http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/20/egyptians-expunge-mubarak-legacyFrom Saad Zaghloul station, named after the one-time Egyptian prime minister who led an uprising against the British in 1919, Cairo's metro line trundles north under the weight of successive national liberators. Orabi station honours the general behind a 19th-century revolt against foreign domination; Nasser, Sadat and – finally – Mubarak all lie ahead as well, three generations of army officers turned presidents whose memories are enshrined in bricks and mortar deep below the ground.
"For too long we have put our faith in strong leaders, and as a result the strength of our institutions and our society suffered terribly," said Ahmed Okasha, a leading Egyptian psychiatrist. "The hubris of our presidents made them think they were accountable only to God and history, and they conflated themselves and their country to the extent of thinking, 'There is no Egypt, I am Egypt.' It's time for that to change."
Amid Egypt's ongoing revolution, his words have been heeded by the metro authorities. Signage for Mubarak station has been replaced by hastily printed sheets of metal reading "al-Shuhadaa" (the Martyrs); on the trains, where the maps are yet to be updated, passengers have taken the initiative by scrubbing out every last reference to the 83-year-old autocrat with pens, coins and knives. Some deletions have been carried out with such ferocity that the surface behind is cracked.