This single incident would spark the so called "Jasmine Revolution" that swept through the arab countries.In tunisia President Ben Ali had been in power since a bloodless coup in 1987.Initially,he had some what liberalised the economy and granted certain civil liberties,but these soon proved to be a false dawn.Within two years,civil liberties and the right to protest were curbed and a state of emergency was imposed.Corruption was rampant and social welfare systems became redundant.Unemployment rates were high and jobs were scarce.In a predominantly youth population,this led to a desperate situation.
Nevertheless with the help of the army and the local police force all protests were quelled.The government was able to keep the media on a tight leash, with only state approved content appearing on television and the newspapers.The internet although it did have a fair bit of censoring was still the most reliable form of media for opinions and news.Tunisia had the highest number of internet users in Africa.Although it had one of the strongest censorship laws in the continent,Facebook and Twitter were not censored until December, 2010.
So,when the Bouazizi incident occurred, a peaceful protest was held outside the local municipal commission.The local police fired on this protest march with real bullets instead of rubber ones.A grainy video of this protest was caught on camera and published by the news channel AL-JAZEERA and later was put up on YouTube.
While the state controlled media was predictably slow and reluctant to air these incidents,the burgeoning 3.6 million internet users,nearly one third of the total Tunisians were quickly updated on the issue.
The public was incensed over the handling of the immolation and the subsequent protest.Soon the protests spread to other parts of the country.A lethal combination of high poverty,unemployment and political repression and lack of freedom fanned and spread the anger.The authorities instead of resolving the issues,tried to sabotage and crush it.
They tried to prevent the flow of information of the events by introducing sterner censor laws ,disrupting electricity supply and imposing curfews.By the college and university students began to take part in the protest, mainly against the nearly 30% unemployment rate in Tunisia.
But the segment of people who mobilised support were the trade unionists,Tunisian General Labour Union.The prolonged period of protests,led to the government taking tougher measures and resorting to killing.This further fueled protests and the first successful general strike was held on January 6.Finally massive protests on the broad avenues of the capital Tunis forced the President to come on national television on January 13 with a few concessions such as initiating democratic reforms and no re-election once the current term ended.But no one believed the Presidents bluff and protests continued,inspite of warnings of armed reaction and imposition of a state of emergency.
On January 14 Ben Ali left the country on a covert flight to Saudi Arabia,thus ending his 23 year old iron grip over the country.The then Prime Minister,Mohammed Ghannouchi announced that he would form a caretaker government along with the rest of the opposition.The cabinet contained RCD(Ben Ali party) members and only 5 non RCD ministers.The opposition ministers resigned immediately and further protests continued until members of the RCD were replaced and Ghannouchi himself resigned.On April 14 , a high court ordered the dissolution of the RCD party and liquidation of assets and disbanding of members.
As Internet use became a worldwide phenomenon in the 1990s,much attention was given to the disparities in access among users.“the gap between individuals,
households, businesses and geographic areas at different
socio-economic levels with regard to both their opportunities to
access information and communication technologies (ICTs) and
to their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activities.”
Collectively, these disparities were labeled the “digital divide.”
Originally, the term was used to call attention to the differences
in availability of computers, and then to access to the Internet.
It has since expanded to refer to the more conceptual issues ofTwo Cautions
First, we should refrain from drawing too much from any one of
the very small number of cases that have played out at a national
level to date. The cases do provide some insight into how activism
occurs, but to suggest that they collectively reveal anything
more than a partial range of possibilities would be drawing stronger
conclusions than I believe are warranted. The history of social
movements is complex and diverse, and the use of digital tools
connected by an ever-more-extensive digital network is only the
latest innovation in an ever-expanding repertoire of action.
Second, we must recognize the complex prerequisites involved
in embracing the practices and tools that underpin movementlike
digital modes of production—of which Wikipedia continues
to be the exemplar.
technological expertise, socioeconomic status, and cultural influences.
The seeds were planted decades ago, but what ignited a national revolt in Tunisia was Mohamed Bouazizi, 26, a street vendor who set himself on fire when police tried to prevent him from selling vegetables without a permit. His scales were confiscated in the southern Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid. Mohamed was the only one making money for his family. He died January 4th. From that tragic event, a huge movement of protests erupted in the country against the corrupted regime of President Ben Ali. The protests have been heavily repressed by Ben Ali’s security forces. Ultimately, Sauhi Wadji, 28, an unemployed demonstrator was killed in Thala.
ReplyDeleteOn 1/14, Ben Ali dissolved the government and escaped to Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister, Mohammed Ghannouchi, immediately formed an interim government. Demonstrators unhappy with no participation in the interim government, continue their mass protests.