‘Muammar Gaddafi is a threat to the human race’

Sebastian Pinto, 54, seems to be at peace with himself as he sips coffee at a suburban Mumbai cafe. Pinto is clad in blue denims and burgundy T-shirt, and his demeanour presents a picture of tranquillity, which is a stark contrast to the turbulence in his mind.

As he eagerly looks around the youthful environs of the cafe, you wonder if he is enjoying the freedom of space or brooding over the traumatic weeks he has had. As he starts to speak of his days in Libya, a look of exasperation mixed with relief flits across his face.  

A factory manager with an aluminium company in Libya for a year and a half, Pinto was at ease with his life except for a few trivial grievances. “Libya has no forms of entertainment because alcohol, clubs and social gatherings are banned," he said. "One’s freedom was always subject to Gaddafi’s whims.”

But that boring life radically changed when Egypt and Tunisia were rocked by revolutions. Gaddafi’s 42-year misrule had seen Libya suffer the 'rich country, poor people' syndrome. “Gaddafi milks the country’s oil wells at the cost of his people’s money," Pinto said. "What the discontented people needed was a little push, which was provided by their neighbours.”

In Benghazi, where Pinto lived, he saw a revolution take shape right before his eyes. Protesters burnt every bit of government property from police stations to Gaddafi’s palace and even military bases. “One jailer even opened the gates of the prison to let all the inmates free,” he said.

But the weeks of protests crippled life in the town. Food prices shot up and supplies were low. Curfew-like conditions prevailed for days on end. “In the nights, the skies were lit up by gunfire," Pinto remembered.

"Telephone and internet lines were down. For days, we were holed up at home with just Al-Jazeera for information. Since we had anticipated this danger, we had stored canned food, which came handy.”

The protests bore fruit when Benghazi came under the people's rule. “Shops, banks have reopened, youngsters direct traffic and Gaddafi’s flag has been replaced with the original Libyan one,” said Pinto.

But if life was almost back to normal, why did Pinto return home? “Gaddafi is a dangerous guy," he said. "Our fear was that if he struck back, it could mean disaster in every sense of the word.”

However, the turmoil has not left a sour taste in Pinto’s mouth. “I want go back,” he says, adding quickly, “but only when Gaddafi is overthrown.”