February was a month of unrest and bloodshed. Protests were held in many countries and many people died for their dream of having a better government.
What I admire most about these protestors is their guts. They have the guts to go out into the streets where they know they will be gunned down, bombed or arrested. That certainly takes a lot of courage and determination!
I believe that in some of the countries experiencing unrest, a couple of them were long overdue. Two examples are Iran and Libya.
In Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Islamic regime was quick in putting a stop to the protest.
In Libya, dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi vowed to fight till the end. In a rant broadcasted throughout the whole world, he appeared unsound as he insisted he will never leave Libya but will die in the country as a martyr.
These two ruthless men will resort to anything to be in power. Iran has long had a zero-tolerance policy towards uprising of any kind. Anyone who resorts to protesting will be immediately arrested and punished. The situation in Libya was much worse as the world heard with disbelief that Gaddafi had ordered the protestors bombed. Not only that, he has brought in foreign mercenaries to help stop the protests. But the protestors are determined. If Gaddafi wants a bloodbath, that is what they will give to him.
In all of these unrest countries, every protestor who took to the streets were fighting for a cause they strongly believed in. However, many people following the events are also cautious. Caution because they are afraid that once the governments in these countries topple, they would be replaced with Islamic regimes.
Iran is a clear example. In the Iranian Revolution in 1979, a corrupted government was overthrown and replaced with a dictator-controlled Islamic regime. It wouldn’t be surprising that since then, after more than 20 years has passed, many of the people who supported the revolution would have wished they hadn’t. Now, try as hard as they might, it seems as if they are hopelessly pushing against an immoveable wall. Opposition political parties are banned; anyone who dares to speak out against the government will find himself in hot water. The freedom they worked so hard to achieve is no longer a freedom.
There is no perfect government on this earth. Every of them have their flaws. The only difference is how bad each of them are. The uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia were successful. Hopefully, they would be replaced with better, democratic governments.
Right now, all we can do is wait, see and pray. Everyone is hoping that the best to come out of these uprisings. Only time will tell whether or not that comes to pass.
Evangeline is a 16-year old homeschooler from Malaysia. She likes reading, writing, editing Wikipedia, listening to music and surfing the net. She is always on the lookout for new posts for her blog: http://sugarpeach.wordpress.com/