As crowds dominate political discourse in Egypt - on one end, those who support the military, and on the other, backers of deposed president Mohamed Morsi - a middle ground is mourning the loss of a dream.

"My hope was that we don't live in injustice anymore, because we were basically suffering with that for 30 years," said 33-year-old Hamdi Adel, describing his aspirations for Egypt during the January 25, 2011, uprising which toppled long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Part of the pro-Morsi vigil in Giza, Adel said that the military was "brutalising and bullying the public", adding that, if any of his hopes had been realised, he wouldn't be participating in the sit-in to reinstate Morsi, ousted on July 3.

For some, a gloomy pragmatism has kicked in since the heady days of the revolution and even since Morsi’s election, which was widely seen as the first free and fair presidential election in the region's most populous nation.

The slogan "it took 18 days" rang out across the country in the first halcyon days following Mubarak's downfall. A power grab by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) followed, before the Muslim Brotherhood rose in influence.

There have been several massacres since the start of the revolution, several surges of protests - against SCAF, against a supraconstitutional document it tried to pass, against Morsi’s decree (granting himself pharaoh-like powers) and against Morsi's presidency itself.

It was not the jubilant entrée into democracy that many Egyptians had hoped for.

"There's a difference between dreams and the reality today," said Mahmud Ali of the Egyptian Association for the Support of Democracy.

"We dreamed and hoped for freedom of expression and justice.

"As a [human] rights man, I see no major difference between before January 25 and after - there's the same state interference in the democratic process, in addition to the use of money and power and negligence of the poor.

"Our dreams haven't been met and we’re still in the dilemma of choice between the Muslim Brotherhood and military rule."

Coup a 'near-fatal blow' to revolution

While there is a sense that, if the military manages to take over completely, all will be lost, there's also some hope that - through sheer force of will - something will give.

Morsi's reinstatement - a long shot by all accounts - would send a powerful message to the military; while a return to military rule would, said Mohamed Rezk, a media rights activist, "take the country back even worse than 30 years of Mubarak".

"If that happens, all of what we achieved in the revolution will be spilled on the streets."

No-one mentions the interim government as a long-term player in this game - perhaps an indication of a frustrating lack of progress for a country still stuck in a fight between the military and the Islamists.

Still, the goals of the January 2011 uprising, with its chants for "freedom, bread and social justice" might still be revivied, said Omaima Abou Bakr, a professor at Cairo University and a founding member of the Women and Memory Forum, a Giza-based NGO.

"I wouldn't go to the extreme to say that it has died, but it has been dealt a near-fatal blow, particularly in the recent military coup. We need a serious concerted effort to revive it," said Abou Bakr.

"We need to recall what January 2011 was all about - we've lost sight of that."

She said she had little faith in the current political elite, in whom she's "disappointed".

"I don’t know who these people are anymore - they haven't been able to transcend this polarisation on the streets."

PHOTO CAPTION

The blood of Morsi supporters stains the street following deadly clashes

Source: Aljazeera.com