எகிப்தில் காப்டிக் கிறிஸ்துவர்களை ஒடுக்கும் இஸ்லாமிய அரசாங்கம்

எகிபதில் அதிகரித்துவரும் கிறிஸ்துவர்களுக்கு எதிரான வன்முறை கவலை தரும் விதமாக எகிப்து முழுவதும் பரவலாம் என்று கருத்து தெரிவிக்கிறது இந்த கட்டுரை.

14 நூற்றாண்டுகளாக வாழ்ந்துவரும் காப்டிக் கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் தங்களது சர்ச்சுகளை புனருத்தாரணம் செய்தாலோ அல்லது இடம் மாற்றி வேறு இடத்தில் கட்டினாலோ அந்த பகுதி முழுவதும் கலவரம் உருவாகிறது. அரசாங்கமும் இப்படிப்பட்ட புனருத்தாரணங்களுக்கு அனுமதி வழங்குவதில்லை. மிகுந்த இடர்ப்பாடுகளுக்கு பிறகு அனுமதி வாங்கினாலும், அந்த பகுதியில் கலவரம் ஆரம்பித்து கிறிஸ்துவர்களின் வீடுகளும் கடைகளும் கொளுத்தப்படுகின்றன.

இருவரது மதவெறியும் ஒன்றுக்கொன்று குறைந்ததில்லை என்று காணும்போது அமைதிக்கான வாய்ப்பு குறைவாகவே தோன்றுகிறது.

EGYPT: Clashes Could Bring Sectarian Conflict
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani

CAIRO, Jun 21 (IPS) - After a year of relative tranquility, recent clashes between Muslims and Christians have again raised the spectre of sectarian discord in Egypt.

The clashes were ultimately resolved by state-sponsored reconciliation councils, but the incidents have highlighted longstanding tensions between the country's Muslim majority and its Christian minority.

"The biggest danger in Egypt right now is that of festering sectarian conflict," Ragaa Attiya, member of al-Azhar University's Islamic Research Centre told IPS.

Interfaith relations have traditionally been peaceful in this country of 75 million, of which Christians are estimated to represent roughly 10 percent, most of them from the Egyptian Orthodox, or Coptic, Church. The rest of Egypt's population is almost entirely Sunni Muslim.

But despite a long history of peaceful coexistence, recent months have seen several cases of sectarian violence.

On Jun. 8, clashes broke out between Muslim and Christian youths who fought each other with clubs and kerosene bombs in the Qabbari district of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city on the Mediterranean coast, a little more than 100km north of Cairo. Although no serious injuries were reported, one Christian-owned shop was destroyed during the melee.

Hostilities flared up again Jun. 12, when Muslim residents clashed with their Coptic counterparts outside a church in the coastal city's Dakhila district. Security forces quickly intervened, arresting ten persons from both sides on charges of "inciting sectarian discord."

Some observers were quick to assert that religious motivations stood behind the violent episodes. But according to subsequent accounts in the state and opposition press, both incidents had been triggered by personal disputes.

"It was nothing more than a quarrel between thugs," Nader Marcos, member of the state-run Confessional Council, which is responsible for Coptic affairs, was quoted as saying in independent daily al-Dustour after the first incident. "It had nothing to do with religion."

The Alexandria disturbances were not, however, the only recent examples of interfaith hostility.

In mid-May, violence also erupted in the small village of Bemha, some 70 km south of Cairo, after Muslim residents tried to prevent local Christians from building a church. That incident left 10 people injured and dozens of Christian-owned homes and shops destroyed.

Security forces eventually intervened, arresting scores of Muslim residents. Despite heavy security presence in the town, disturbances continued for several days, with reports of reciprocal attacks against both Christian and Muslim properties.

As in most such cases, the state-controlled Islamic authorities hastened to condemn the incident.

"These acts were not perpetrated by rational people," Mohamed Sayyid Tantawi, Sheikh of al-Azhar University, Egypt's premier Islamic authority, was quoted as saying in the May 14 edition of independent daily al-Masri al-Youm. "Islam respects the practitioners of other faiths and their right to worship."

