egypt is in chaos. India’s good relations with Egypt since Abdul Nasser have also suddenly taken a rude jolt.