For eighteen days she seized the world's attention in a manner not even the most expensive tourism advertisement campaign ever could.
Egypt.
Eighteen days.
The same number of days that Mohamed Bouazizi, the original catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution had struggled between the boundaries between life and death before succumbing from his burn injuries.
In the eighteen days since January 25 her people has proudly shown they are more than just mere descendants of ancient Egyptians represented by hieroglyphic reliefs carved into the walls of pyramids.
During these eighteen days, many people have died largely as a result of the actions of the state's internal security forces as well as those of pro-state groups but what the Egyptians have impressed us most is that the people's revolution across all Egypt had remained non-violent. A fact made more remarkable given that the people have been repressed systematically under Emergency Rule for over 30 years, an unfortunate fate shared by past British Colonies such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Mothers, Fathers, Sons and Daughters, the working class, the rich, Muslims, Non-Muslims, ordinary women and men, all citizens of Egypt who went out on the streets and squares seized the spark of passion and imagination inspired by the events of the Tunisian revolution and turned them into reality. The Egyptian People's movement through their struggle have demonstrated and reaffirm to the whole world the indelible link between Democracy and Human Rights, that they are not just romantic figments of incurable idealists.
Think Centre today salutes the People of Egypt, whose struggle for Democracy based on Human Rights values and non-violence have inspired us. We stand together in solidarity with them in their movement towards a more just, fair, equitable and truly democratic system of governance that will go beyond paying lip service to the promotion and protection of human rights.
We pay special tribute to both the Women and Youths of the Revolution. They have impressed the world with their ingenuity, patience, discipline and above all, have shown us that the struggle for human rights and reclamation for human dignity are beyond party politics and ideology.
We urge the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to stay true to it's stated commitment towards civilian rule and adopt measures for an orderly transition towards parliamentary democracy. A key step will be to heed the people's desires that demands the dissolution of the cabinet Mubarak appointed on January 29, the lifting of a 30-year-old state of emergency which includes scrapping all Military and Emergency Rule based courts, the formation of a transitional government to prepare for genuine free and fair Presidential and Parliamentary elections as well as a new democratic constitution, and just as importantly guaranteeing press freedom and the freedom to organise.
The World is watching.
The History of the Modern World is awaiting a fresh chapter.
