Relevant Lessons from Strategic Nonviolent People’s Uprising - II

Lesson #2: Breaking Through the Fear Barrier- A Very Personal Process

Repressive states and government “govern” by inculcating various form of institutionalized fear in the minds of the population. In general terms, the more illegitimate the regime is the more draconian the repression and the more pervasive the fear within the population. This is part of the story. The embryo of the counter current (resistance) to the repression is also born within this environment.  Repression cannot exist without some form of resistance- be it in an asymmetrical dimension.

Even under the most horrific and brutal totalitarians like that of Hitler, Stalin or Mao there were sporadic dissent and defiance by the voices of freedom. Under the darkest blanket of fear there were individuals who refused to submit to the twisted ideology of the state and managed not to internalize the brutality of the ruling regimes. It is the tenacity and determination of the individual that finally makes the collective defiance possible.

The idea of freedom is an essential and integral make up the human DNA. There has never been such a thing called total darkness or tyranny that can destroy the very idea of freedom. Collective fear is like an eclipse that temporarily blocks the sunlight. Managing and surviving this temporary blocked of the sunlight is part and parcel of the survival mechanism of individual beings.  Surviving under tyranny includes temporarily accommodating fear and struggling to overcome it and master it through trial and error. This defensive move is qualitatively different from fully believing in the power of fear and totally submitting to it willingly.

The desire for freedom is absolute, indestructible and enduring.  Totalitarians, authoritarians and dictators have been waging a protracted war within and outside the confines of their own culture to destroy the very idea of freedom in general and individual freedom in particular.

Those who do not appreciate the majesty, the potential power and uniqueness of the individual rain drop cannot comprehend the kinetic force unleashed by the flood of the century. In the same sense without clearly understanding the particular ways each individual reclaims his or her voice there cannot be clarity on how collective defiance- Strategic Nonviolent People’s Uprising –emerges. The great majority of the people have to have a direct experience (intrusion) by the various organs and instruments of repression of the state or regime before they can conceptualize and universalize their experience. Elegant and passionate soliloquies about freedom and liberty, by political parties and honorable activists, cannot match the power of direct experience.

Central to the process of change is the decision by individual citizens to refuse to recognize, endorse, cooperate and legitimize a dictatorial regime’s policies and actions. In this process the action of silence has to be considered as a subtle way of distancing oneself from the regime. Those who are obsessed with overt defiance fail to see the role and value of silence (moving away from overtly indorsing or speaking in favor of the regime) as an integral part of the struggle to purge the influence and control of the ruling elite.

While the crescendo of the comprehensive uprising is vivid, captivating and energizing the nuts and bolts of the change process is found in many scattered previous attempts by individuals and segments of the society to address their particular concerns. The setbacks and “defeats”, while frustrating to the revolutionaries and the quick fix activists, to those who abide by the fundamental principles of the Nonviolent Path, they are the laboratories of future victories. It is in the periodic tactical “defeats” that the people discover their voice and build the foundations for the strategic showdown. There is no quick path to this process.

Uneven development, being what it is, some segment of the population might clearly recognize the cruelty of the regime and challenge it in its own ways ahead of the rest of the society.  Other segments might be under the illusion of false comfort and unable to grasp the reality, could even oppose the very idea of challenging the ruling regime. This too is part of the maturing process.

The rain fall must precede the flood.  Each and every rainfall does not necessarily mature into a flood. But each drop nurtures the soil as each periodic challenge to a regime enriches the possibility of long term change and upgrades the skill set of the people and the activists.  Fear, in the final analysis, is an individually internalized learned behavior and to unlearn it we need the exemplary few who will show us the way.  

One of the most extraordinary examples of this kind of skill was bequeathed to the world by Mothers of The Plaza de Mayo of Argentina.

The military government that overthrew the Maria Peron imposed total repression on the people of Argentina. The country was gripped with pervasive fear. Thousands disappeared into secret jails and dungeons never to be seen or heard from. The regimes brutality was one of the worst in the history of Latin America. Yet this did not go unchallenged.

