Cairo: What is the best way to distance from an outlawed group?
For Fawzy Ghafajy, an Egyptian medical professional, the most effective ploy is to do it in public.
Residents in the Delta town of Al Santa, about 95 kilometres north of Cairo, were surprised to see a large banner carrying the name of Ghafajy, a senior official in the town’s hospital.
The banner, hung in a main street in the town, has one aim: declaring disassociation with the banned Muslinm Brotherhood.
“Dr Fawzy Abdul Hamid Ghafajy, the head of the physiotherapy department in Al Santa hospital, and an ex-Brotherhood member, disowns the terrorist Brotherhood,” reads the banner in big letters.
In mid-2013, the army deposed Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, a senior Brotherhood official, following enormous street protests against his rule.
Months later, the Egyptian government designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organisation following a series of deadly militant attacks in the country.
Ghafajy’s move drew applause from his family.
“I am very proud of my father. He is a brave man,” commented his son Ahmad, who is also a medical professional. “There has been massive sympathy from people with him because he did not act like rats and escaped from Egypt,” Ahmad added in an online post.
“As for the Brothers, who portray themselves as fighters, they can hang a banner below my father’s banner, and declare they belong to the Brotherhood,” Ahmad said sarcastically, commenting on angry online reactions from the group’s sympathisers.
Since Mursi’s ouster, hundreds of Brotherhood members and followers have been arrested and tried on charges of inciting or involvement in violence. Other Brothers have fled Egypt mainly to Qatar and Turkey, staunch allies of the Brotherhood.
The group is also banned in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
