The Egyptian Revolution ended the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak and began a political transition towards democracy. During the public protests in Tahrir square every section of the society, political group, and people from various walks of the life gathered side by side to protest the government and demand their rights. Due to collective efforts all these groups a newly elected government came into power and people were very hopeful that democracy will reach to its pinnacle in Arab world largest country. But after the removal and arrest of Mohammad Morsi by the Military Egyptian society is now very much divided than ever before. Military crackdown has already resulted in hundreds of deaths in clashes between the security forces and protestors and street tensions are running high.

This act of forcefully removal of an elected government by the army is for sure will fuel extremism and terrorism in the society. It is debatable that Morsi government was not delivering to the people expected results and Mr Morsi was hardly a paragon of democracy, his government mismanaged the country, the economy was in the tailspin and millions of people were disenchanted with his rule. But he was the elected and legitimate president and surely military had no right to remove an elected government in such a way which will add to the dissatisfaction among the masses which have voted and supported the Muslim Brotherhood. This dissatisfaction and resentment in the society will definitely flare up the extremism which will have its implication not only with in the country but on the whole region.  The major lesson that Islamists in the Middle East are likely to learn from this episode is that they will not be allowed to exercise power no matter how many compromises they make in the democratic process. This is likely to push a substantial portion of mainstream Islamists into the arms of the extremists who reject democracy and ideological compromise.

It should be know that Al Qaeda was conceived in the prisons of Egypt, contrary to conventional wisdom, not the caves of Afghanistan. Gamal Abdel Nassir's torture chambers produced Al Qaeda's intellectual foundation, whose original target was not the United State of America, but corrupt Arab governments which the United States was seen as propping up. Sayed Qutb, whose writings inspired many militant groups, including Al Qaeda, was radicalized and eventually executed in Nassir's jail. Decades later, Ayman El Zawahri Al Qaeda today’s Supreme Commander turned to militancy in these same confines, and went on to advocate for violence as the only way to correct perceived injustice. Recently in an audio message posted online Zawahri who is also an Egyptian said Egypt’s military coup that ousted Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi provides proof that Islamic rule cannot be established through democracy and urged the Islamist leaders and followers to abandon the ballot box in favour of armed resistance. This shows that Al Qaeda now see a new opportunity for itself and its extreme Salafi ideology in Egypt.  After the military's mass arrests and violent crackdown on supporters of Muslim Brotherhood in the past weeks however, it might be El Zawahri and Al Qaeda who must be celebrating.

Moreover, US Secretary of State John Kerry statement in which he said Egyptian army had been "Restoring Democracy" when it toppled Morsi has given a new ammunination to extremist elements in the Egyptian society who are convincing the people that US wants a puppet government in Egypt that’s why its backing this military misdeed and America likes democracy only when its friends are in power. Common man of Egypt is also not able to understand that how Military is “Restoring Democracy” when it has just removed an elected president from power and he is finding the extremist version more creditable.  Muslim Brotherhood has also starting behaving more militantly which has given a call to the Egyptian people to rise against this so called military coup. This militant behaviour of Brotherhood can easily be diverted to the full-fledged armed struggle if something is not done immediately to restore peace and stability in the country. If democracy is established with participation from all the stakeholders then Egypt could still prove to be ideological death bed for radical Islamists of Al Qaeda. But if the military pursues its current path, the country also has the potential to become the site of the network's philosophical second coming which will be very ugly.

But, democracy in the true sense of the term will remain a mirage as long as the military is seen as the agent for political transition. For, the only transition that the military brass likes is the transition of power to itself. Everything else is but sound and fury, signifying nothing. It is high time that a reconciliation process should start in the country before fear of growing sectarian strife, widening violence or even civil war become more real.