The volunteer ‘People’s committees’ that were formed during the January 2011 Revolution as neighbourhood squads to defend localities and help bring in the basic commodities, and which
The volunteer ‘People’s committees’ that were formed during the January 2011 Revolution as neighbourhood squads to defend localities and help bring in the basic commodities, and which continued to operate till now in view of the ongoing shortage in services, have become a major source of complaint for the Copts in Assiut.
Outside the city proper, in the villages and underprivileged areas in the vicinity of Assiut some 450km south of Cairo, these committees which are now run by the Islamist Salafi or Muslim Brotherhood movements, are still pivotal in the distribution of such basic staples as subsidised bread and butagas. Given that these staples undergo frequent, severe shortages; and that the Islamist peoples committees are well-connected to the Islamist authorities that now hold sway over Egypt, they hold in their hands the ‘lifeblood’ of the population. Islamic NGOs that work in the social field have also gained the same privileges and hold the same sway.
The Copts in the villages of Assiut, Dairout, Abu-Teeg, and Awlad Elias are now faced with the principle of “Muslims first” when they stand in line to buy bread, butagas, or other staples. In some cases they are made to pay a higher price than the official subsidised one, even though Muslims pay no more than the official price.
The supervisory authorities have done nothing so far to tackle such incidents.
WATANI International
6 October 2012
