Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Ten years on from the uprising in Tahrir Square, Egyptians’ hopes of reform are in tatters

The country’s ruler for the last eight years, Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, has turned Egypt into a police state more repressive than it ever was under Hosni Mubarak or Anwar Sadat, writes Borzou Daragahi

Sunday 24 January 2021 13:34 GMT
Comments
<p>Riot police force protestors back across the Qasr El Nil bridge as they attempt to get into Tahrir Square on 28 January 2011 in downtown Cairo</p>

Riot police force protestors back across the Qasr El Nil bridge as they attempt to get into Tahrir Square on 28 January 2011 in downtown Cairo

It was a decade ago when thousands of mostly young Egyptians flooded the streets of central Cairo on National Police Day, 25 January, and sought to change the course of their nation.  

They were inspired by the revolution that had toppled Tunisia’s ruler, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, 11 days earlier and enraged by the police killing of a young man in Alexandria the previous year, a tragedy compounded by the humiliating, sham parliamentary election in late 2010 that had solidified President Hosni Mubarak’s hold on power.  

Despite a brutal response by Mubarak’s security forces, the movement caught fire, drawing in young supporters eager for change, as well as the country’s main opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood, which helped crowds push their way past riot police on the Qasr El Nil bridge and into the capital’s iconic Tahrir Square, chanting, “The people want the fall of the regime!”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in