But it was not the first time that the issue of church building -- a historical sectarian flashpoint -- has led to fatal consequences.

"What happened in Bemha happens whenever Christians try to build or renovate churches," Youssef Sidhoum, editor-in-chief of Coptic weekly al-Watani told IPS.

In 2005, police arrested 80 people in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Minya after sectarian clashes left one person dead. At that time, too, violence erupted when Muslim residents confronted a number of local Copts attempting to build a church without government permission.

Early last year, sectarian violence also broke out in the village of Udaysat, some 500 km south of Cairo. Here again, hostilities flared after a number of Copts tried building a church without a permit. That incident left one person dead and fourteen injured, including several policemen.

Many Copts are quick to point out the many legal and bureaucratic obstacles faced by Christian communities when trying to build or renovate churches. At the same time, they say, attempts to build mosques face little if any official obstruction.

"The only example of official discrimination against Christians in Egypt is the law that currently governs the construction of religious edifices," said Sidhoum.

In an effort to mollify Christian sentiment, a 2005 presidential decree gave provincial governors authority to grant permission for renovating or enlarging local churches. Previously, Christian communities had to obtain permission directly from the President.

Critics of the situation, however, say the presidential ruling has translated into few real improvements on the ground.

"The decree was a nice gesture, but local governors have not respected it, and continue to prevent its implementation," said Sidhoum. He added, however, that pressure was building in parliament to discuss a new draft law that would apply the same restrictions to all religious construction projects, be they mosques or churches.

Other observers, meanwhile, say that the church building issue has been blown out of proportion.

"There is a degree of exaggeration in these requests for more churches," said Attiya, adding that the current number of churches in Egypt "is generally in proportion to the country's Christian population." He conceded, however, that some Christian communities did have "a legitimate need" for more, or bigger, places of worship.

The incident in Bemha moved Pope Shenouda III, leader of the Coptic Church, to express his disapproval of the government's treatment of the issue. In a strongly worded letter to President Hosni Mubarak late last month, the pope blasted the inability of state security apparatuses to pre-empt the outbreak of sectarian conflicts.

"Security agencies have a responsibility to try to stop crimes before they happen," said Shenouda, who is not generally known for taking confrontational positions vis-a-vis the government. "They knew about the simmering tensions in Bemha for months, yet did nothing to prevent it."

Sidhoum agreed that heavy-handed government responses to sectarian flare-ups can end up perpetuating the problem.

"The security apparatuses tend to ignore signs of sectarian friction until the situation erupts into open violence," he said. "Then they arbitrarily arrest people from both sides and send them to trial without evidence, meaning that the real culprits are never punished."

On this point, Attiya also agreed. "A chief reason for this longstanding problem is that the government always treats sectarian tension as a security issue," he said. "Rather, it should exert efforts to find the problem's root causes."

Church-building aside, many Copts also complain of other forms of official anti-Christian discrimination. They point in particular to the under-representation of Coptic Christians in certain government and academic institutions.

"Very few Copts are appointed to key positions in the government or are candidates for parliament," noted a report issued last month by the UN-affiliated International Labour Organisation (ILO). "Enrolment of Copts in police academies and military schools is restricted and very few are teachers or professors."

Minister for Manpower and Immigration Aisha Abdel-Hady responded to the ILO's claims by saying that the Egyptian constitution guaranteed the rights of all citizens and "does not discriminate between Muslims and Christians." Quoted in the state press, she went on to point out that Coptic Christians "possess roughly one-third of Egypt's national wealth, in addition to owning several of the country's biggest companies."

In the meantime, state-sponsored reconciliation councils, attended by religious leaders from both sides, have been convened in both Bemha and Alexandria, bringing a modicum of resolution to the crises.

But some observers question the effectiveness of such committees, saying they seldom resulted in genuine reconciliation on the ground.

"These reconciliation councils are little more than stage-plays, in which the state takes on the role of the wise father trying to make peace between quarrelling children," said Sidhoum. "There's still plenty of anger." (END/2007)