Dictators don’t go to heaven
Dictators don’t go to heaven
The dictator has fallen, end of the news. This was the sentence from the opposition TV host about Bashar al-Assad, which quickly went viral after it was broadcast. Bashar al-Assad fell following a short-lived civil war. The dictator, who claimed to have won 95.19% of the votes in the 2021 Syrian presidential elections, continued to lead the Syrian government for 21 years despite all the problems.
In 2021, when Syria witnessed the beginning of a civil war, reports of violence from both the Assad government and armed opposition were widespread in the media. Despite these events, the resistance in certain parts of Syria and foreign support prevented the opposition from achieving their goals against the Syrian dictator at that time. Looking back now, it seems that Assad saw the preservation of his government not from the people but from foreign support, and even in the years after that, when he saw the dissatisfaction, he did not make the necessary efforts to align with his people.
After 13 years, the armed opposition, this time under the banner of Tahrir al-Sham, quickly overthrew the dictator. As Ahmad Zeidabadi put it, snow doesn’t melt this fast; it was as if it was built on water or as if a flood came and swept it away, although even a flood doesn’t act this quickly.
Years of conflict and war in this land prevented the country’s prosperity, and unfortunately, the lies that were believed, once again, by the dictator himself. The claim of 95% popularity by the ruling party ultimately led to a situation where, with the reduction of foreign support for the established government, even the army under his support stopped resisting, and many cities surrendered to the armed opposition with the slightest confrontation. What was difficult to achieve 12 years ago was easily accomplished.
During this time, the news spread about what Bashar al-Assad did to Syria and what the Syrians did to Bashar al-Assad. It was about governance that was mistakenly executed and the neglect of the people’s demands, which increased the gap between the government and the people, or the dictator and society, in this region so much that the government no longer had the people on its side, and the people no longer saw the government as theirs. This marked the end of Bashar al-Assad’s presence in the Al-Rawda Palace.
Even the Fars News Agency, which had previously praised Syria and its government, wrote in an analysis that Bashar did not pay enough attention to the Islamic Republic’s recommendations regarding democracy. Even until a few days ago, he did not make an explicit request for help. Most analysts talk about the calamity of dictatorship in today’s world. For instance, Hassan Namakdoost, a communication sciences professor, writes on his social media account about the calamity and woes of dictatorship, stating: ‘Why is dictatorship a calamity and its woes endless? Because dictatorship is the main obstacle to the growth of democratic awareness and citizens’ access to democratic institutions. This causes the desperate but less aware people to often seek refuge from the scorpion to the viper. Otherwise, what is the reason for Abu Mohammad al-Jolani replacing Assad?’
Or Mohammad Reza Jowadi Yeganeh, a sociologist, reacts to this news on his social media account, stating that now the Islamic Republic is left with its initial capital, which is the people. All subsequent strengths and powers have been exhausted. The only way for the regime to survive is to return to the people to avoid falling into the trap of supporters instead of the people. It must be clarified that the people mean the opinion of the majority in credible surveys.
And of course, among all the comments that show the concern of these figures, the common worry is the gap between the government and the people. There is a perception that if the Syrian people had seen hope for improvement through Bashar al-Assad, they would have prevented the end of his presence and continued to give him a chance, just as they did for all these years, ultimately allowing Bashar al-Assad to remain in power during the civil war despite all the criticisms against him.
Perhaps this should be added to these concerns: when the powerful in any society, instead of relying on realities, resort to deceiving others to justify their actions, they first fall into the trap of their own deceit and become victims of fabricated statistics and false information, ultimately falling from grace. Let this be a lesson for those who can learn, and may they frequently remember this prayer from Sahifa Sajjadiya, wishing not to be a means of deception for observers.