It’s hard to imagine that Tahrir Square was once the epicentre of a revolution. Bassam, a young Egyptian who was among tens of thousands who surged across central Cairo during the uprising of 2011, can scarcely bear to pass through it now. The space has been renovated, as if to erase the memories it contained, and a giant, granite obelisk now sits at its centre. For Bassam, it’s a stake through the heart of his dream of freedom.
The revolution burned bright, but briefly. From January 2011 to the summer of 2013, a diverse street movement seemed at times to contest for power, and a candidate backed by the military narrowly lost a Presidential election to Mohamed Morsi, who stood for the long-banned Muslim Brotherhood.
