The violence in Cairo that left 24 people dead and more than 200 injured on Sunday night is the most alarming development so far in post-Mubarak Egypt.

Many are blaming the security forces for the bloody turn of events, arguing that the military council (temporarily) ruling Egypt is using social instability to stifle freedom. 

Writing in the Guardian, Jack Shenker says it is "doing everything in its power" to frustrate meaningful change:

"Bloodshed will capture the headlines, but the quieter moves by Egypt's military rulers and the plainclothes thugs whose motives increasingly appear inseparable from the army elite are also worth mentioning: the rapid shutting down of a television station that had been broadcasting live footage of the mayhem; the earlier announcement that military tribunals for civilians would remain operational in certain circumstances (despite a public outcry against them); a violent assault on a university strike in Alexandria; and the ongoing tussle over electoral law, which some political forces believe is designed to kill off genuine moves towards democracy."

That is certainly an important aspect of it, and a very troubling one, but equally worrying is the sectarian dimension. Sunday night's violence began with a demonstration by Coptic Christians protesting at an attack on a church in Upper Egypt last week.

Sectarian strife in Egypt is nothing new. Less than a month before the January 25 uprising began, more than 20 people died when a church holding New Year service was bombed in Alexandria, and other disturbances of a religious nature have occurred at frequent intervals over many years.

Last year the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights issued a reportanalysing sectarian violence in the country during 2008 and 2009, which is still very relevant. (I discussed it here at the time.) One of its key points was that the Mubarak regime had no long-term strategy for dealing with inter-faith relations, viewing sectarian incidents purely as a security issue and seeking only "to impose order and calm on the affected area".

What Egypt actually needs is a new approach which seeks to address sectarian grievances openly rather than trying to bury them. But judging by Sunday night's events, the military council seems to be carrying on in the old Mubarak tradition.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 10 October 2011.