Tunisia's Godfather

This post is about what is currently taking place in the volatile region of Tunisia. They say that there are tremors felt after a banyan tree falls across the land. After the revolution, Tunisia has seen disorder in the way authorities function. The credibility of the police department and the govt. administration to solve people's problems has seriously taken a hit. But amidst this chaos, one group that people turn to for solving their problems is emerging. This is a group led by a man called Abdessalam. A group that calls themselves Salafists. Not everyone agrees with their mindset but the thing that makes this lot of people remarkable is that they are effective problem-solvers. People come to meet Abdessalam to relate their concerns. They come with the surest hope that the man will take care of the same. So we see a woman coming to him to describe how miserable her life has become due to her husband's debauchery of letting an alien woman in her home and keeping away with her for days on end. Abdessalam calms her, gives her his suggestions on the matter and leaves her fully assured that the matter would be taken care of. He sends his men to meet the husband and the matter is resolved. Or the case of a man who came back to his house to find everything robbed. He approaches Abdessalam who then sends his men out to find the possible culprit. By evening, the man has his stolen items back. Or for that matter the landlord whose tenant has made a permanent residence of his house and refuses to leave. After he meets Abdessalam, he is assured of a proper resolution to the matter. Abdessalam sends his men and after a few threats from them, the tenant does evacuate the house.

What this group of people have done is to evolve a power structure at par with the govt. Something that the authorities resent and that is why these people are often portrayed as violent militants. A question asked by a BBC journalist to Abdessalam was that the perception is that he makes thieves, criminals and other miscreants join his group after having made them repent for their crimes and then uses them to cleanse the city. To which Abdessalam responded, "Do the criminals not have the right to repent?"
The Salafists believe in governance basis the Sharia Law of Islam. Something that makes one recall the Taliban. Who were just as popular as these Tunisian Salafists before they seized power and had the same mindset on governance. Although Abdessalam says that whatever he does is for God and wants nothing from the people he helps, one would be wary of calling them either good or bad having seen the history of such 'law-unto-themselves' group in the past. But one thing is for certain, the people in Tunisia continue to regard this group led by Abdessalam as better solvers of their problems than their current disorderly govt.