Dictators don’t go to heaven
Dictators don’t go to heaven
The dictator has fallen. That was the end of the news segment by the TV host of Bashar al-Assad’s opposition, which quickly went viral shortly after its release. Bashar al-Assad fell after a brief civil war, a dictator who claimed to have won 95.19% of the votes in the 2021 Syrian presidential election and, with such a victory announcement, continued his presence at the head of the Syrian government after 21 years despite all the problems.
In 2021, as Syria witnessed the start of a civil war, news of violence from both Bashar’s government and armed opposition was being broadcast. Despite all these events, the resistance in some parts of Syria and foreign support prevented the opposition of those days from succeeding against the Syrian dictator. And now, looking back, it seems he saw the preservation of his government not from the people, but from foreign support, and indeed, in all the years that followed, despite seeing the dissatisfaction, he did not make the effort to align with his people as he should have.
After 13 years, the armed opposition, this time under the banner of Tahrir al-Sham, quickly toppled the dictator. As Ahmad Zeidabadi put it, even snow doesn’t melt this fast, as if it was built on water, or as if a flood came and took it away, although even a flood doesn’t act this quickly.
Years of conflict and war in this land prevented the country’s development, and unfortunately, the lies that once again deceived the dictator himself, who claimed a 95% vote popularity, a claim made by the ruling party, ultimately led the situation to a point 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, achieving easily what was difficult 12 years ago.
During this time, the news spread about what Bashar al-Assad did to Syria and what the Syrians did to Bashar al-Assad. It speaks of governance that was done wrongly and the neglect of the people’s demands, and of course, everything that increased the distance between the government and the people, or the dictator and society in this region, to the point where the government no longer had the people for itself, and the people no longer saw the government as theirs, putting an end to Bashar al-Assad’s presence in the al-Rawda Palace.
Even the Fars News Agency, which previously spoke favorably of 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, and most analysts speak of the calamity called dictatorship in today’s world. For example, Hassan Namakdoost, a communication sciences professor, writes on his account about the calamity and troubles of dictatorship, saying, ‘Why is dictatorship a calamity and its troubles endless? Because dictatorship is the biggest obstacle to the growth of democratic awareness and citizens’ access to democratic institutions. This causes the people, who are fed up but less aware, to often seek refuge from the scorpion’s sting to the viper’s bite. Otherwise, what is the reason for Abu Mohammad al-Julani’s arrival in place of Assad?’
Or Mohammad Reza Jowadi Yeganeh, a sociologist, reacts to this news on his account, saying 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, so that the Islamic Republic does not fall into the trap of supporters instead of the people again. It must be clarified that the people mean the opinion of the majority of people in credible surveys.
And of course, following all the comments that in some way show the concerns of these figures, the common point of worry is the distancing of the government and the people. Such a perception that if the Syrian people had seen hope for improvement through Bashar al-Assad, they would still have prevented the end of his presence and continued to give him a chance, just like all these years when Bashar al-Assad, despite all the criticisms against him, remained in power following the civil war.
Perhaps this should also be placed alongside these concerns, that when the powerful in any society, instead of relying on realities, resort to deceiving others to justify their actions, they first fall into the swamp of their own deception and become victims of fabricated statistics and false information, ultimately falling from grace. May those who learn take heed and remember this prayer from the Sahifa Sajjadiya often, wishing that I not be a source of lessons for the learners or a means of insight for the insightful, nor a cause of misguidance for the observers.
