Friends swear by Tahrir Square hero

He twice survived death in Tahrir Square but his burning desire for a free Egypt defined by social equality eventually cost him his life.Meena Daniel, 25, was one of more than 20 Coptic Christians killed in clashes with security forces outside the state television building in Cairo on October 9 not far from his favourite haunt: Tahrir Square."Daniel was a staunch advocate of social justice because he was born into a poor family in a Cairo area," says his friend Rami Kamel. "In fact, social justice was the prime motive for Daniel to take part in the January 25 revolution since its onset," Kamel, 23, adds, referring to the popular revolt that forced long-standing president Hosni Mubarak to step down in February.According to Daniel's friends, he survived death by a sniper's bullet when he led a protest outside a mosque in Giza, south of Cairo, on January 28, known as the Day of Rage. Five days later he sustained a gunshot wound during an attack launched by Mubarak's loyalists in what came to be known as the Battle of the Camel. On February 2, hordes of Mubarak's supporters, riding camels and horses and armed with machetes and guns, assaulted pro-democracy protesters camping out in Tahrir Square."He survived the bullets twice. The third time brought him down," remembers his friend Kamel, who joined Daniel and thousands of angry Copts in the October 9 protest. They were protesting the destruction of a church by militants in the southern Egyptian city of Aswan one week earlier.Christians account for around 10 per cent of Egypt's population of 80 million."The security troops positioned outside the TV building fired on an estimated 350,000 protesters after failing to cordon them off," says Kamel. "The demonstrators were dispersed amidst chaos and panic, particularly when armoured vehicles broke them up. I didn't see him in the melee. Later, I learnt that Meena died of a gunshot to the head."Daniel's sister, Mary, also sustained facial injuries during the clashes allegedly as a result of an attack by soldiers. She is recovering in a Cairo hospital.Daniel's friends have set up a Facebook page in his memory, called "We Are All Meena Daniel".The page, drawing an increasing number of followers, features pictures of Daniel participating in anti-Mubarak protests and subsequent rallies demanding the establishment of a civil state."Your right will not be lost. We remember you. We remember your smile," activists said in a tribute to him on the page.An active member of the protest group Youth for Justice and Freedom, Daniel is remembered for the dream he always held dear: to see post-Mubarak Egypt transformed into a country where social justice and equality prevail."Daniel participated in the demonstrations against Mubarak since they began on January 25," recalls Mustafa Shawqi, his colleague in the Youth for Justice and Freedom Movement. "He insisted on camping in Tahrir Square despite his injury during the ‘Battle of the Camel' attack on February 2. He did not leave the square until after Mubarak was forced to step down on February 11," Shawqi said."He always respected other protesters who differed with his leftist leanings. He was known as the smiling Meena," recalls Shawqi.After attending a mass service in a cathederal in Cairo on Tuesday for him and other Copts killed in the October 9 clashes, hundreds of Daniel's friends, both Coptic and Muslim, carried his coffin to Tahrir Square. They did several rounds of the iconic plaza with his body. "This was in accordance with his will that his funeral should proceed from Tahrir, the birthplace of the January 25 revolution," say his grief-stricken friends.