We should give our moral and spiritual support to the people of Libya

Dear Editor,

As the Libyan regime crumbles, the news barrier it has constructed is ending. News is now spreading on the ongoing massacre of innocent civilians by the secret police, by the security forces, and by reported mercenaries recruited from outside the country to put down the unfolding revolution.

As we observe the unfolding events in Libya marked by mass protest and the wanton killings of thousands of Libyans by the dying regime of Muammar Gaddafi, it is important for us to draw lessons from history and from these events in order to give context. The first of these lessons is that Muammar Gadaffi is a dictator. In addition, since dictators are weak, they remain in power using violence to contain the views and passions of their people for a voice. History has given us countless examples in our part of the world, in South America and in the Caribbean.  The second lesson that we can draw from history is that there comes a time when the police state and the violence it unleashes are not enough to contain the passion of the people. Dictators have historically not been able to contain the passion of their people when the moment for revolution arises. As such, no police state in the Middle East and Africa can contain the current wave of revolutionary vigour now sweeping through that region of the world.

The third lesson that we can draw from history and from the unfolding events is that the mass of the population in any country decides when enough is enough. There comes a time when no amount of money is able to buy the loyalty of the people. News reports are now spreading that the Libyan regime has offered the people increases in their wages and salaries to the tune of between 50-150 per cent. This is too little too late. This has come after years of suffering and deprivation as the fat cats in the country fattened themselves, their families, their cohorts, and their bank accounts, while the people endured hardships. All dictators should draw the lesson from Libya.

The events in Libya remind us that at some point every people has sought and will seek to restore their personal and collective dignity.  The time is now for people of goodwill, people’s organizations of goodwill, including religious organizations and governments of goodwill to come out on the side of the people. The time is now for all of us either acting as individuals or as part of the collective, any collective, to condemn the Libyan regime for the wanton use of violence against its people. The people of Libya need our moral and spiritual support. Let us stand with them as they try to restore dignity to their country.

Yours faithfully,
Wazir Mohamed