In search of an answer to what happened to their disappeared children, 14 brave mothers launched “minor” picket lines in Buenos Aires demanding to know the whereabouts of their children- a simple act of courage. They were joined by more mothers. What the insurrectionist Tupamaros could not accomplish with their destructive urban guerrilla warfare few courageous, unarmed, mothers were able to pierce the fear frontier and expose the illegitimacy of the regime in the face of its own people and the world at large.

Those of us opting for a Strategic Nonviolent Peoples Uprising can take comfort from the fact that people of Eritrea have not been, contrary to the pessimist’s narrative, emulating Rip Van Winkle. In the eyes of the revolutionaries, unless the Tahrir Spirit is unfolding right now, the people are hopeless and defeated. Before January 25, 2011 the people of Egypt have been incrementally challenging the Mubarak regime in wide range of ways. Every act of repression by his security apparatus only added to the resentment of the tyrant and cumulatively expanded the base of the opposition.

The 18 day Nonviolent Revolution has been brewing for a long time- for 30 years if not more. On January 25 the objective and subjective conditions were basically in sync.  All voices converged and what seemed impossible at one time became a living reality. Decades of struggle finally coalesced into a national revolution.

In the context of Eritrea the process is unfolding with its own particular rhythm. How we decipher this rhythm is a matter of ideological and political orientation. It is matter of strategic perspective.
 Parts of the society have been raising their voice periodically:

• The 1993 direct action by the liberation fighters was a strong beginning for demanding the right to be consulted and asked before any decision was made on their behalf.  
• The Mai-Habar veteran’s voice was a legitimate demand- it made lots of people take notice of the brutality of the government. It created awareness.  
• The Berlin Manifesto was a timely call for peacefully managing and sorting out differences – it launched the beginning of the possibility of intellectuals speaking up on national issues.       The G-15 demand that the time has come to turnover power to the people was in line with the fundamental interest of the people of Eritrea: We learned that the ruling party was not as united we use to think
• The Asmara University student’s activism was a further development of the demand for rights – we saw a glimpse of the fact that student activism was still alive.
• Demand by a member of the Eritrean Court for the ruling party and the government to stop interfering in the judiciary process – a call for the separation of power was made.
• The brief flourishing of the Independent Press was a continuation of the expansion of the voice of the people. The Asmara Spring gave the people a sample of what an independent news media looks like.
• The demand for respecting their land right was made by various communities and localities inside Eritrea.
• The defection of many ambassadors and former fighters from the regimes control was a clear evidence of  “vote of no confidence” on  the regime.
• The massive exodus of the youth is an overwhelming evidence of the failure of the regime effort to permanently enslave the youth.
• The growing protest by various religious communities inside and outside of the country to keep the government’s hand out of religious institution- the demand for religious freedom was being vocally expressed etc.

Add to this:

• The emergence of various civic societies outside of Eritrea,
• Independent websites – the increase in number and diversity,
• The growth and maturity of radio programs in Diaspora is the affirmation of the people slowly finding their voices and breaking through the fear barrier to some extent.
• Frequent demonstration and lobbying efforts –on behalf of the people at home is indicative of the globalization of the struggle to expose.
• Various symposiums and conferences on wide range of issues have taken place – the Eritrean mind has been liberated to some extent from the suffocating vertical control of the regime.
• Compare to pre-1998 period more Eritreans have slowly discovered their voices. The fear barrier has been partially broken in many fronts.
• The number of political and civil activists has increased tremendously.

The above listed periodic challenges to the one party dictatorship, when taken collectively in an integrated holistic manner do not convey the image of a docile or beaten down people. On the contrary they resoundingly affirm the central message of the first lesson we learned from the strategic Nonviolent People’s Uprising: The dissipation of the regimes legitimacy does not happen in the vacuum.  The asymmetrical relationship between the regime and the people is dynamic. This intricate relationship is slowly but surely shifting in favor the people.

In my next posting I will address the question of how we can move from discontent to focused open protest by using the Technology of Nonviolent Peaceful Struggle in a Flat World.

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