In Greek mythology the Sphinx is supposed to have asked travellers who wished to enter the Greek city of Thebes to solve a riddle before they were allowed to enter the city. The Sphinx killed travellers who failed to answer the riddle correctly.
The riddle facing the Egyptian Baha’is
The riddle facing the Baha’is in Egypt may not be as old as the ancient Greek legend, but failing to find the right answer has serious consequences for their lives.
For some years now they have been denied ID cards. The Egyptian government’s computerized system insists that applicants for ID cards state their religion. But it offers only three possibilities: Islam, Christianity, Judaism. These are referred to as the heavenly religions. So Egyptian citizens cannot officially be Buddhists or Hindus or Humanists. Or Baha’is.
But it is a legal requirement for Egyptian citizens to carry an official ID card. And the card is the access key to services such as education, medical treatment, immunisation, welfare. If you don’t have a card, your children cannot be immunised against polio and other lethal diseases. Nor can they go to school.
If the police stop you on the street and you have no ID card you can be detained until you produce one.
So, the government mandates ID cards and then makes a rule that prevents some of its citizens acquiring ID cards.
Raouf Hindi & his children
Raouf Hindi has been fighting for five years to get birth certificates for his twin children, Nancy and Imad.
In this revealing interview on Bahairights.org, the blog of the Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights, Raouf explains the impact of the discrimination he and his children have suffered over many years.
Amongst other things he says:
No doubt that my twins Imad and Nancy felt a great injustice had been dealt to them and they harboured deep feelings of grief over the events of the past few years. They constantly wondered why it was possible for them to be issued birth certificates in the Sultanate of Oman, but not in their own country, Egypt. They were deeply affected and carried a strong fear of what the future holds for them.
But the family had an effective role in alleviating the situation for them and they now possess a strong will power and determination to prove their right to obtain identification papers, and they appreciate all the efforts that have been made in support of their cause, whether coming from civil society organizations, the independent press, or moderate individuals who understand the nature of our predicament.
And he explains that religious intolerance is one of the causes of this denial of rights to Baha’is:
Egyptian society is currently experiencing a growing trend of religious extremism, which unfortunately does not exemplify the spirit of religious tolerance, nor does it exemplify the spirit of Egypt that was characterized by love and tolerance for all. But on the other hand, there is an emerging trend that carries love and tolerance in its message, and God willing this group will prevail. It is necessary that awareness of this emerging trend increases amongst society in the upcoming period, so that the plague of intolerance does not spread even more.
Judicial procrastination
Bilo’s excellent blog, Baha’i Faith in Egypt, keeps us up to date with developments in Egypt.
The Baha’is in Egypt, including Raouf Hindi, have taken their appeals to be allowed to put a dash in the space for religion on the ID card through the administrative court system.
After ruling on all the cases before the court today, and in the midst of confusion and lack of accountability, the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court’s Judge informed those present that he has not “seen” the Baha’i file needed to announce the verdict in that case!
The answer to this situation was quite simple: come back again on 16 February 2009, and by then, may be…just may be, the judge will have something to say. In the interim, the Baha’is of Egypt are left hanging and with very little hope for justice or civil rights….
This is the fifth postponement by Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court of a decision on an attempt by Islamist lawyers to reverse a court decision of 29 January 2008 that allowed Baha’is to obtain ID cards and birth certificates with dashes in the space for religious identity.
What’s the answer to the riddle?
There are two valid answers that will allow Egyptian Baha’is to live normal lives:
- Remove the requirement to state one’s religion. Problem solved! But, sadly, Egypt’s religious politics will not allow this answer.
- Allow applicants for the ID card to leave the religion space blank. That decision has already been made, but the Egyptian administrative courts and the Egyptian government are dragging their heels.
Any other answer leads to denial of civil rights and denial of access to life saving and life enhancing services.
Baha’is interviewed on TV after court failed to decide
Dr Raouf Hindi, who is trying to obtain birth certificates for his children, and Dr Basma Moussa, an Egyptian Baha’i who has been closely involved in the fight by the Baha’is to obtain ID cards, gave brief TV interviews yesterday outside the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court.
To view the English subtitles, click upward-facing arrow on the bottom right of the video frame and select Captions/Subtitles.
Hat tip: bahairights.org
Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Egypt, ID cards, Islamism, tolerance
Related posts:
{ 2 comments }
this is a great post Barney. I feel like I’m reading the Baha’i columnist for Economist
.
I must say the situation is very interesting. Primarily because it is a good indication as to where ‘liberal’ Islamic countries are going.
The Kefaya movement or the ‘Egyptian Movement for Change’ has been a good political indicator, and the Baha’is a good religious one.
Kefaya, a major pro-democracy and reformist movement, made up of a diverse group of Nasserists, Islamists, Liberals, Leftists has, understandably for most diverse political movements, internal problems as well as external.
In Middle East Report, 2 February 2005, Mohammed El-Sayed Said described Kefaya’s problem thus: “Ordinary Egyptians want democracy but will not fight for it.”
If this is the case for a political movement, I can imagine that Baha’is are in a bigger conundrum seeing as they have little support comparable inside the country.
The major difference however is that Baha’is are campaigning for their basic human rights, and are not opposing the leadership in anyway. Quite the contrary.
Question is, how does Egypt want to be perceived by the outside world? It can’t have it’s cake and eat it too. Either it behaves like a democracy, and chooses one of the two answers to the riddle you formulated, Barney…
or I fear it is going to move towards Sharia law, or some strange mix of Sharia-Democracy……
Either way, I think the more Baha’is, and their friends draw attention to this problem, the quicker it will be resolved…
again, great thought provoking post!
Many thanks for your comments, Ronnie.
There are vocal characters in Egypt who proclaim that the Baha’is should be killed for being Baha’is. It is difficult for us in the West to understand just how strong a motivating factor religious ideology is in Egypt and some of the other Islamic countries. We might see things in terms of the international norms of human rights, but the more conservative characters in Egypt don’t see human rights as relevant at all. Only those who follow one of the “heavenly religions” can be accorded respect and the rights of citizens. Egypt straddles two worlds – one is that of the modern, secular, state that is committed to the human rights norms; the other is a state that is driven by a religious ideology that seems to us barbarous. A modern state should really not make its citizens’ religious affiliations constitutive of their civil identity, but the state driven by religious ideology feels compelled to do so.
The more Baha’is and their friends can keep both the riddle faced by the Baha’is and the paradox that is Egypt in front of people the better.
Comments on this entry are closed.