Page 221 - Features of an Era
P. 221
The removal of the statue was not a satisfying ending to its sorrowful story; likely,
there was an indecisive vision for the sculpture to be erected instead, which precluded
from reaching a final decision on the identity of the sculpture that should be an
agreed national symbol. Thus, it is a certain conclusion that the lack of historical
investigation, the negligence in civilizational documentation, in addition to the
political shifts, played a key role in increasing indecision and keeping the door open
to endless suggestions primarily controlled by political and partisan references. A
clear indication on the indecision is what was published in Nahdet Misr newspaper
on July 17th, 2006: «Tahrir Square is the capital and heart of Cairo. However, it is
probably the only square changing over the years; each generation not only adds its
touch but also removes everything and starts from scratch. The issue of Tahrir Square
was reopened after a court ruling obtained by Dr. Abdel Mohsen Hamouda, President
of Ehya’ Tourath Ezma’a Misr (Revival of Heritage of Egypt’s Great Figures) Society,
obliging the Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and Governor of Cairo to erect a
statue of the late leader Mustafa El-Nahas in Tahrir Square, like the statues of other
Egyptian leaders in many squares of Cairo. This ruling coincided with a call launched
by engineer Abdel Aziz Atiyah for a project to re-plan Tahrir Square, restoring its
charm and significance. The project aims to use the free area in front of the Egyptian
Museum, the Nile Hilton Hotel and the League of Arab States to establish a park
called «Hadyqat Al-Khaldyn» (The Immortals Park) housing the statues of all Egypt’s
prominent figures in the modern times.
Engineer Salah Hijab, former Head of the Federation of Arab Engineers, said that the
State should pay attention to the revival of heritage and remembrance of the leaders,
which would be achieved only by (The Immortals Park) project. Hijab also suggested
a world competition to re-plan Tahrir square among the Egyptian and international
engineers, and a fundraising campaign among citizens and businesspersons to cover
the cost of such a huge project. He added that it was inevitable that the State had to
implement the court ruling, and to build a statue of Mustafa El-Nahas.»(30)
The ambiguous and problematic circumstances surrounding the statue of Isma’il,
from the beginning of its construction until the removal of its granite pedestal, made
the historical and documentary vision so vague that some of the leading authors
and intellectuals sometimes made historical mistakes not significantly different from
those always made by some unspecialized researchers and writers. An example of
these mistakes is «Recalling Amal Dunqul», an article written by Dr. Gaber Asfour
and published in Al-Ahram newspaper on May 29th, 2011 in the twenty-eighth
anniversary of the departure of the Egyptian poet Amal Dunqul.
In his beautiful article, Dr. Asfour paid no attention to the original history of the
construction of the pedestal at the end of King Farouk’s reign and mentioned only the
idea of making it a pedestal of the statue of Nasser, considering that incident was all
the history of the pedestal. With absolute confidence, he wrote: «The nation expressed
(30) By Court Order, Statue of Mustafa El-Nahas in Tahrir Square, Big Project for the Construction of Hadekat
Al-Khaldeen, Nahdet Misr newspaper, July 17th , 2006.
221
there was an indecisive vision for the sculpture to be erected instead, which precluded
from reaching a final decision on the identity of the sculpture that should be an
agreed national symbol. Thus, it is a certain conclusion that the lack of historical
investigation, the negligence in civilizational documentation, in addition to the
political shifts, played a key role in increasing indecision and keeping the door open
to endless suggestions primarily controlled by political and partisan references. A
clear indication on the indecision is what was published in Nahdet Misr newspaper
on July 17th, 2006: «Tahrir Square is the capital and heart of Cairo. However, it is
probably the only square changing over the years; each generation not only adds its
touch but also removes everything and starts from scratch. The issue of Tahrir Square
was reopened after a court ruling obtained by Dr. Abdel Mohsen Hamouda, President
of Ehya’ Tourath Ezma’a Misr (Revival of Heritage of Egypt’s Great Figures) Society,
obliging the Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and Governor of Cairo to erect a
statue of the late leader Mustafa El-Nahas in Tahrir Square, like the statues of other
Egyptian leaders in many squares of Cairo. This ruling coincided with a call launched
by engineer Abdel Aziz Atiyah for a project to re-plan Tahrir Square, restoring its
charm and significance. The project aims to use the free area in front of the Egyptian
Museum, the Nile Hilton Hotel and the League of Arab States to establish a park
called «Hadyqat Al-Khaldyn» (The Immortals Park) housing the statues of all Egypt’s
prominent figures in the modern times.
Engineer Salah Hijab, former Head of the Federation of Arab Engineers, said that the
State should pay attention to the revival of heritage and remembrance of the leaders,
which would be achieved only by (The Immortals Park) project. Hijab also suggested
a world competition to re-plan Tahrir square among the Egyptian and international
engineers, and a fundraising campaign among citizens and businesspersons to cover
the cost of such a huge project. He added that it was inevitable that the State had to
implement the court ruling, and to build a statue of Mustafa El-Nahas.»(30)
The ambiguous and problematic circumstances surrounding the statue of Isma’il,
from the beginning of its construction until the removal of its granite pedestal, made
the historical and documentary vision so vague that some of the leading authors
and intellectuals sometimes made historical mistakes not significantly different from
those always made by some unspecialized researchers and writers. An example of
these mistakes is «Recalling Amal Dunqul», an article written by Dr. Gaber Asfour
and published in Al-Ahram newspaper on May 29th, 2011 in the twenty-eighth
anniversary of the departure of the Egyptian poet Amal Dunqul.
In his beautiful article, Dr. Asfour paid no attention to the original history of the
construction of the pedestal at the end of King Farouk’s reign and mentioned only the
idea of making it a pedestal of the statue of Nasser, considering that incident was all
the history of the pedestal. With absolute confidence, he wrote: «The nation expressed
(30) By Court Order, Statue of Mustafa El-Nahas in Tahrir Square, Big Project for the Construction of Hadekat
Al-Khaldeen, Nahdet Misr newspaper, July 17th , 2006.
221
