CAIRO - "Tamarod or Tagarod?" This is one of two questions dominating Egypt at the moment. The names, Arabic for rebellion and objectivity respectively, refer to two rival petition campaigns opposing and supporting President Morsi. They also expose polarisation in Egypt a year after the Islamist president took office. "What will happen on June 30?" is the second question, denoting apprehensions felt by Egyptians in the run-up to a protest campaign planned by the opposition. Despite the mounting tensions and deepening divisions in Egypt more than two years after the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak, there is a heartening sign. The youth, who played the key role in the anti-Mubarak revolt, are back onto the national stage. After months of being sidelined by politicians who have unscrupulously hijacked the revolt, young Egyptians have recently staged a vigorous, inspiring comeback. Tamarod is the brainchild of a group of youth who are disenchanted with the dismal fate of their 2011 uprising. For nearly two months now, the Tamarod campaigners have been moving across Egypt to promote their idea of gathering signatures to withdraw confidence from Morsi whom they accuse of failing to fulfill the objectives of the revolution that brought him to power. The Tamarod activists are pushing for early presidential elections, a demand that has incensed the ruling Islamists and prompted some hardline clerics to brand the campaigners as "infidels" and "foes of Islam". The young activists, who suffered harassment and detention in the post-Mubarak era, have succeeded where politicians—secularists and Islamists – have failed. In the past few weeks, these young people have toured the country to tout their innovative idea and secure collecting the target 15 million signatures to outnumber the votes, which gave Morsi presidency last summer. They have put the mainstream "veteran" politicians to shame. Those politicians have limited their tours and rallies mostly to Cairo and Alexandria despite the fact that Egypt has 25 other governorates. Such politicians are fond of a wooden language, which has made them part of post-revolution Egypt's identity crisis. In contrast, the youth have brilliantly drawn large segments of the disadvantaged people into politics, and encouraged them to have a say in formulating their country's future. Denying any political affiliation, the young activists, using a simple language, have reached out to the peasant and labour communities who make up the majority of Egyptians. The big-name politicians whether in the ruling quarters or in the opposition have to learn a lesson from these young people, whose key aim is to set into motion the yet-to-be unfulfilled objectives of the revolt: Dignified living, freedom and social justice. Against all the odds, young Egyptians once again prove they can amazingly think out of the box and rejuvenate a nation, exhausted by incompetent and selfish politicians.
