Can mass civil disobedience unseat a tyrannical government?

Whether mass civil disobedience can unravel a tyrannical government  is a difficult question to answer.  History reveals movements that have succeeded gloriously, or have failed miserably. A tyrannical government would be unfazed by any kind of disobedience. That is one aspect Much also depends on the location of the movement: what works in New York, London or Holland may not work in the Middle East, or some parts of Asia.  That depends ...

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Karpal and Kit Siang – two colossi

Someone asked me last week, ‘What did Karpal do for us? What did Lim Kit Siang?’ I blinked. I thought I didn’t hear it right. What did they do? The guy who asked was young. Too young. I attempted an answer and unaccountably slipped into melancholy. I began by saying... These men fought a long-drawn out battle against an implacable enemy—entrenched racism. They fought for the rule of law. They argued that the ...

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