In an apparent bid to woo the public after decades of estrangement, Egypt’s Interior Ministry asked this week on its Facebook page: “How will you celebrate the Eid holiday?”
The answers poured in with surprising answers, reflecting Egyptians’ traditional sense of humour and, more significantly, their defiance of the police after last year’s popular revolt.
“I’ll smoke hashish, but I will not harass [girls],” retorted one browser. “I’ll take drugs. Do you like to get the address?” said another. “Why not supply us with the drugs you have seized in raids to help the people get high,” commented a third. Dealing in and taking drugs are punished severely in Egypt.
The Facebook page of the Interior Ministry, which is responsible for the police in Egypt, was visited by 371,000 until Monday, the last day of the five-day Eid holiday.
Police were accused of systematic torture of suspects and opponents of the regime of former strongman Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in last year’s uprising after three decades in power. The police system collapsed at the apex of the 18-day revolt after security institutions were torched and plundered.
Efforts to rebuild Egypt’s police have yet to bear fruit amid complaints from the public that security is still lacking in several areas of this nation of 82 million.
In the turbulent months that followed Mubarak’s ouster, the Interior Ministry headquarters were more than once the target of protesters, who accused the police of maintaining the oppressive methods of the former regime.
Some browsers of the ministry’s Facebook page sarcastically suggested to police to “give away hashish for free” in a gesture of turning over a new page with the public.
No security official was available to comment on the public’s feedback.
