Sons of Anarchy.

"From the coast of Tunisia, to the land of the Nile,

All the way to Syria, I will follow you wherever you may be..."

Apologies are in order to the singer,Enrique Iglesias, whose song lyrics I have liberally altered for this piece. 

Well, it really isn't "rhythm divine" for the places mentioned above and the "I" basically refers to the most dangerous and recklessly used weapon in these regions at the moment-violence.

The Arab Spring commenced in Tunisia which encouraged other similarly persecuted neighbouring countries to take a stand against the continued tyranny of their respective rulers. It spread like wild fire! Suddenly every second person from both hemispheres had their eyes trained on this region- some lauding the courage and the stance taken by the civilians against their oppressors;others expressing fear and reservations on the bold move taken by the discontented people. 

What transpired was an awakening, a new dawn of sorts in these regions. Whether it took a turn for the better or worse, only time would tell. But for that particular moment, the people rejoiced at having overthrown their "enemy of the state" and establishing peace (even if for a few fleeting months!). 

The "peace" it seems, was short lived. Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, has erupted again, not with victorious celebrations but those of senseless shootings/killings by the armed forces on pro-govt or pro-Morsi supporters. Syria has slipped into a civil war, an abyss that sees no end in sight, coupled with a staggering humanitarian crisis. Tunisia, the "birth place" of the movements across the Arab world, has just gotten itself mired into incidents(assassination of a prominent political leader) that could snowball into crises. Lebanon, meanwhile, lay dormant but has woken up to fresh polemic issues that could de-stabilise the political establishment and foster an increase in terrorist activities. Libya too has come again  into the picture following a massive jail break in the city of Benghazi. 

So what exactly does this mean? Is the Arab Spring gaining momentum again? Sadly, there is no single answer for the above question but a myriad of complex issues that require urgent attention. A majority of the previously mentioned countries are locked in proxy wars in their own lands. There is a lot of "tectonic" shift of political parties and ideologies taking place within these countries that has lead to numerous uprisings. The super powers of the Middle East viz. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar are keeping a close eye on the delicate situation but are still maintaining an arms length distance. The reason? Most of these "big" players have supported certain "militaristic" outfits in the Arab countries either monetarily or by way of supplying arms,etc. With the situation worsening in most of these states, one really doesn't know which way it would go. One can only watch with bated breath.

In the meantime, you have Israel and Palestine coming together after 3 years with respect to releasing prisoners (could it be an indication of a peace treaty in the offing?) , again, one really can't comment much on this gesture. It's kind of on the same lines as the more familiar "Aman ki Asha"  peace programme between India and Pakistan- always being chugged about, put on hold due to ceasefire violations but lying still in the background. And what about Iraq? Recent news reports suggest that a car bomb ripped through the highly volatile northern part of the country at a place called Kirkuk. Car bombs, sadly, have become the order of the day in certain countries. Senseless loss of lives, widespread strife are what people witness everyday in these countries. It's very easy for the media to get muddled up with a particular turmoil in a specific country and put it on a broadcast pedestal of Breaking News but these little sparks happening elsewhere can most definitely ignite a catastrophic and widespread fire! I believe what we are watching now, slowly unfold, is complete anarchy across these Arab countries that can greatly destabilize the civil,administrative and judicial balance there. The repercussions would definitely be far-reaching and dangerous. As for the revival of the Arab Spring, I believe the people in the Arab world are going to be in for a long and arduous summer....