False heroics versus raw courage

Photo: AFP

Mobile images have given rise to an allegation that Muammar Gaddafi was subjected to violent sexual assault minutes before his execution. The National Transitional Council (NTC) is probing it alongside the matter of assassination. What a vulgar specimen of collateral damage to an invaded Libya the world is being treated to!
Now what are the guardian angels of world leaders feeling at the heart of their hearts about Gaddafi's vandalised exit, are they asking the question to themselves? Perhaps in their private moments, they admit to the falsity of their achievement -- the engineering of Gaddafi's departure. But not, I guess, in public. Can they drop their pretence to an invincible entitlement to self-righteousness in shaping the world their way?
What about us, the world citizens? Setting the sail to the wind direction and swimming with the currents have become fashionable in this fake world you and I are living. But people do still stand up and proclaim the truth. You should be proud to be one of them. Think of the "Occupy the Wall Street" protests gathering momentum. Or, the extreme case of self-immolation by Mohamed Bouazizi triggering Jasmine revolution in Tunisia, which then led to Arab Spring. To Gaddafi's misfortune he got caught up in the time-trap of counter-revolution he didn't have an answer for.
Granted, Gaddafi had vices, including his personal rule by a strict regimen. His system stifled a dissenting voice. He also acquired a notoriety for giving refuge to assassins and aiding potential insurgencies.
But that doesn't take away a certain benevolent nature of his rule unfolding after his tragic end. Widest circulation Bangla daily, Prothom Alo, itemised the facilities Libyans enjoyed during the Gaddafi rule, the news item sourced at www.Qatarliving.com:
-Everyone got electricity free of cost;
-All Libyan banks were nationalised and these provided interest-free loans to citizens;
-Gaddafi believed every citizen has a right to owning a house. He declared until such time every citizen got roofs under his head no house would be allotted to his parents. His father died in a tent. Gaddafi himself, together with his wife and mother used to live in tents;
-Every new couple received US$50,000 worth of financial support to start their new life by having a house of their own;
-Health and education were provided free of cost. When Gaddafi took power the rate of literacy was 25 percent but now it stands at 83 percent;
-If anybody went into farming he would be provided with land and necessary inputs including seeds free of cost;
-For any reason, if a citizen needed to go abroad on educational or medical treatment purposes the government would bear all expenses;
-A part of oil sale proceeds would directly be credited to bank account number of citizens;
-Any woman giving birth to a child would receive US$ 5,000; and
Adding is a vast water reservoir he put to use for agricultural irrigation and supplying piped potable water to households.
Can the NTC come up with a version to counter the qatarliving.com disclosures if it has a credible one?
What better deal could any other government give to its people? Given Libiya's population of 65 lakh only, the benefits Gaddafi offered to his people sound plausible.
Maybe his own tribe enjoyed an edge over others in terms of power and privilege. Yet common sense dictates why would anyone have any serious grudge against Gaddafi when there was enough for everyone's needs. Oil riches aside, in terms of gold per capita Libya ranked 9th in the world.
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also gave away liberal grants to their citizens following commotion in these countries as ripples of Arab spring lapped up their borders. The Saudis crushed the Manama uprising in Bahrain by rolling US tanks into the country. The US didn't raise a finger there. But in Libya like in Iraq and Afghanistan double standards came into play. This is not to forget UK and France did business with Gaddafi's sons after he apparently made up for the Lockerbie air disaster. Even the Lockerbie convict Magrahi afflicted by cancer was released from imprisonment in UK and sent off to Libya on compassionate grounds. He still lives.
How that air of normalcy blowing into Libya-West relationship became so short-lived is a mystery. Serious journalists will someday, hopefully, come out with authentic explanations for the turn of events.
Now, as the Libyan sovereign funds accumulated since Gaddafi overseas are unfrozen, US, France and Britain must be looking for oil contracts and those relating to reconstruction of Libya. It is the same old tale of Afghanistan and Iraq minus the commitment of ground troops. But who knows when the "burden" would fall on foreign shoulders if Libya fails to chart out its own path? A tribally factious country like Libya can only be held together through democratic pluralism.
Whichever manner we look at Gaddafi's end, he lived and died fighting for his convictions. This was tested particularly for the eight months that he withstood the air power and ground supports from the world's mighty to the ragtag of an army of rebels with differing tribal origins. They were propped all the way up to their present 'legitimate' state.
The self-evident truth is that without Nato support, the TNC wouldn't stand a chance. This is where the weaknesses of the aided change in the political landscape of a country are lodged. Can Gaddafi be blamed for hiring mercenaries to fight the induced rebellion against him? Did it not come as a desperate bid to hold his ground against the onslaught of an extraneous intervention?
The blame for civil war and bloodbath Libya went through largely lands at the doorstep of the interventionists. What failed through the cracks of a non-consensual multilateral negotiating mechanism cannot be put on the same scale as Gaddafi's self-pride-driven run of futile last stands. The big powers should think big and act big, they have a greater responsibility for conscientious and constructive use of their power than the rest of world's pecking order.
The way Gaddafi has been dispatched could make one wonder if a dead Gaddafi would eventually prove to be more powerful than an alive one.

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.
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