21 February,2011 08:42 AM IST | | Hemal Ashar
All through last week, news poured in about Arab nations being on fire post the Egypt revolution. Egypt of course was inspired by the riots in Tunisia ufffd Jasmine Revolution as it was called ufffd that propelled a mass movement resulting in the exit of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak who went kicking and screaming as the military took over.
Followers who claimed that the Egyptian fire may spread to other countries stand vindicated. Libya, Bahrain and Iran have started cottoning on and though they may not enjoy the kind of victory that the Egyptians have, the unrest itself is an indicator that the rulers and despots can no longer sit cosily in their chairs, secure in the belief that pro-government protesters and even the army can save them. As the fire in young hearts burns in 'Squares' that have become the epicenter of these uprisings, experts are calling it The Great Islamic Awakening.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
Yet one cannot miss yet another kind of awakening going on in another part of the world. This is by the governments themselves ufffd the awakening in some measure of Europe where the leaders themselves say: multiculturalism has failed.
Maybe, these politicians have at last decided to put their finger on the pulse of Europeans and put into words what they are feeling. Never openly stated in a society where political correctness rules and defenders of 'human rights' are the first to scream injustice for any supposed slight to immigrants, Europeans are now asking: what about us? The Europeans who live here and haven't come from outside have rights too.
British Prime Minister David Cameron reignited the multiculturalism debate earlier this month, when he stated that the UK has tolerated other cultures to behave in ways counter to English values. Cameron spoke about not being diffident in addressing home grown terrorism and how perhaps the UK has cared more about outsiders and not enough about their own.
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Last year, Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that multiculturalism has utterly failed in Germany because too little has been asked of immigrants. Immigrants must adopt the country's language and values, Merkel had said.
Then of course, there is French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also said that multiculturalism is a failure and Europe has been too concerned about those arriving and not enough about their own.
No longer pusillanimous, no longer hesitant and politely couched maybe, the message starker than ever before is: adapt or stay out. Apparently, it is not just one part of the world that has woken up.
