Below you will find the latest news involving BAIS students, faculty and program. If you see one of your fellow students or our program in the news, please contact the program office.
December 3, 2012
Former Indian Amabassador to United Nations Says Arab Spring is “Awakening” at USF Lecture
by Michelle Doyle
The uprisings are not definitive in goals, are not determinate in their pace, are not inclusive in terms of participants and beneficiaries, and irreversible in their direction.
In December 2010, Tunisian vegetable seller Mohammed Bouazizi went to the provincial headquarters in his town Sidi Bouzid to file a complaint about the mistreatment he recently endured from a policewoman. The woman had confiscated his vegetable cart, fined him, and insulted him. The refusal of the local municipality officials to see him resulted in a powerful political statement that nobody could have predicted. Bouazizi poured fuel over his body and set himself on fire in front of the headquarters for officials and civilians to see. Bouazizi died less than a month later, commanding attention to a political revolution years in the making.
“Bouazizi was a catalyst,” said Honorary Ambassador Rajendra Abhyankar to an audience of USF students and professors at his discussion, “The Arab Spring: How Did It Get Here and Where Is It Going?” on Nov. 19. Abhyankar is an Indian diplomat who lived in the Middle East for 13 years. From 1998 to 2001, he was the Indian consul general in San Francisco.
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