New Delhi: India’s emphasis on robust links with the Islamic world can’t have a more vociferous supporter — the North African nation of Tunisia, the original home of the ‘Arab Spring’ that shook the middle-east less than a decade ago.
Tunisian Ambassador Nejmeddine Lakhal told this newspaper that his country ‘can never forget the strong and ardent support that India extended in the mid-1950s to our national movement of liberation from French occupation”.
In the past decade, Tunisia has been the only Arab nation where the upsurge for democracy proved hugely successful, dislodging its then dictator President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 who had ruled the ‘Maghreb’ nation with an iron hand for more than two decades.
It is no coincidence therefore that Tunisians are excited over the second free and transparent elections in their country.
One of them is no less than Tunisia’s energetic Ambassador himself.
“There are 26 candidates vying for the post of President. Our country is a vibrant and robust democracy that has proved to be more resilient than some expected” Mr. Lakhal pointed out.
It’s often asked how the Arab Spring succeeded spectacularly as the ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in Tunisia while it wreaked havoc in Syria, Libya, and even Egypt.
“There is no secret to Tunisia’s peaceful transition success. Inclusive dialogue, consensus, and the strong commitment and determination of the Tunisian people to build a better future were the magic formula. As the great Mahatma Gandhi said once: ‘The Future depends on what you do today,” said the Ambassador.
